Review--Firewalker by Josephine Angelini

Worlds divide, magic slays, and love lies in the second book of Josephine Angelini’s The Worldwalker Trilogy.

"You think I’m a monster, but my choices, as ruthless as they seem, are justified."

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.

Picking up right where Trial By Fire left off, Firewalker is another sexy, fast-paced, heartbreaking thrill ride from internationally bestselling author Josephine Angelini!

It feels like ages since I read Josephine Angelini’s Trial by Fire, and since Firewalker picks up exactly where we left off, it took me a bit to get caught up and get back into the flow of things. Other than that struggle and a few issues with pacing, I quite enjoyed this installment in the trilogy.

Firewalker starts off at a slow pace as Lily tries to heal from her ordeal of being burned alive. Luckily, she has Rowan at her side and he’s very skilled with such things! Though, right away it seems, Lily starts to keep secrets from Rowan. Mainly that Lillian starts to contact Lily in her dreams and Lily engages in it. Lillian starts to show Lily her memories to perhaps give her a better understanding of the choices she, Lillian, has made.

Though to me, I still feel like Lillian can’t be trusted and Lily thinks this too, but at the same time sees some good in Lillian. I have yet to truly see this myself as I still think Lillian might really be bad after all. But we shall have to wait and see for the third book in the trilogy to provide answers.

In this new adventure, Lily is joined by her friends, Breakfast, Ana, and Tristan, her ex-boyfriend, Tristan, though the two Tristans do eventually meet. Rowan suggests to Lily that she make them her mechanics, for they all have the potential to be so and Lily agrees with him on this at least. Rowan want to train them to protect Lily, because he knows that he will eventually have to go back to his world and basically save his people and such from Lillian’s tyranny.

As I said, the pacing to this one was rather slow. Things dragged out a lot, and it was struggle for me to read through it all at times. There are still enjoyable parts here and there, but I still feel like I don’t have a grasp on the big picture here. What exactly are we trying to achieve? There are so many hidden agendas, so many other small plot twists that throw a wrench into the scheme of things, that I can’t quite get a firm hold on what Lily’s goal is.

Lily and Rowan are still quite the couple though. And when Lily begins keeping her secrets right away, I was already expecting agony and doom. And there is a blowup of sorts, that’s expected though. What comes as surprising are the little things that happen afterwards. And it’s things I won’t mention, obviously, but it does lead you to a particular idea that doesn’t full take form just yet. But it’s during all this relationship drama that we see Lily’s Tristan fight to win her back, if subtly. Though Lily’s heart seems set on Tristan, there is potential for a love triangle drama.

Amidst the slow pacing and some secretive confusion, Firewalker was still a pretty decent read. I am definitely looking forward to seeing how it all plays out in the end. The ending of this one was filled with both shocks and confusions. There are some shocks that are confusions even, because while something might be said…we’re left wondering, is it true? Who know really! That’s the best and most aggravating part! The third and final book, now known as Witch’s Pyre…instead of Traitor’s Pyre, will come out next year and I am still most definitely looking forward to that one! Especially since I wonder if there’s more depth to the title change or if it was simply a title change! More waiting to find out I guess!

Overall Rating 3.5/5 stars