I loved "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" as a young girl so I was already predisposed towards the subject matter of this book. It was very simply written (maybe a little too simply for my tastes) but it was engaging. Characters, good and bad were well drawn but I thought the author was a little heavy-handed with the science vs. religion aspects. I can see why the people of Salem would be happy to see the backside of Reverend Johnson's little band of followers. I also thought that the way things played out in the end was a little too close to "The Crucible" but I still look forward to getting my hands on the next installment in Mary's tale.