Sunday, December 28, 2014

Review: Trial By Fire by Josephine Angelini


Goodreads Summary:

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.
 

Review: 

Trial By Fire was one of the books I was most excited about picking up at BEA this year.  I LOVED Josephine's Starcrossed series and couldn't wait to get my hands on the first book in her new series.

The concept for this book was very unique.  Witches are the rulers of the cities in the new universe Lily is transported to.  They can convert heat into energy to power the cities, grow food, heal the sick, etc.  Josephine did a remarkable job of incorporating the history of the Salem Witch Trials throughout the story.  As much as I wanted to love this book, it was a slow read for me.

A good story, in my opinion, is built around the relationships between the characters.  For a large portion of this book there were trust issues, so the relationships were slow to develop.  Also, Lily had a lot to learn about witchcraft and how things worked in the new world.  This required a lot of detailed explanation, which at times was lengthy and confusing.

On a positive note, I did find the ending to be very exciting.  If the sequel picks up where this book left off, we should have a continuous progression to the story without all of the history lessons.  I also hope there will be more to the romance to help keep the pages turning.  If both of those things happen, I think it was well worth persevering through Trial By Fire.  This series has a lot of potential and I look forward to seeing what will happen next.


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