Trial by Fire…Book 1 of the Worldwalker Trilogy

trialbyfire

Angelini, Josephine. Trial by Fire (Book 1, Worldwalker Trilogy). New York: Feiwel & Friends, 2014. 978-1-250-05088-5. 374 p. $17.99. Gr. 7 and up.

Lily Proctor is literally allergic to the world; she cannot eat most things, handle scents, or experience daily life like most teenagers her age.  Her mother, Samantha, is mentally ill and considered the town “nut” of Salem, Massachusetts, and her father has left leaving Lily and her older sister, Juliet, to care for their mother.  After an embarrassing seizure at her first (and probably last) party, Lily wishes to leave her world and the stress of her life behind.  Little does she know that Lillian, the Salem Witch from a parallel universe, has been watching her and is ready to make her move on Lily.  Soon Lily is in Lillian’s Salem.  Terrified of what has happened, and truly unsure about her new situation, Lily takes off through Salem looking for help and answers, but instead is captured by Lillian’s ex-mechanic, Rowan, and the Outlanders, non-magical people who live outside of the walls of the Thirteen Cities.  Once Lily is able to prove that she is not Lillian, it is up to her to harness her magic to save the Outlanders from Lillian’s wrath and herself from the pyre.  Trial by Fire is the first book in the Worldwalker Trilogy; book two is due out September 2015.

Fantasy    Erin Parkinson, Lincoln Jr/Sr High School

I hated Trial by Fire in the beginning.  I thought it started out strong as realism, but when it transferred into the alternative Salem, the magical element was bizarre and too far away from how the novel began for me, and yet, I could not stop reading it.  I got to the point with Trial by Fire that I refused to put the book down until I finished it.  A novel that I couldn’t stand ended up being one of the best stories I’ve read this year.  Angelini masterfully draws the reader into Lily’s story in such a way that other elements of the story fade into the back, and Lily’s character and relationships become central, not the magic or alternative/parallel universe.  The magic only adds to the importance of the character’s relationships with one another, which are very realistic, and end up being the core of the novel.  This is a great novel (and hopefully series) for readers who enjoy Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha Trilogy and the continual internal struggles of Alina and Mal.

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