Review of Trial By Fire by Josephine Angelini

Advance Review of Josephine Angelini's Trial By Fire

Release Date: September 2nd, 2014

Synopsis as found on Amazon.com:

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.

In Josephine Angelini's Trial by Fire, 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.

 

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This book was a beautiful new take on the Witches and their descendants of the Salem Witch Trials. I found myself entranced by a beautiful love that knows no boundaries; that can travel even across universes.

 

Lily Proctor is very sick. Her body is failing her & it's like she is allergic to EVERYTHING! So when she is propositioned by the voice in her head (a voice that sounds exactly like her own), she ends up traveling to another universe... to another Salem. In this version of Salem, Witches are the ruling class. They run the government & help to give the people everything they need. It is an even bigger surprise when Lily comes face to face with her alternate, the Head Witch of Salem, Lillian.

 

This is not your average love triangle. & when Lily meets Rowan (a boy who doesn't exist in her universe), she begins to fall in love. There is only one problem, Rowan is Lillian's ex-boyfriend. How can you be in love with someone who used to sleep with another version of yourself? How can you know its not the other version he is truly in love with? That is one of the main things I found myself thinking when I first got into the story. Don't fret, though, because Josephine Angelini masterfully weaves an intricate tale where no questions are left un-answered... well, except for, when do I find out what happens next?

 

Check out Trial By Fire, September of 2014!