Publication date: Sept 1, 2015
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Category: Young Adult - Paranormal
Source: Received finished copy from publisher (Thanks!)
Summary: Lily is back in her own universe, and she's ready to start a new life with Rowan by her side. True, she almost died in the Pyre that fueled their escape from New Salem, and must hide her magic for the safety of everyone she cares about, but compared to fighting the Woven, the monstrous creatures inhabiting the alternate Salem, life is looking pretty good. Unfortunately, Lillian, ruthless ruler of the 13 Cities, is not willing to let Lily go that easily. If she can’t persuade Lily to return to her world, she will force her to come back by doing away with the ones she loves. (greads.com)
The Good
As someone who is usually not a huge fan of witch books, I was surprised by how quickly I took to The Worldwalker Trilogy. The world-building is vivid, the storytelling clever and it’s easy to root for Lily, Rowan and their friends. Firewalker continues along that same vein and picks up right where Trial by Fire left off. Lily had to burn at the Pyre in order for her and Rowan to return to her version of Salem. With burns that nearly kill her, a mother who suddenly seems lucid, a sister and friends wondering what happened to her, Lily and Rowan have their work cut out for them to keep their magic a secret. But it beats the alternative — fighting for their lives at in New Salem. Still, the truth can stay only hidden for so long and Lillian, who is still the ruler of the 13 Cities, wants Lily to come back and is willing to do anything to make that happen.After spending most of the Trial by Fire immersed in New Salem and their open use of magic, it was interesting to see Lily and Rowan try to be normal. Especially Rowan, who had a lot to learn. Being back gives Lily a new appreciation and understanding of her family and strangely enough, of Lillian too. This second book slows down in pace which I have conflicted feelings on. On one hand, I was ready for them to face Lillian and New Salem but on the other hand, stepping back allowed us to get to know everyone better, which I think was much needed. I was continually impressed by how the author developed Lily, Rowan and Lillian, switched between times/realities and integrated the secondary characters without overwhelming the readers.
(Minor) reservations
Like I mentioned, there is a lull in the book where they’re trying to be normal but eventually, problems start chasing them and everything picks up again. The ending is pretty crazy (in a good way) but there were a couple moments I wanted more of. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for major explanations (from one character in particular) in the final book!
Do I recommend?
I do! It’s an entertaining, well-written series and I’m excited to see how the author will be everything together in Book 3.
I thought it was nice to step back into Lily's Salem, but I too longed to return to Lillian's Salem. I thought the new secondary characters introduced in Lily's world too easily accepted witchcraft. The romance tension and secret-keeping really annoyed me, but overall I loved the plot development in this book. You understood Lillian's decisions better, we uncovered the outsiders secrets, and oh my gosh that ENDING. Ahhh I need Traitor's Pyre. Great review!
ReplyDeleteRachel @ A Perfection Called Books
I never read the first book in this series, but it looks so interesting!
ReplyDeleteGood review. I love the first book and I want to read this one really badly. I liked Josephine's Starcrossed series too. :)
ReplyDeleteI still haven't started this series! *whistles* *adds to the list of series I mean to start* You already know I'm wary of witch-centered series in general, but the Worldwalker series sounds really interesting ;)
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