Trial by Fire

Watch out vampires/zombies/werewolves! Witches are back and ready to take their place in the spotlight. With Trial by Fire, that spotlight is well-deserved indeed. There is an imaginative and fascinatingly plausible use of science to explain alternative universes. Similarly, Lily’s grasp of science, specifically physics and natural laws, are quite impressive and advanced. In spite of her infirmities in her home universe, she is whip-smart, independent, and strong. The added benefit of magic in the alternate Salem makes her an incredible character – one who stands by her word, thinks through the consequences, and is not afraid of taking the hard road if it means living by her convictions.

What is particularly entertaining is Ms. show more Angelini’s use of Salem lore. There is an unsubtle nod to Arthur Miller’s The Crucible interspersed throughout the story, made more prominent for readers who have read or seen the play and remember key details. Ms. Angelini also draws on folk lore and the stories told in history classes about the Salem Witch Trials. It is a creative reimagining of history using science and the theory of alternate universes with a little added magical fantasy thrown in for good measure. The combination of fact and fiction, science and fantasy, and the well-known hysteria in Salem in the 17th Century create a remarkable story.

If a reader is going to start one new series this year, Trial by Fire and the Worldwalker Trilogy is the one to start. It has action, adventure, more than one kick-ass heroine, a little bit of romance, plenty of world-building, and so much more. It is a world in which women literally run everything of note; while there are issues with this fact, as with any power struggle, the idea is still an exciting one. Ms. Angelini does an excellent job balancing questions with answers so that readers feel satisfaction at what they learn and highly anticipate what is still to come. The ending is filled with potential without being too abrupt or open-ended. The entire story is creative, well-written, and highly entertaining. show less

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 show more 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. show less

Trial by Fire" is one of the most amazing books I've read and I can definitely say its one of my new top favorites from 2014! Our main protagonist is Lily, a girl with way too many allergies and all sorts of medical problems that make her life hard. She feels like a burden to her family and she's also an outcast at school. Everything changes when she has an embarrassing incident at the first party she's actually been able to attend and then she is whisked to alternate universe of her hometown.

So being in a new world full of creatures and strange customs is pretty terrifying, but then your other self (Lillian) tells you.. "Lily, you're a wizard now". Okay, so not technically a wizard, but she has potential to become an all-powerful show more witch. (Get my Harry Potter reference now?) Anyways, the plotline by itself guaranteed to pull any reader in, but the fantasy and magic elements are what make this story a page turner.

I enjoyed Angelini's writing style, character development and relationships that occur in this book. Though some of the characters like Lillian (alternate Lily), Rowan (Lillian's head mechanic), Alaric (a kind of leader for s), and even Tristan (alternate Tristan) intentions seem wholehearted and pure, you along with Lily are still unsure of who you can really trust. Lily starts off as naïve in this new Salem, but soon she learns she has get it together in order to return and to survive in this eat or be eaten world.

I liked the large amounts of action scenes placed throughout the story and the circle of kinship that forms between Rowan, Tristan, Caleb, and Lily. I would go more into detail, but I want to spare you from spoilers. I also liked the sweet romance that starts to bloom between Rowan and Lily. We'll see what happens next... show less

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 show more 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. show less

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 show more 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. show less

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 2015

I 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 show more 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 show less

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 show more 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. show less