The instinct to live is a strong one. Have you ever tried to hold your breath? Inevitably, your lungs will burn, your body will fight with your brain to take that deep gasp of air. Survival instincts are just that---instincts. They override willpower, because the human body wants to live above all else. 
 Throughout this book, it was made abundantly clear to me that whoever created Meg Lytton forgot to program said survival instinct within her. I don't know when I've encountered a dumber witch throughout my reading experience...and that's saying a lot. 
 This is Tudor times. This is a period in history when it was very, very easy to have your neck separated from your head, your body drawn and quartered, and if you're very lucky, it will happen in that order. There was a Youtube video that went viral awhile back, entitled Dumb Ways to Die. Well, Meg Lytton would be the star in her very own Tudor version of said music video. 
 It's a tough time to be a Catholic, because of all the anti-Catholic sentiments in England. It's a tough time to be a Protestant, because there's a certain queen on the throne of England who became known as Bloody Mary. There's the threat of the Spanish Inquisition due to her very Spanish, very Catholic husband, Prince Philip. 
 Above all else 
 ...the girl's body twisted and rocked, her legs flailing helplessly as the rope strangled her. 
 ...it has always been a tough time 
 ...she had been found guilty and rolled down a steep hill in a barrel filled with iron spikes. 
 ...to be a witch. 
 ...her wasted body had been engulfed in a white-hot wall of flame. The wind shifted, and now the unmistakable stench of roasting flesh blew across our faces. 
 It's not exactly a secret what happens to witches. Meg has been there, witness to many deaths of those condemned and accused of witchcraft. Knowing this, Meg, our intrepid heroine, will certainly strive to abandon her witchy ways! To practice discretion at all cost! To not endanger her body, her soul, her family's reputation, the Lady Elizabeth's possible future as Queen of England. 
 Bitch, please. Meg's a fucking moron. Witchcraft was in her blood and she would willingly risk death rather than to go against her witchy nature. You know what's in my blood? The urge to fling my poor fucking Nook across the room during reading this book, but no, I have some self-restraint, unlike Meg. 
 She and her aunt go practice their witchery in an old-broken down palace by night. Repeatedly. Despite the many, many close calls of discovery. They scry upon a dead sheep's entrails. They cast magic circles. They strive to foretell the future. Meg does not restrict her use of witchcraft to the noble task of helping Lady Elizabeth foretell her future and what belies her once Queen Mary is with child, she uses her powers capriciously, stupidly, in others' presence. 
 I would make sure Blanche was a little clumsier than usual, once spilling the bowl of heated water for the princess's morning ablutions. Another time, Blanche tripped over some invisible obstacle, the clean linen in her arms ending up on the dirty rushes, much to Elizabeth's annoyance. 
 She manipulates their mind, she manipulates their thoughts, she manipulates their actions for no higher purpose than her own capricious will, for pranks, for revenge against a spiteful act. 
 Meg wields her magic irresponsibly, foolishly. It is the equivalent of giving a slingshot to a 5-year old boy and telling him to be careful with it. Sooner or later, someone's going to bleed. 
 The premise of the book is supposed to be one of suspense, because Meg could be caught and killed for being a witch. It didn't work for me, largely because the gravity of the situation and the suspense was completely gone due to the lightness by which Meg handles her powers. She is completely indiscreet. Meg puts herself, her Lady, and her family in danger more than once. She was caught and nearly killed more than once, and overall, her overwhelming stupidity and lack of caution turned Meg from a character with whom we should sympathize into someone more worthy of mockery. 
 The plot is relegated into irrelevancy by Meg's foolish tactics and action, plagued with the massive overuse of deus ex machina. Magic seems to be the be-all-end-all solution to getting out of impossible predicaments. It didn't work, the use of magic doesn't necessarily make a plot ridiculous, but the constant, worn out use of it relegates the plot into the land of redundancy. It is a disguise for a poorly-thought out plot. 
 The dialogue was awkward, it tries to achieve an authentically archaic tone, and only succeeded in sounding stilted and unnatural. 
 The insta-love was awkward, unbelievable, and even more foolish given what we know. Meg was warned by a prophecy: Beware a traveller who comes over water, over land. Alejandro de Castillo is a Spaniard, newly arrived in England. This is an era where the Spanish are hated and feared---Spain and England are on constant war alert with each other, plus, the Spanish are a devoutly Catholic country...well known for the rough tactics of the Spanish Inquisition. Yet...the moment Alejandro de Castillo meets Meg's eyes...the sparks fly! (And eventually, so does Meg. Discretion? What's that?) 
 This is my Alejandro de Castillo. 
 He's 17 years old. He's from a wealthy, well-respected family in Spain. He is a trusted envoy of Spain, despite his age. He is a priest-to be, and yet Meg feels the urge to kiss him anyway. Multiple times. He's also quite comfortable coming into young women's chambers uninvited, despite being a future priest (he's not yet ordained). But wait! He's not just any priest, Alejandro de Castillo is a novice in the Holy Catholic Order of Santiago (try saying that 10 times), whose priests are allowed to marry if they maintain their vows of chastity! 
 Dafuq? 
 Anyways, Meg doesn't just fall into insta-love. She runs hot and cold. She's alternately a bitchy, sniping harpy to him, while enlisting his aid, while being offended that he doesn't want to kiss her back. When he does return her attention, she turns him away because she's secretly angry at him over something he doesn't have a fucking clue about. Is there even a point to this romance? 
 There is not a single likeable character in this book. Everyone is an asshole or an idiot. The villains are one-dimensionally evil, you can see Marcus Dent, the Evil Witchhunter and Inquisitor twilrling his mustache as he threatens to ravish Meg and destroy her family if she doesn't marry him! Meg is so lovely, after all. Her fathering is a cruel, devious trope. Her cousin a manipulative sycophant. Her brother a bumbling, ingratiating fool. The women are no better, besides the sickly, spinster Aunt Jane, the other female characters are either "simple" (mentally retarded), cruel and snippy (Blanche Parry), or a complete bitch (Lady Elizabeth). 
 I absolutely hated the portrayal of the future Queen Elizabeth in this book. It is true that Elizabeth has always been strong-willed, but in this book, she is portrayed more as a sniping harpy than a regal queen-to-be. She slaps people, she pinches Meg out of spite, she throws fits and tantrums, she yells, she shrieks, the majority of her actions in the book revolve around one emotion: anger. It doesn't feel right, and it is a piss-poor portrayal of such a beloved figure. It's one thing to be realistic in a character portrayal, to make a highly revered character seem more human and relatable, but the way Elizabeth is pictured here makes her seem less a human and more of a bitch. 
 Not recommended to anyone but those seeking the very lightest of entertainment. The historical setting of this book is but an afterthought.