Firewalker: The Worldwalker Trilogy, Book 2

http://functioninginsanity.blogspot.com/2015/09/firewalker-by-josephine-angelini.htmlFirewalker was my other must have release of September 1st and I got right to it. First I have to mention the cover change. Now I loved the original cover for book one but the new ones are even prettier. It's even pretty naked. Now I'm not a huge fan of my covers not matching but still it's pretty. Also there is a novella between the two books, it's not necessary it's just from Rowan's perspective as he finds Lily and believes she is Lillian and how he comes to realize that isn't the case. As I mentioned Trial by Fire may have left us with a cliff hanger, Lily and Rowan about to jump worlds after he said he was sticking with her always. Super sweet. Well they jumped. Downside is that Lily is in seriously bad shape after staying on pyre so long for her first time first fueling her army and then for the world jump. She needs her mechanics attention. Turns out coming home also has some troubles besides healing up. Apparently when you go missing for weeks on end the authorities get involved. Rowan is put into a work he is completely unfamiliar with and tasked with saving his witch with the help of her mother who's head isn't always in this world and her sister in this world, a nurse, who isn't sure what she believes. Tristan of her world is there as well, he has been worried for her since she disappeared. Her Tristan is like Rowans best friend, he has the power to be a strong mechanic inside of him but in a world without magic he was never awoken but with a witch in this world, and a powerful one, there will be those now drawn to her power if not knowingly. Lily quickly makes a new group of friends and at Rowans insistence her own coven. There is a lot going on and we see it from different perspectives which was interesting. There were also lots of flashbacks/memories that Lillian shared with Lily trying to make her see her side of things and convince her to return. I liked seeing the reversal of roles, Rowan in an unfamiliar setting. People questioning him. Though it was like a walk in the park learning to navigate the new world with the internet and such vs constantly being on the move and attacked from all different sides from the cities and the Woven. That's all I can really say without giving any spoilers. Now I want to talk about the characters some more but I have some serious things to say and some will be spoilers. You've been warned so read on at your own discretion. Lily. She has grown so much since the first book. She has come into her power and while it does call to her she is able to resist it and is scared of the feelings it gives her, making her want to lose control. I agree with Rowan here, her being careful and fearful of losing control makes me think she will never be like Lillian in the sense that she respects the power she was given more. Still seeing her in her own world, where she left broken hearted and weak and coming back strong in many ways and with the love of her life there with her was great. She had a huge crush on Tristan and had thought something was finally happening between them when she caught him with another girl and then proceeded to have an episode and went straight to another world. Seeing her face him again, I was proud of the way she handled herself. Even as things turned bad and she could have easily sought out solace in him, in that way, she didn't and I really liked that. On the flip side, her other world self Lillian changed some too. Not so much the character changed but our understanding of her changed. She has always said she has a reason for the evil she has done and she will be the villain to let him stay the hero, that she really loved Rowan and that what she did to him was out of love. I always thought she had knocked her head or got a bit to high on witch magic with that line of thought. Every good villain always thinks they are doing what is best. Still seeing her memories and how her good intentions were turned against her and would create something none of her world would survive I understood. I still don't agree with her methods and don't think I could ever forgive her some acts, but I understand what was driving her. That was a unique perspective to have. Understanding of the villain of the story. Then we have Rowan. I was cold to him at the start of the first book because he was kind of an ass. As the story wore on I understood him and his reasoning and conflict but grew to love him. I was just so happy for him and Lily. Still I knew something was off from the start. Knowing everything he had been through I even suspected things. Still these two suffer from a huge obstacle. Lies and half-truths. I think so much of this could have been cleared up with honesty, it would have sucked and it would have hurt but I think it would have been understood and then everyone would have been on the same page. I also think if Lillian had just been honest she could have saved so much trouble. While I understand the desire to protect the one you love from that information, I think in the end it would have been easier for him to take. I thought Rowan was a strong character and I think both Lillian and Lily sold him short on what he could handle. Lily in particular who is always upset about him trying to decide what she can and cannot handle. Though my views on Rowan change by books end. The journey of this book, trying to understand the past and find a solution for the future of this world is epic. Facing the different woven, trying to understand them and feeling their may me more to them. Firewalker let me more heartbroken and in a state of emotional duress than the first book and all I want is to know what happens next and hope that some things can be fixed, though I'm not sure they have not passed the point of no return. *****Spoilers***** Really need to discuss so only read this next paragraph if you've finished Firewalker***** I went from loving Rowan to having an issue with him and not liking him one bit. First he is going to leave her, which is a dick move by the way after you swore your place is by her side and you came with her to begin with. I understood his need to go back but to wish to be apart and keeping it from her was not cool. Also he's all about wanting to know everything and not be pushed out but he does a lot of secret keeping and pushing her out of things which makes him a hypocrite and I'm never fond of those. Then back in the other world together all happy and even finally have their alone uninterrupted sexy fun times and it all seems good, minus her small secret but that seems simple now. Nope then he does the unforgivable. He sides against her. He does it by taking her willstones. That's it for me for him. I don't care his reasoning behind it and I don’t know if anything could ever make up for it to redeem his character to me. He made her show him what those creeps did to her and her willstones when they tortured her. He knew what they did and he vowed to never let that happen to her again. Then he DID that very thing to her himself. What they did to her in that place was evil and unforgivable but I feel what he did, knowing that and what it did to her, makes him a bigger monster. He was too chicken to do that to the evil Lillian whom did horrible things but he was able to do it to the sweet Lily who just wanted to make things better and only wanted to help people, who always tried to respect the power she had been given. The one whom he said he had always loved, she's the one he was able to torture like that. I'm curious how he plays into the next book but honestly I'd be okay if he was brutally murdered at this point.*****Spoiler rant over***** That's all I have to share about Firewalker. I did enjoy the book, though it left me an emotional wreck and in desperate need of the next book. I highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys fantasy, magic, witches, parallel universes, rebellions, constantly evolving characters and all that good stuff. Just be prepared to be in shock and awe.

I raved about the first book in this series, Trial by Fire. It absolutely blew me away and I have been extremely excited for the last year for this book, the second in the series. I'm not sure if this affected my feelings about this book, or if I would have felt the same regardless, but it didn't - quite - live up to my expectations.**Warning** There will be spoilers and references to events in the first book. It can't be helped. Honestly, it's going to be hard enough to talk about this book without spoiling everything in it. If you haven't yet read Trial by Fire, please check out my review for it.Because the last book ended with Lily and Rowan world-jumping back to our world at the end of Trial by Fire, I knew I could expect that we would be spending at least some time in our world and I wasn't really looking forward to it. I enjoy being in Lillian's world. It's fascinating and I have been absolutely dying to know why Lillian ended up as tyrannical as she did. This meant that the first quarter of the book was ... well, boring for me. I wasn't into it, and I was could easily put the book down. Added to that, it was obvious what was going to need to happen - the fact that it was being danced around and not being done just frustrated me. Lily never was one to back away from what she knew was right, and I totally understood the break that was needed, the respite from the insanity that they'd come from, but I knew there was still too much to resolve. Lily and Rowan knew it, too.After that, though, things really started to pick up. I loved that we got some answers - that blew my mind - about questions I'd had, but at the same time Josephine Angelini introduced new questions that I'm so incredibly interested in. I love that Lily doesn't just accept things at face value, she challenges and questions nearly everything, even when it frustrates those that surround her.Speaking of the people surrounding her, well, things are starting to really build. I love that there aren't any clear answers. That maybe there's not a single person that's right in this, and that Lily has to find her own way, her own answers, and trust herself more than anyone. I love that. It's so nice to see that - even if someone she loves dearly doesn't agree - Lily doesn't shy away from doing what she believes, in her heart, to be right. I love that she still struggles against becoming like Lillian, and realizing that it's so possible because she is Lillian. I love her relationships with the people around her, and her struggles in the power imbalance between the majority of them and her.What I didn't love so much were a few of the people surrounding her. One, I thought, was forgiven a bit too quickly. Another completely pissed me off. I'm 99% certain that something is going to be revealed to be not quite what we were shown there, but I'm still furious. The treatment, the reaction, the inability to trust....Grrr. I literally put my Kindle down and swore at my book.That being said, the ending? Oh.My.God. My mouth was hanging open and I'm - once again - dying for the next book in this series. I'd begun to suspect, along with Lily, that things weren't quite the way they'd been portrayed and accepted, but that ending left me salivating for more. I have to see how this resolves itself.There were some heart-wrenching moments in this book. I had to set the book down multiple times to give myself time to collect myself. There haven't been a lot of books that have been able to affect me so deeply, and I love that this one can.

Ottimo libro

I love everything that has to do with witches.. And this book is great! As soon as I finished the first book I immediately bought this one! Now I'm waiting for my exams to be over to read the third book ❤❤

Picks up well from the first book! Characters believable and plot is fast pace! Loving this series! Ready for the next book!

Awesome book! I love it!! :)

1 Jahr sehnsüchtig gewartet … in 2 Tagen gelesen… “Firewalker“ von Josephine Angelini ist der 2. Band der Worldwalker Trilogie. Band 1 “Trial by Fire“ habe ich verschlungen und es zählte zu einem meiner Bücherhighlights im letzten Jahr. Umso sehnsüchtiger habe ich auf Band 2 gewartet…Hier ein kurzer (spoilerfreier) Einblick in “Firewalker“Band 2 der Worldwalker Trilogie knüpft nahtlos da an, wo der Leser sich von “Trial by Fire“ verabschieden musste. Doch so langsam die Geschichte zu Beginn startet, umso schneller entwickelt sie sich zum Ende hin. Bereits bestehende Figuren, wie Tristan und natürlich allen voran Lily, gewinnen an Tiefgang, auch das Profil von Lillian wird klarer, ihre Motive deutlicher. Der Leser bekommt einen wesentlich besseren Einblick in ihre Beweggründe als noch in Band 1, ein gewisses Verständnis für ihre Reaktionen wird aufgebaut.Neue, absolut sympathische Charaktere kommen hinzu, die eine Bereicherung für die Geschichte – und für Lily als Stütze, darstellen.Insgesamt ist "Firewalker" abstrakter als “Trial by Fire“ – was im Wesentlichen dem komplizierten Weltenbau geschuldet ist (u.a. den "Woven" und den Details der drohenden Katastrophe). Da ich mit so manchen Einzelheiten Schwierigkeiten hatte, gibt es einen Punkt Abzug. Entgegen noch Band 1 schlägt “Firewalker“ z.T. eine sehr dystopische Richtung ein, deren Abstraktion mich manchmal die Augenbrauen hochziehen ließ.Fazit: Langsamer Start, liebenswerte Protagonisten, ein Liebesdreieck, das keins ist aber für interessante Konflikte sorgt, sehr spannend vor allem zu Ende hin … nicht ganz so gut wie der Vorgänger aber in jedem Fall ein gut geschriebenes YA-Fantasy/Dystopie Abenteuer.Rating: 4 von 5 Sterne und absolut lesenswert!