Title: Trial by Fire
Author: Josephine Angelini
Series: The Worldwalker Trilogy #1
Published: September 2nd 2014 by Feiwel & Friends
Genres: YA, Fantasy, Romance
Source: eArc
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.
The interesting thing is even though Trial by Fire has alternate universes and focuses on different aspects of science, it doesn’t really have a Sci-Fi feel. To me it feels more like a Fantasy, which is also a component of it. Which is fine since I love both genres and putting them hand in hand always leads to a great combo.
This is one of my favorite concepts of alter universes. That each action we take creates a spin-off universe with the action we didn’t. Branching out, creating an infinite number and the fact that some other universes are already destroyed due to those alternate choices. I also like that
There are many interesting facets to this book. One is the two Lillians. Even though Lily and Lillian are the same they are both different too. It’s the whole nature vs nurture, they might have a basic similar nature but their experiences in life have influenced who they have become. They have different things and had different experiences and even different love lives and pains. Where Lillian was the one betraying, Lily was the one betrayed. It’s very cool to see this play out and makes for a complicated romance story.
Speaking of complicated this is one of the most complicated love triangles I have ever read. It’s not just a bit of forbidden love since Lily doesn’t plan on sticking in this universe. It’s the fact that there are two of the same girl, although different. Can you really separate the two. Is loving one inevitable because you love the other. Lots of thoughts in my head. Lots of thoughts...all though I think Josephine is excellent at writing great love stories. We might be experiencing Lily’s love story now but you can also tell that Lillian had a great one to share as well.
I enjoyed the characters including the good, bad and ugly. I thought you could see where some of their actions are coming from. They are just bad because they feel like it, there are things that pushed them in that direction or triggered them. I thought their backgrounds were well developed in that sense. There was focus on them but not overly focused.
The ending is fantastic and although it has me clammering for book 2 sooner rather than later. I really liked how it turned out. It’s got me wondering what is going to happen but also summed up well enough that I wasn’t angry.
I loved the plot, the characters and the writing. The flow was perfect, the world vivid in my mind.