It flowed, but the plot was so simplistic that the beats were glaringly obvious (e.g. she's about to get away, but oh no, freak accident keeps her there). It's not necessarily a problem, but I'm definitely out of the age range this book is targeted toward.

What did bother me, though, was the hypocrisy throughout the book in order for it to conclude with the emotional happy ending. The main character, Nola, does some very questionable things, which the book acknowledges but excuses because she does them for "good," whereas the antagonists doing bad things are punished for doing them. The moral lessons were all mixed up. Nola finally manages to escape the main situation, but for some reason decides to completely unnecessarily come clean about her major secret she's been hiding in fear for her entire life to the one person with authority to arrest her for it, who after less than 24 hours of knowing her throws away his moral code because of instalove. Painful. ( )

Had a lot of the Vande Velde style i like but overall weaker story than some of her other books. Romance bits felt forced and there were a few too many coincidences for me. ( )

Nola and her mother travel from town to town doing odd jobs and always moving on to the next town before anyone suspects that they're witches. When their previous employer is murdered in his home, Nola realizes to her horror that she had left a scrying spell running in the basement of the house.

Nola sneaks into the house disguised as Brinna the maidservant to end the spell before the duke's men discover it. Will Nola be able to fool everyone into thinking she is Brinna? Will she be able to end the spell before the duke's men search the basement? Will she get arrested for the murder, either as Nola or as Brinna? And when will the real Brinna finish the market shopping and return back home? ( )

More a comedy of errors for the 10-14 yr-olds than a fairy tale, although it has the traditional trappings of witchcraft, peasants, and petticoats. Another spunky heroine, too. ( )

Just not holding my interest. Picked it up for my review group, but then the review group dissolved, so I'm off the hook.