Trial by Fire

Not the best narrator and the overall story was bland and had very little to do with magic just the main character being special and better than everyone else after training for 2 seconds. I will not be continuing with the series.

The Crucible retelling we didn’t know we would likeWith characters taken directly from Miller’s iconic play, this story uses the concept of a crucible as a mechanism to channel heat into energy and turns that into witchcraft, the very thing the township of Salem was desperately trying to root out in the play. The hysteria of magic is not on trial in this story but rather the belief in science that could destroy entire worlds.Lily Proctor is caught between wanting to disappear after an embarrassing incident at a party where her traitorous body betrayed her and desperately longing for the love of her best friend, Tristan who triggered her. When a lone voice calls out to her, Lily listens and is catapulted into a world she knows but which is unlike her own Salem.This book was a surprise. I immediately got the connection to The Crucible simply from the main character’s name but the way Angelini has used the basic plot and turned it around is truly great. I really enjoyed this book and read it in a single sitting. There are some very cheesy teen drama moments and eye-roll-inducing sections but the concept is what made this work for me.Recommended for the YA age range through adult readers. You haven’t had to have read Miller’s play to understand things, but it will help to understand the history of the American Witch Trials in Salem, MA of 1692 to a small extent.**Read through KU via Libby. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Lily Proctor deals with life-threatening allergies every day until one day she is suddenly taken from her world into a frightening, alternate world similar to Earth but with many terrifying changes. This Salem is full of terrifying creatures and alternate versions of her former friends—and even an alternate version of herself, a girl called Lilian who is threatening the future of the world and wants Lily’s help to do it. With the help of Rowan, this world’s version of Lily’s former ex-boyfriend, Lily discovers that she is the most powerful witch the world has seen. With her powers, she and Rowan try to stop this world’s Lilian from killing lots of innocent people and find her way back home to her world. During the final battle, she and Rowan escape to another world.

In many ways, this book is a mess of underdeveloped, unclear ideas. Lily is a Mary Sue: perfect, self-sacrificing, almost an orphan, delicate, hated by everyone in the beginning, and incredibly beautiful but doesn’t realize it. In her world, Lily is sick and weak. In this world, without spending the years it is required for natives of the world, she is incredibly powerful and her sickness is a manifestation of her power. This treatment of disease as power makes light of real issues that aren’t cured by magically being transported to another world. The love triangle is forced and awkward. When they first meet, Rowan tries to kill her, and then the relationships goes from hating each other to being crazy about each other with no transition. Tristan has no real value to the plot and is only there to play the part as a male best friend, part of a love triangle, and to make sure there are lots of attractive guys. The world is confusing, with some parts fantasy, some parts historical, and some parts science fiction. The book ends with many things that are not explained, like why Lilian wants Lily in this world so badly. There is never any real tension because the reader knows that Lily will make it out unharmed because of her amazing powers. Overall, there were so many weaknesses that enjoying the book may be difficult for some people.

This book is . . . different. The story premise, while not completely unique (lots of books have parallel universes and world jumping), did have an originality to it. The main character's ability to use fire and energy for magical purposes was well written and all parts were incorporated into the overall flow of the plot.There was one scene where she and her companions perform a ritual to make medicine that was a little much for me. It didn't fit with the rest of the feel of the book. The idea worked, but the actual scene was too much for younger readers. It seemed to come out of nowhere to me.

If you survive the first two chapters, you'll make it through the end more or less intact.

Plagued by inexplicable allergies, Lily starts out as a powerless protagonist.
...and pretty much stays that way for much of the book. Sure, after throwing an intense pity party, she finds herself in an alternate world where her allergies somehow translate into an extraordinary capacity for magic. However, Lily never seems to grow into this power as a character. In a cross between rituals and science, the magic inside her is only able to come forth with the help of other experienced magic users. In the end, Lily's biggest strength turns out to be sheer stubbornness.

Overall, Trial by Fire has two things going for it.

First, cool magic. While Lily's magical experiences generally amount to channeling energy into her companions, the whole concept of magic that works as a type of super science is complex and intriguing. There is actually a lot of studying that goes into making magic happen. Really, not much is worse than instant magical prowess.

Second, Rowan. A bit predictable? Yes, but he is by far the best part of the book. The variety of his interactions and relationships with Lily and his older friends really brings him to life. He pointed anger and grudging compassion are a nice relief from Lily's...Lily-ness.

While the rising action shows all the signs of a thickening plot, don't expect some huge climax, an epic showdown between the two Lily's.

"How can she be the savior of this world when she is literally her own worst enemy?"

After reading that on the front flap, the ending felt a bit lack-luster.

I'm quite confused when it comes to rating this one...
On one hand I found myself intrigued by the fantasy world and swooning over the book boyfriends, but on another I have a severe headache from all of the science talk. When I dive into a book I want to be transported from reality and consumed by fantasy. This one transported me, but instead of a magical world, I entered a confusing jumble of mish mash. There were monsters, witches, outlanders, and lots of science talk. I am not opposed to gaining knowledge while reading, but page after page of science descriptions is just not for me. I really wanted to learn more about the different characters, but sadly the story just grazed the surface. There was action, but it wasn't enough to make me want to keep turning the pages. I found myself pushing to get to the end and well even that was just meh.

I think Rowan and Tristan saved this book for me... I really enjoyed the love triangle, intensity, and humor that the romance brought. I was hoping for more of it, but the story was definitely focused on science. Science, science, science.... Just too much!

I don't recommend this book...

Well, this was a trainwreck. The world building was poorly executed to the point of making no sense, the concept of willstones and 'claiming' was, frankly, nauseating, I literally could not tell you what the plot of the book really was because nothing happened until the last quarter of the book. I hate hate hate throwing out the term 'Mary Sue' but that's exactly what Lily was to a fault.

This wasn't fun to read I'm so relieved it's over.

Lily Procter has serious problems; allergies, a lack of social status, and a knack for picking the wrong guy all the time. When she is suddenly transported to a different Salem, she can hardly believe what she discovers; a very attractive Rowen, a Tristan clone, and a very nasty and hated version of herself. Lily is suddenly very much valued and sought after, due to her magical abilities. This is book one in a trilogy, and spends a lot of time setting up the characters and the worlds, but it's still a great read, and I'm really looking forward to book two.

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: This novel was an original, interesting story that I found lots of fun.Opening Sentence: Lily Proctor ducked into the girls’ room, already yanking back her rebellious hair.The Review:Lily is desperately sick. Anything, the most random items, can trigger a seizure or a fever. Her only comfort is her good friend Tristan, who recently became something more. She’s determined to seal the deal of being his girlfriend at a party, but it doesn’t go as planned, finding Tristan and another girl naked in the bathroom. In her anger, she hears a voice, asking her if she wants to leave this place. She says yes. How was she to know that the voice was herself in a parallel universe, and that she would show up in a parallel Salem, Massachusetts where witchcraft and bug monsters ran wild? In this new world, Lilly is no longer weak, because she discovers that she is a crucible and how to keep crucibles strong. She wants to go home, back to her sister and her mother (who is veering towards insane). But it’s not that easy. She’ll need to find the Shamen. She’ll need to avoid Lillian, who is desperate to use her for some unknown task, and cannot be trusted. After all, Lillian has murdered many outlanders out of spite, to make examples. And along the way she’ll need to fight her growing attraction to Rowan, because with her end goal of going home and his hesitance to trust her, it’s a relationship that won’t work out.I haven’t read many parallel universe books. There aren’t a ton of YA ones out there. But Trial By Fire instantly intrigued me. The first thing that caught my eye was the cover. Look at it — it’s so pretty and unique! I love the castle and the font that the title is in. The second thing that hooked me in were all of the rave reviews. Quite a few reviewers that I respect had a lot of fun reading Trial By Fire. There were a couple that were disappointed, but many more found themselves enjoying it. The final reason that made me excited to delve into the story was the synopsis. The mixture of Salem witchcraft and parallel universes, science and magic — that is original. So I began to read. The first time around, I had been reading multiple books, so I must admit that I got sidetracked and stopped reading altogether. It wasn’t that I disliked it, but I had more pressing reviews that needed to be written. The second time, I was prepared to stick with the novel, and I opened the book excited to start over fresh. It was definitely a worthwhile read!I felt so bad for Lily. She’s sick, and most of the time she grows sick without explanation. She wants to be strong, she wants to be an asset to her family and friends, but even she can admit that she’s dragging them down. I connected with Lily, which I sometimes find hard to do if a character is in third person, so kudos to the author. Anyway, her only reassurance is her longtime friend Tristan. Yes, he’s a player. Okay, so maybe he’s slept with most of the girls in school and never called them. But Lily (thinks) she’s in love with him. So when he kisses her, she dreams of him changing his ways and them having a happy ending… Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen. After a disastrous fight, she gets whisked away to a parallel universe and she realizes that she is a crucible, with the potential to become a witch. Lily grows so much over the course of this book. There is a constant issue of how far is too far and does the end justify the means? Lily tries to stick to her stubborn beliefs, and I respected her for that, even if sometimes that made her choices stupid.The love triangle wasn’t really a love triangle. There are two guys vying for her attention: parallel universe Tristan (for the sake of convenience, in this review, I’ll call him Pristan; yes, it sounds ridiculous) and Rowan. Pristan is alike in many ways to Tristan whom she left behind. She tries to judge him for him and not in comparison to Tristan, but finds it hard not to notice the mannerisms that make him so alike — the flirting, the confident walk. Rowan is strong, but has serious trust issues. After all, when he fell in love with Lillian (Lily’s parallel counterpart) she betrayed him and murdered thousands of people. So he’s hesitant. Lily never really gives Pristan a real chance. It’s a Rowan/Lilly pairing. It’s a slow burn sort of romance, taking a lot of time to develop, though the chemistry is obviously there, and then beginning all at once.Lillian was the final character I wanted to talk about. She’s clearly the antagonist. She’s killed so many. But she also is determined to use Lilly to do something that we don’t discover in this book, presumably we’ll find out in the next. I hated her, but I also am very curious as to why she went through all this trouble to find a girl she knew would oppose her. I’m super excited for the second book of the Worldwalker trilogy! I found this book a lot of fun, with action, magic, and plot twists. Certain parts grew slow, but the author’s simple but beautiful writing and the urge to discover what happened made me read on. I would recommend this to parallel universe fans and witch fans. It’s something that I think you will enjoy!Notable Scene:“My mother,” Lily said, her voice catching. “She’ll-”“She’ll suffer more with a sickly daughter like you in her life than out of it. Believe me.” Lillian’s eyes drilled into Lily’s, cold and unrelenting.”You’re useless in your world. Worse. You’re a burden. But here, where you belong, you could be the most powerful woman in the world.”Lily didn’t have much experience with hate. She didn’t even hate her dad for abandoning her, even though no one would have blamed her if she did. But as she watched Lillian finish her bitter speech, she realized that she hated her.FTC Advisory: Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan provided me with an ARC of Trial by Fire. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. In addition, I don’t receive affiliate fees for anything purchased via links from my site.

This is a hard book for me to review. The first 2 chapters involved all of the teenage behaviors that parents don't want to see including drinking, smoking, partying, bullying, and sleeping around (with characters actually caught in flagantre). I almost stopped reading it. But in chapter 3 the "real" story begins, which is the worldwalking, and it was AMAZING! So original, imaginative and creative. A really, really unique premise and wonderful characters. And THEN came a scene of extreme sexual tension that made me a little uncomfortable, followed by a scene of bacchanalian activity at a teenage club they called a "bonfire". Ugh. Then came MORE amazing originality and excitement. Whew, I felt like I had been burning on a pyre before the whole thing was over (book reference there). I am kind of clueless as to what to say about this book. Do I want a 6th or 7th grader reading this book? Definitely and resoundingly NO. Did I absolutely love and adore parts of this book? Yes! I ordered it for my middle school library because this author's other series, Starcrossed , is extremely popular, but I'm not feeling like this one is very appropriate for middle school. Parents will have to decide. As for me, I had big concerns about it but it was gripping, exciting and original. Areas of concern:There was some bad language, but not really that much. There wouldn't be any for chapters and chapters, and then suddenly the *b* word would appear twice on the same page. The above-mentioned bad teenage behavior.The above-mentioned sexual tension.There is definitely violence. The main character starts out abhorring the violence, but by the end she is kind of craving the death of her enemies.

What a great novel to start 2015 with! I hadn't read any of Josephine Angelini's books but had heard good things and this was another of the books I had been eyeing off for a while so I was extremely pleased to receive from my dad for Christmas and decided it would be my first read of 2015I loved it and couldn't put it down. And when I did reluctantly have to put it down, I spent time thinking about the characters and the story and counting down to when I could get back to it.Main character Lily Proctor has lived the majority of her life in Salem, sick with allergies to practically everything and when the boy she has been crushing on for most of her life leaves her heart broken, she allows her self to be spirited away to another universe,by herself no less, where she finds herself in a world filled with magic, where not only is she no longer sick but instead is incredibly powerful and her other universe counterpart is the most powerful being on the planet and hell bent on eradicating science from her world by any means possible.I love stories about alternate universes, as I like to imagine worlds that may be similar but different based on certain decisions we make during our lives and decisions that have come before us. Ms Angelini's take on this is perfection, and really captures all that is magical about this concept.I loved Lily as a character, I thought she was strong and passionate and I liked that I never really knew if i could trust her counterpart Lillian was alike but so very unlike Lily. I also liked the chemistry between Lily and Rowan. Right from moment they meet, the tension was there and you know there is something powerful in them being together. And Rowan is indeed a worthy book boyfriend. Also strong, loyal and passionate but at the same time both broken. The story is well paced well written, with Ms Angelini revealing just enough at each interval to keep the reader right in the story but anxious to find out what will happen next and she builds the tension with ease of a master story teller catching the reader up in its wave which rolls along right to the end.I like that the story takes priority with the Lily and Rowan's relationship, whilst being integral, being more subtle and balanced and well placed.Given where this novel finishes, I cannot wait for the next in the series and September 2015 cannot come fast enough!I give this novel 4 1/2 stars.Sapphired Dragon xx

You might think a book with witches, alternate universes, shamans, and spirit-walking would be over the top, but I really enjoyed this book; it is well done and has some great characters.Lily Proctor is 17, living in Salem, Massachusetts, and beset by debilitating allergies that make her break out in rashes, overheat, and even convulse. Her older sister Juliet is a registered EMT and has had to save Juliet’s life a number of times. Lily’s mother has been known to go around town hallucinating out loud and raving at strangers, providing yet another reason most of Lily’s high school peers avoid her - all except for Tristan, who has been her BFF since they were little. Although Tristan is now popular and a “player,” he has never abandoned Lily. Lily has always has a crush on Tristan, but for him, she is more like a sister.As the story begins, however, Tristan actually kissed Lily three days ago, and now invited her to a party. She has never gone to a party because of her allergies, and eagerly accompanies him. In no time, however, he abandons her to make out with another girl, and someone slips vodka into Lily’s drink. She goes into convulsions, and barely recovers from a high fever. She is furious at Tristan for abandoning her, and dreads going back to school to face the jeers and taunts alone. When a voice in her head asks her if she is ready to leave her world, Lily says yes.Lily then goes through a terrifying process, and when it is over, she realizes she is still in a Salem, but it just wasn’t her Salem anymore. She is in an alternate universe, brought over by Lillian, her other version. Lillian is sick and weak, and needs Lily's strength to help her shape her world in a way she thinks will save it. Lillian has seen other universes; she knows all about the devastating effects of science and technology gone out of control. She is determined not to let that happen to her version of the universe.Lily is desperate to find a way out of this world and back to her own. But then she learns how to harness the energy that manifested itself as “allergies” back in her universe, and it gives her control over her body and power over others. Maybe even more importantly, she meets Rowan, who teaches her what devotion really means.But Lillian is not giving up, and starts a battle that may kill them all.Evaluation: This is only the beginning of a series, but so far, it is quite good. The characters are ones you will want to follow into whatever universe they go.

Trial by Fire is Josephine Angelini's, the author of the Starcrossed series, new book. And what one hell of a start to series it was. I'm a little ashamed, I didn't actually hear about this book till a few months ago, I was a big fan of her Starcrossed series, I loved how unique it was and found myself pleasantly surprised at how engrossed and hooked I was by the story line. Mythology isn't a genre that I've found myself having a problem with, however Greek Mythology was one that I hadn't really tried and was a bit unsure, but everyone was talking about Strosessed and how great the characters, story building and relationships, be it romantic or friendship or family, were portrayed in the trilogy. I took a shot with it and was glad that it payed of. I was left with a story that pulled on my hear strings and made me smile and though it is only the first book in the series, I'm happy to say that she has yet again made a story in Trial by Fire that I can sink my teeth in to.At the first glance Trial by Fire seems like your avenge YA paranormal book, with a story line that is overdone and recycled. But just like her series Starcrossed, Josephine Angelini managed to find an idea and turn it into her own, making it different and exciting, she's managed to make characters we can relate to, despite the craziness of their life, relationship that we have similar experiences too or will one point in our life face, and friendship that we can only hope of having one day. As the summary suggest, Lily Proctor with her life-threatening allergies, doesn't have much of life. She can't go out and enjoy things that we would normally take for granted and the kids at school aren't accepting of it. Tristan is her one true friend, the one person she can be herself around out side of her family and the only other person who understand her, and he just so happens to be her long term crush. She has had to watch from the sidelines as he breaks heart after heart, but one night everything changes and things are finally looking up. Lily goes to a party with him, hoping that it will finally be the start of something new, but the other kids are cruel and she's left feeling more alone than ever, for the first time in years without the comfort of her best friend. So when she's at home, wishing for a way out and Lillian, the cruel crucible from a very different Salem offers her one, does she take it? of course. But she doesn't know exactly know what she's agreeing to, thinking it was just her voice she was hearing in her head. Why I hear you ask? because Lillian is the darker more extreme side of Lily, and things are going to change forever.I was pretty hooked from the start, I was desperate to read what was going to happen between Tristan and Lily and to find out why things changed, I was rooting for the relationship while at the same time cursing him, and this was all in the first few chapters. The minuet Lily stepped into the new Salem and we met Lillian, I knew this book was going to be a keeper. I loved both versions of herself, I liked the shy and timid Lily and the strong minded Lillian, but most of all I loved how she, like most others, had a deeper motive for all the bad things she's done. I loved how the new Tristan wasn't that different from the old, he was still the caring and gently Tristan and from what I gather he still liked the women (just maybe didn't break so many hearts haha). And Rowan... how do I sum him up? he wasn't perfect, he wasn't always nice by damn did I love him. This book wasn't without it's flaws, at time's I hated that there was a the 'I'm falling for you, but I shouldn't so I'm going to deny it only to try and shut you out but in the end draw you in more only to once again close of to you' yeah... it wasn't for me. But still, I couldn't help but feel like I NEEDED them to finally shut up and just get it on LOL. It didn't annoy me to the point I no longer liked them which is good. At times I felt like too little was actually explained about the new Salem, but given that it is a series I'm hoping it will be explained over time. I know this book was mainly about training up Lily and the relationship she had with Tristan and Rowan, so it's not a grudge I hold, I just might have been nice to know a bit more than we did.I have a lot of favorite things about this book, I loved the willstones and the personal meaning that they carried as well as the power, I love the character development and how the relationship of any description built over time and most of all I just love the world Josephine Angelini created. All in all the book was far better than I expected, it has all the things you loved from her previous series (without the story line of course) and she has yet again managed to write a story that people are going to be talking about for a long time. Only thing I hate? having to wait till the next one comes out, I'll just go sit in a concern trying not to pull my hair out haha

4.5 starsTrial by Fire was a very enjoyable and magical read. I was never that intrigued by parallel worlds, until I read this book. The parallel world featured in it is so well developed and thought-out. I think my favorite part of the book was finding out more about this world! It gave me a sense of magical discovery that actually reminded me of Harry Potter. There were some really unique elements of this world that caught me by surprise. It was also wonderful seeing it through Lily's eyes, as she's someone from our world just discovering this new place where magic is real and science is outlawed.The characters also shined. I loved Lily. She was so very real. And humorous. The secondary characters were well developed too. I can't wait to see more of all of them in book 2!This book is a favorite and I cannot wait to read the next one!

When an author can create a whole new world within our own, and make it even more complicated, twisted and magical all at the same time - there will never be enough words to emphasize how brilliant their writing is! The creativity, world-building and character growth that is brought to life is outstanding, for lack of a better word... Our main character, Lily, is a sweet mess - highly allergic to almost everything around her, she struggles to keep up in school and is somewhat of an outcast among her peers. But, she is confident and smart and doesn't let much get in her way. She demands equality, respect and is responsible for things that no sickly teen should be held accountable for. And her bestest friend, her only friend since childhood, Tristan, who has never been able to get his act together but who has always been a true friend to Lily - he knows her more than she knows herself. Except for one thing... and Lily goes through more hurt than any broken hearted girl ever had to. To the point where we think we might lose our Lily...And then the most unthinkable has happened... Lilian intervenes. ALillian, another version of Lily has reached out, has used an unknown magic to bring Lily through a parallel universe of sorts. Lillian, who was once on the good side, has had to make herself the villain of the story. We don't know why. And as much as I wanted to hate her, I just couldn't. There is a right to all the wrong she is doing... we just don't know what it is yet. A person who is willing to sacrifice themselves to the most wicked things, there is a story to be heard here...And then, we meet Rowen. Rowen thinks Lily is Lillian, and Lily pays the price for it dearly. But when he learns the truth, he is honest and apologizes for his mistakes. He can see that Lily is different and is very willing to accept and respect her ways. He greatly makes up for his cruelty; and makes it so hard not to fall for him. The more we learn about him, his past and his relationship with Lillian, the more we feel for him and understand what is going on, not only in the present, but also, the history of magic and everything that everyone is fighting for. We also meet other characters that are paralleled from the world Lily came from. It is interesting to see how alike they are, and not. The mildest things have transformed these characters into new characters - so unique and interesting. I need more of this! And it is not only this, but the way the world building and atmosphere is so alike is also intriguing; it is difficult to explain - the details are all there, without an overabundance of boredom at all, the author is quite intricate with details, but precise. Everything flows to create this alternate world so realistically... the particulars on how a person gains and uses magic, how it is measured, and how powerful it can be in the wrong hands is so cleverly laid out. This is a world that I would like to learn more from and do wish to see in more details.This was my first Josephine Angelini book, I cannot emphasize enough on how much I enjoyed it, it is the beginning of a new fandom for me! I am overly excited for books 2 and 3... you must add them all to your TBRs and wishlists! I insist!*An ARC was sent by the publisher for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

Age Range: 12 - 18 yearsGrade Level: 7 and upSeries: The Worldwalker Trilogy (Book 1)ISBN-10: 125005088X - Hardcover $17.00Publisher: Feiwel & Friends (September 2, 2014), 384 pages.Review copy courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley.Lilly Proctor is a young sixteen. She's had life threatening allergies for much of her life; these allergies have kept her from living the life of a regular teenager. Second hand cigarette smoke chokes her, a spiked drink can kill her, and her body is quick to fall into a fever. Living in present day Salem, Massachusetts, her schoolmates often treat her like a freak. But Tristan, the most popular and desired boy in school keeps Lilly sane. He's her best friend and crush and it looks like things have changed for the better - Tristan has started seeing Lilly differently and they may be going out. But Lilly's first high school party is a social disaster and she nearly dies. The disappointment, humiliation, and fear leaves Lilly wishing she could disappear. Suddenly, she is transported to another Salem in an alternate universe. In this new world, we find that Lilly's double is Lady Lillian, the Witch that rules.Lilly finds that this new world is much different from hers. In this new Salem Science is banned and people believe in magic. The witches and crucibles are the most valued and highly ranked because of their ability to do and conduct magic. Lilly finds that in this world, not only is she not sickly but she is one of the most physically powerful beings. But politics, intrigue and betrayal exist in this Salem as well and Lilly must find her way through the confusing mix of personalities, realities, and competing claims.I found Trial by Fire to be reminiscent of Deborah Harkness's All Souls Trilogy and Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series in part because of the existence of alternate realities and the heroine's ability to move between worlds and in part because of the underlying love story that moves the plot forward. Also, I loved Harkness's All Souls Trilogy and Gabaldon's Outlander series. I'd read the books as fast as I could and pre-ordered the other books in the series as soon as they became available. I feel the same urgency with Angelini's Worldwalker Trilogy - am so looking forward to the next in the series. But as Trial by Fire doesn't come out until Sept. 2014 it'll likely be a long wait!