Review: Trial by Fire by Josephine Angelini

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Series: The Worldwalker Trilogy #1
Pages: 374
Copyright: 2014
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Buy: Amazon

Summary: from Good Reads
The exhilaratingly seductive new series from the author of the bestselling Starcrossed series.

Love burns. Worlds collide. Magic reigns.

This world is trying to kill Lily Proctor. Her life-threatening allergies keep her from enjoying many of the experiences that other teenagers take for granted...which is why she is determined to enjoy her first (and perhaps only) high-school party. But Lily's life never goes according to plan, and 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 all the Crucibles is Lillian . . . Lily's identical other self in this alternate universe. This new version of her world is terrifyingly sensual, and Lily is soon overwhelmed by new experiences.

Lily realizes that what makes her weak at home is exactly what makes her extraordinary in New Salem. It also puts her life in danger. Thrown into a world she doesn't understand, Lily is torn between responsibilities she can't hope to shoulder alone, and a love she never expected.

But how can Lily be the savior of this world when she is literally her own worst enemy?

Feelings: 
I enjoyed Trial by Fire by Josephine Angelini more than I thought I was going to. I wasn't sure I was going to when I started reading it. The first scene is of your main character having an allergic reaction and vomiting in the bathroom and hoping she can hide what is going on from her best friend. Not a great start to a book if you ask me. It did improve a lot after that opening. At first it seemed like the novel was going to be a high school drama, but after Lily looses her best friend she is taken to an alternate version of Salem. That is when the story got interesting.

I enjoyed the characters and the magic that was included in this novel. Lily is both weak and strong. Her health struggles back in her world have given her the drive to continue living even when things get rough. In the new world she finds herself stronger for having struggled. I liked that what made her weak in her world was something she could learn to control in the world she finds herself in. 

In the new Salem, she encounters Rowan a man she has never met, who hates her, and Tristan, who is like the Tristan in her world but different. I liked getting to know the characters as Lily does, and seeing how they react to her based on what they know of the version of her from their world. I really liked the characters and the idea of infinite versions of the universe.

It was an easy read, but it also had more to it than some of the young adult novels I've read. I recommend Trial by Fire, and I'm looking forward to seeing were the characters in this series go.