Title: Trial by Fire
Author: Josephine Angelini
Series: Worldwalkers Trilogy | Book 1
Pages: 400
Publisher: Square Fish (September 1, 2015)
Rating: 5 stars (Read It!)

The first novel of the Worldwalkers trilogy, Trial by Fire, by Josephine Angelini, tells the story of a girl named Lily Proctor with life threatening allergies.

After a humiliating incident at her first party, Lily Proctor begins to hear a voice in her head. Her voice, to be exact, but it isn’t quite her voice. The voice sounds exactly like hers, except she knows that those words inside her mind are not of her own.

You are sick in this world. Come to me and be the most powerful person in the world. The voice urges Lily.

Lily refuses though and the voice fades away into silence. But after Lily has a terrible argument with her best friend, Tristan, the voice asks again: Are you ready to go now? This time Lily replies, “Yes. I’m done here.”

It will be terrifying. It was for me. The voice tells Lily. In a matter of seconds, Lily finds herself in a different Salem, Massachusetts.

In this parallel world, Lily is a witch who rules Salem. And what makes her weak in her home universe, her allergies, makes her a powerful witch here. Her counterpart, Lillian, summoned her to this world. Before Lillian can use Lily though, Lily runs and is captured by rebels. The rebels make a deal with her: if she can save them from Lillian, then they will help her go home.

But “How can she be the savior of this world when she is literally her own worst enemy?”

Five stars without a question. This book had terrific characters, plot, and writing: everything I love in a book. The world that Josephine Angelini created was also very original. I don’t believe I’ve ever read another similar book like Trial by Fire. Furthermore, Angelini’s writing is smooth to read, but unique at the same time.

One thing I especially liked was Lily’s relationship with Juliet, her older sister. Her slightly insane mother also adds an element of mystery to the story.

I can’t say much more about how fabulous this book was without spoiling it, but the book reminded me a little of Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, and The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini.

As a result, I’d definitely recommend this book to fans of young adult fantasy books with:

“[A]ction, adventure, violence, [and] a butt-kicking heroine[.]” – USA Today

You can find Trial By Fire here.

Guest review contributed by Read It Or Not Reviews. Along with book reviews, this blog has themed posts for different days of the week. For example, Monday: Enigmatic Riddles & Rhymes, Tuesday: Top Ten Tuesday list, Wednesday: A quote from literature, Thursday: Book Relevance, Friday: Book Review, and Saturday: Reading List.