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Monday, 26 October 2015
Trial by Fire by Josephine Angelini ~ Book Review
In celebration of the release of Fire Walker, book 2 in the World Walker Trilogy by Josephine Angelini, published by Pan Macmillan Australia, I decided to post a review of Trial by Fire before posting my Firewalker review. Please stay tuned for my review of book 2, Firewalker and don't forget to check out Josephine Angelini's other books, the Starcrossed series.
Trial by Fire
by Josephine Angelini
Series: WorldWalker Trilogy #1
Genre: Young Adult Sci-Fi + Fantasy
Released: September 2, 2014
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia
This world is trying to kill Lily Proctor. Her life-threatening allergies keep her from enjoying experiences that others in her hometown of Salem take for granted, which is why she is determined to enjoy her first high school party with her best friend and longtime crush, Tristan. But after a humiliating incident in front of half her graduating class, Lily wishes she could just disappear.
Suddenly, Lily is in a different Salem—one overrun with horrifying creatures and ruled by powerful women called Crucibles. Strongest and cruelest of them all is Lillian . . . Lily's other self in this alternate universe.
What makes Lily weak at home is what makes her extraordinary in New Salem. In this confusing world, Lily is torn between responsibilities she can't hope to shoulder alone and a love she never expected.
Review
Trial by Fire by Josephine Angelini is the first book in the World Walker Trilogy. This trilogy is definitely going to be a must read for me. I absolutely adored the original concept and the extremely loveable characters.
Lily Proctor is thrown into an alternative universe when a silly self-pity wish to disappear from her world took her there. In the alternate universe she finds her alternative self, Lillian, and along with Lillian she finds some answers to her illnesses and allergies, along with other much complicated things about what she supposedly can do for this new world she has found herself in. Lily only wants to go back home, but as she meets more people in this world it seems more and more impossible to go home as everyone is trying to use Lily for their own gains, including herself, Lillian.
Trial by Fire started a bit slow for me, I do enjoy Josephine's writing but I just didn't get into the plot at first. There was a lot of scientific explanations and I was just not following at the beginning. However, as I've said in previous reviews, I find this is quite common in first books in a series as the Author needs to fundamentally lay down the foundation for the story, so I have to be fair to say that once the story got going, so around the 9th chapter it was certainly fast-paced, action-packed and very much a page-turner.
Josephine Angelini's talent really shines through in this book as it was filled with in-depth descriptions on how things worked, I find that in many Sci-Fi or Fantasy novels the readers are simply expected to believe in the world that is created, Angelini however, ensured that we are well versed into the history and the making of the world in the Worldwalker Trilogy, whilst I found some of these parts dull and boring as I'm not that good with Science, I did appreciate it for the world building, and it smoothly came together at the end. At the time of reading I was like "when will the action begin," but upon reading the entire book I certainly don't think it would have been the same without the background information as we wouldn't have been able to understand the why, what and when of this alternate world/universe.
The original concept and plot was also something to seriously applaud as it was so original and I am sure that it hasn't been done before. So yes, we have witches but a lot of the things they could do had a scientific explanation, so imagine that the best science tricks were simply explained as "magic" and that's what you have. This was truly enjoyable to read as it was unlike any other witchy book I've read.
Last but certainly not least was Josephine's writing of the characters, oh the characters in Trial by Fire were totally relatable, likeable and I just loved Josephine's creation of her characters and their interactions. As a reader I was soon immersed in their lives, their feelings and I just enjoyed this journey with Lily, Juliet, Rowan, Tristan, Caleb and even Lillian!
Trial by Fire is the first book in Josephine Angelini's second series; Worldwalker Trilogy. This is definitely a must read for YA fans that enjoy paranormal witch stories, with a hint of fantasy and Sci-Fi. It's a wonderful read, but persevere through the first few chapters if you feel like your getting bored because the story does pick-up as soon as the world creation and concepts are formed and it truly is worth the wait.
Read Trial by Fire's first SIX Chapters FREE click below
Stay tuned for the upcoming review of book 2 of the World Walker Trilogy
Fire Walker
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