WITCHRISE by Victoria Lamb

Rating: B-
Synopsis:
Only one witch can rise above the coming storm ...

When Tudor witch Meg Lytton receives an unexpected legacy - her mother's magical wand, ring and spellbook - she has no idea her future happiness is in danger. For the witchfinder Marcus Dent is back in her dreams, and he will use any weapon to gain her newfound powers for himself.

Now Meg must discover the secret of Invictus, her mother's magical ring. Summoned back to Hatfield, she knows a battle is coming. But Meg is no longer alone in her struggle against Dent. Surrounded by her friends, she faces her greatest challenge head-on: losing Alejandro, her beloved. For it seems the Spanish novice has been keeping secrets from them all.

Powers clash and hearts break in the spellbinding third book of The Tudor Witch Trilogy.

My thoughts on the book:
While Witchrise is a captivating and satisfying conclusion to the Tudor Witch Trilogy, it didn't quite live up to the previous two books, in my opinion. I did enjoy this novel immensely, and I feel that each character got an ending that suited them, but some bits at the end just fell into place too easily. Also, I don't feel that any of the characters grew quite enough, though I am happy that there were no personality changes to make the plot work or anything of that nature. Lamb's writing was exquisite as always, and her world-building was wonderfully done. For the most part, this book was an excellent ending to the series. 

Meg has always been a strong character, and she still held fast to her beliefs in this novel. However instead of coming across as strong, she sometimes came across as overly stubborn and bratty. There were a few times when I just wanted to tell her that sharing means caring. For the most part, she was still likable, though. Elizabeth never was my favorite character, and she didn't really blow me away this time, either. Lamb did a terrific job at creating a character that'd be similar to how Elizabeth would act, though. It's clear that the author did her research before starting this series. Alejandro was a good love interest throughout the entire trilogy, and I really enjoyed his interactions with Meg. Richard never proved as a believable opposing love interest to me. I just couldn't buy him being a threat to Alejandro. Marcus Dent definitely won the most annoying villain award in this book, but villains aren't supposed to be pleasant, so it worked. 

The pacing was a bit slow-moving at times, especially the first part at Meg's dad's house, but aside from Part 1, I was captivated for most of the novel. The world-building was extremely well done, and I got a clear understanding of the world that Lamb created. The setting descriptions were perfect. I felt like I was in Tudor England, both in the countryside and in London. The author really got the nastiness of medieval cities down in her descriptions, and I was glad that she didn't romanticize the past like many writers do. Some parts of the plot were just too convenient and felt forced, but mostly things flowed well. 

Overall, I'd recommend this book and series to anyone who loves historic paranormal novels and/or the Tudors. This trilogy is an interesting take on life during that time period. 

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