Wayward Reviews

Book Synopsis

It’s 1577. Queen Elizabeth I has imprisoned scheming Mary Queen of Scots, and Alyce’s mother is burned at the stake for witchcraft. Alyce kills the witchfinder and flees to London – but the chase isn’t over yet. As she discovers her own dark magic, powerful political forces are on her trail. She can’t help but wonder: why is she so important? Soon she finds herself deep in a secret battle between rival queens, the fate of England resting on her shoulders

Review

*Non Spoiler Review*

This is the first book I have read by the author Bowling, this was a bookswap and to be honest I am happy I swapped rather than brought because this book didn’t really meet my expectation. Thus based on the synopsis and the cover (yes, I do judge books on their cover appeal).

In this book you follow the character Alyce, as she navigates 14th century England trying to avoid Witchfinders and other evil forces. While I found the concept interesting, I found the supporting character development to be poor. Alyce is young, frightened but also determined to complete her mother’s wishes. However, there are quite a few characters in this story that should have more background included to give it more punch.

Storyline lost me a bit as I think Bowling was trying to be clever and not make the story predictable. While I was surprised with a few twists and turn, it was a little erratic. So chapter would be so face paced, that I would check on the previous chapter to make sure I hadn’t missed something. Also, side note I didn’t really find the character relationships all that engaging either…

Overall, grammatically I didn’t have an issue. The story, characters and theme needs more work. This felt like it was a second draft and really needed a couple more tweaks before going to publish.

Rating: 3/5