mariethelibrarian's review
4.0
Well this was full of twists and turns and what a ride. SO MUCH HAPPENED. IM IN AWE. Wow this was such a ride and so much character developement and I AM JUST IN AWE. Words cant be formed. *dives into book 3*
erinarkin20's review
4.0
3.5 stars
Firewalker is the second book of Josephine Angelini’s Worldwalker trilogy and if you haven’t read book one yet, stop here because I don’t want to ruin any of the story for you. I loved Trial by Fire and was anxiously waiting for this one so I could dive back into the world of witches and magic. I am going to apologize in advance if things sound vague in this review but it is mostly because I don’t want to spoil anything. A lot happens in this book and where book one focused a lot on building out the world and developing the characters, this one is more focused on tying everything together and advancing the story.
This book picks up immediately after Trial by Fire ends and now Lily is back in her world with Rowan. Having been severely burned in the pyre, she isn’t one hundred percent when they turn up in her world and are greeted by Lily’s mom and sister. As Lily begins to see the issues her leaving left behind, she also starts to think that there could be a future for her and Rowan.
Now that we are in Lily’s world, we get to see her connections with her family and her friends and I loved seeing this part of her. Since she spent the majority of her time in another world in the last book, we didn’t get too much of this. When she finally reconnected with her Tristan and Breakfast and Una as well, we learned more about them as well as how critical they would be to the remainder of the story. I also loved the relationship between Lily and her sister, Juliet.
As the story moves forward, Lily’s friends are drawn to her and as Rowan explains, they are natural mechanics. When Rowan begins to show the group what it means to be a mechanic, they all opt to have Lily claim them and their real training begins. This is definitely important because Lillian hasn’t given up on getting Lily back to her world and she is willing to do whatever it takes to get Lily to do what she wants which means the entire group is in danger.
As the group ultimately ends up back in Rowan’s world, they are faced with a number of challenges. The tribes are caught between the Coven and the Woven (both dangerous in their minds) and the ultimate reason why all the scientists were being killed by Lillian becomes clear… at least to Lily. Because of this, things between Rowan and Lily take a turn. I won’t say much about this but I have to say this was one of those moments in the book that change how I thought things would go – not just for them, but overall.
This is where I mention, there are a bunch of secrets floating between Lily and Rowan in this book. One of the secrets is directly linked to the reason Rowan encourages Lily to claim her friends as her mechanics. One of the other secrets is that Lily is still connected to Lillian and she is continuing to let Lillian show her all the justifications she has for doing what she has. All of them take a toll on the relationship between Lily and Rowan and in the end, even though they still very much care about each other, they are the things that make everything more complicated.
This book dives more into the Woven and as the group heads west, they finally encounter the Hive. As story comes to a close, it is clear that things will be very different for everyone going forward. I know this review is somewhat vague but I can’t apologize. If you are looking for a story with magic and lots of action, definitely check this one out and if you haven’t started book one, now is a great time to read it and dive right into Firewalker when it comes out.
Firewalker is the second book of Josephine Angelini’s Worldwalker trilogy and if you haven’t read book one yet, stop here because I don’t want to ruin any of the story for you. I loved Trial by Fire and was anxiously waiting for this one so I could dive back into the world of witches and magic. I am going to apologize in advance if things sound vague in this review but it is mostly because I don’t want to spoil anything. A lot happens in this book and where book one focused a lot on building out the world and developing the characters, this one is more focused on tying everything together and advancing the story.
This book picks up immediately after Trial by Fire ends and now Lily is back in her world with Rowan. Having been severely burned in the pyre, she isn’t one hundred percent when they turn up in her world and are greeted by Lily’s mom and sister. As Lily begins to see the issues her leaving left behind, she also starts to think that there could be a future for her and Rowan.
Now that we are in Lily’s world, we get to see her connections with her family and her friends and I loved seeing this part of her. Since she spent the majority of her time in another world in the last book, we didn’t get too much of this. When she finally reconnected with her Tristan and Breakfast and Una as well, we learned more about them as well as how critical they would be to the remainder of the story. I also loved the relationship between Lily and her sister, Juliet.
As the story moves forward, Lily’s friends are drawn to her and as Rowan explains, they are natural mechanics. When Rowan begins to show the group what it means to be a mechanic, they all opt to have Lily claim them and their real training begins. This is definitely important because Lillian hasn’t given up on getting Lily back to her world and she is willing to do whatever it takes to get Lily to do what she wants which means the entire group is in danger.
As the group ultimately ends up back in Rowan’s world, they are faced with a number of challenges. The tribes are caught between the Coven and the Woven (both dangerous in their minds) and the ultimate reason why all the scientists were being killed by Lillian becomes clear… at least to Lily. Because of this, things between Rowan and Lily take a turn. I won’t say much about this but I have to say this was one of those moments in the book that change how I thought things would go – not just for them, but overall.
This is where I mention, there are a bunch of secrets floating between Lily and Rowan in this book. One of the secrets is directly linked to the reason Rowan encourages Lily to claim her friends as her mechanics. One of the other secrets is that Lily is still connected to Lillian and she is continuing to let Lillian show her all the justifications she has for doing what she has. All of them take a toll on the relationship between Lily and Rowan and in the end, even though they still very much care about each other, they are the things that make everything more complicated.
This book dives more into the Woven and as the group heads west, they finally encounter the Hive. As story comes to a close, it is clear that things will be very different for everyone going forward. I know this review is somewhat vague but I can’t apologize. If you are looking for a story with magic and lots of action, definitely check this one out and if you haven’t started book one, now is a great time to read it and dive right into Firewalker when it comes out.
nathaliad25's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
This second book was more dense for me, but I loved it nonetheless. There are a lot of explanations about Lillian and how she became what she is. I love the complexity of her character and I also love the understanding that there is between Lily and Lillian.
243pm's review against another edition
3.0
Same as the first one
It was okay. To be honest it’s been ages since i’ve finished this triology, so i can’t really remember anything about it. It was just an ordinary story about witches.
It was okay. To be honest it’s been ages since i’ve finished this triology, so i can’t really remember anything about it. It was just an ordinary story about witches.
zarzamel's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
fictionalkate's review
3.0
Firewalker is an interesting follow up to the first book in the Worldwalker trilogy, Trial By Fire. Picking up where Trial By Fire left off, Lily is back in her own world again but she's not alone. As Lily recovers from the events of the first book, she has to come to terms with who she is - a powerful witch in a world without magic. Rowan may have followed her back to her world but he can't forget all he left behind in his own. Secrets threaten to tear them apart as Lily has to decide just what she is willing to sacrifice in order to save the world.
Lily is one of those characters I love to read. She's not the same girl who started the series. With her trusted mechanic Rowan by her side, there is the feeling that Lily could accomplish anything - even saving the world from mysterious beasts and power-hungry witches. But nothing is ever just as simple as stopping imminent world destruction! Especially not when pesky real world problems interfere.
One of the things I liked most about this book was how there are consequences to Lily's trip to Lillian's world. There is no just dropping off the face of the planet for three months with no consequences. The way Lily's before life in this world wasn't forgotten added to the sense of realism in this book.
That's not to say there isn't a lot of magic, witchcraft and world-hopping involved too. Lily is stronger than ever and has only just began to realise how powerful and addictive her magic can be. I think the magic in this series is very interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing Lily as more than just a cauldron for her coven to power up from. She still has room to grow in her power by the time the series is over.
Combining characters from multiple worlds and having more than one version of a person could be confusing but that is not the case in Firewalker. Angelini manages to have scenes with multiple versions of a character without any confusion. There is a sense that these characters are both a product of their environments but at the same time the same soul runs throughout every version of a person.
Plot wise, for much of this book I felt like it was just bridging the gap between brilliant beginning novel and what I hope is an epic ending. Lots of information was exchanged and the foundations of what should be a great plot was laid out. I thought certain parts just felt a little too easy and didn't believe others considering other things in the novel we knew to be true. Whilst I liked the contemporary world consequences, I felt like that part of the story was weaker than the parts from Lillian's world.
Firewalker was a nice return to Lily's magical tale but it doesn't quite measure up to the first book in the trilogy. The world building is nice and I loved getting to see more of Lillian and Rowan's world whilst witnessing the drama and plot working up to what should be an interesting climax. There is romance mixed in with some nice interactions between Lily and Rowan but ultimately I didn't feel as invested in their relationship as I had in the past.
Having read Firewalker - I'm more excited than ever to read the third and final book in the Worldwalker trilogy, Witch's Pyre. This is shaping up to be an entertaining series but Firewalker fell a little short of my expectations.
Many thanks to Pan Macmillan Australia for the review copy.
Lily is one of those characters I love to read. She's not the same girl who started the series. With her trusted mechanic Rowan by her side, there is the feeling that Lily could accomplish anything - even saving the world from mysterious beasts and power-hungry witches. But nothing is ever just as simple as stopping imminent world destruction! Especially not when pesky real world problems interfere.
One of the things I liked most about this book was how there are consequences to Lily's trip to Lillian's world. There is no just dropping off the face of the planet for three months with no consequences. The way Lily's before life in this world wasn't forgotten added to the sense of realism in this book.
That's not to say there isn't a lot of magic, witchcraft and world-hopping involved too. Lily is stronger than ever and has only just began to realise how powerful and addictive her magic can be. I think the magic in this series is very interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing Lily as more than just a cauldron for her coven to power up from. She still has room to grow in her power by the time the series is over.
Combining characters from multiple worlds and having more than one version of a person could be confusing but that is not the case in Firewalker. Angelini manages to have scenes with multiple versions of a character without any confusion. There is a sense that these characters are both a product of their environments but at the same time the same soul runs throughout every version of a person.
Plot wise, for much of this book I felt like it was just bridging the gap between brilliant beginning novel and what I hope is an epic ending. Lots of information was exchanged and the foundations of what should be a great plot was laid out. I thought certain parts just felt a little too easy and didn't believe others considering other things in the novel we knew to be true. Whilst I liked the contemporary world consequences, I felt like that part of the story was weaker than the parts from Lillian's world.
Firewalker was a nice return to Lily's magical tale but it doesn't quite measure up to the first book in the trilogy. The world building is nice and I loved getting to see more of Lillian and Rowan's world whilst witnessing the drama and plot working up to what should be an interesting climax. There is romance mixed in with some nice interactions between Lily and Rowan but ultimately I didn't feel as invested in their relationship as I had in the past.
Having read Firewalker - I'm more excited than ever to read the third and final book in the Worldwalker trilogy, Witch's Pyre. This is shaping up to be an entertaining series but Firewalker fell a little short of my expectations.
Many thanks to Pan Macmillan Australia for the review copy.
ssjonoyoung's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this so much. Such a perfect sequel to Trial By Fire. Lily as a protagonist is both engaging yet frustratingly human despite her magic. The characters were all so developed and just interacted wonderfully.The plot is strong in this series which I like especially. It has a clear goal and a complex magic system which makes the worlds created so much more intriguing. I just think its superb how the parallel universes are so entwined with the magic. It's like a perfect blend. But I just don't see how this can have a happy conclusion at this point. What is this city? Is Rowan alive? Is Lillian going to die? I must have answers.
dee_farbz's review against another edition
4.0
This is definitely a second book because it has every possible chaotic event that could happen. I’m hoping there is tons of of resolution in the next book because this one really destroyed every positive thing that built in the first book. I liked it but now I need these things to be fixed. I’m definitely reading ahead for spoilers because I don’t know if I can take it.
amarylissw's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars, I'm thinking.
I remember quite liking the first book. This one, however, was a bit lacking. For one, the beginning was quite slow -- nothing really happened. When you got to the other world, things really started picking up and I got invested in the story.
The world-building is really a cool part of this series. I love the ideas of the witches and crucibles and willstones. Angelini has done a great job with that. Her writing is good as well -- not flashy or anything, but good, with some nice, insightful quotes.
Perhaps the weakest part of the story is the characters. They're fine, but they could use more development. I liked the romance in the previous book, but I couldn't really care for it this time. I found Rowan kind of boring, honestly -- he just seemed to have no spark. Also, maybe because the story's written in third POV, but I had a hard time connecting with Lily, and oftentimes, she annoyed me. There were sometimes when I respected her actions and decisions, but more often than not, she seemed childish to me. The minor characters are barely notable.
All in all, it wasn't a bad sequel -- like some out there -- and I will still read the next book. If anything, the beginning was too slow, and the characters could've used some more development. But the world-building is fresh, and there are some unique plot turns -- and that ending certainly had me gripping the book hard and my heart thudding.
I remember quite liking the first book. This one, however, was a bit lacking. For one, the beginning was quite slow -- nothing really happened. When you got to the other world, things really started picking up and I got invested in the story.
The world-building is really a cool part of this series. I love the ideas of the witches and crucibles and willstones. Angelini has done a great job with that. Her writing is good as well -- not flashy or anything, but good, with some nice, insightful quotes.
Perhaps the weakest part of the story is the characters. They're fine, but they could use more development. I liked the romance in the previous book, but I couldn't really care for it this time. I found Rowan kind of boring, honestly -- he just seemed to have no spark. Also, maybe because the story's written in third POV, but I had a hard time connecting with Lily, and oftentimes, she annoyed me. There were sometimes when I respected her actions and decisions, but more often than not, she seemed childish to me. The minor characters are barely notable.
All in all, it wasn't a bad sequel -- like some out there -- and I will still read the next book. If anything, the beginning was too slow, and the characters could've used some more development. But the world-building is fresh, and there are some unique plot turns -- and that ending certainly had me gripping the book hard and my heart thudding.