Book Nerds Across America

You've seen me post on here time and time again about many great author events and signings that I (Flo) am fortunate enough to attend. Let me tell you, a large number of these happened at my favorite bookstore in Miami: Books and Books. Next Monday, October 12th they are bringing us the Fierce Reads Fall 2015 tour and we all are super excited! So for this week, a few of the Books and Books South Florida Bloggers are going to spotlighting the authors on our blogs. (Check out some of other others: Owl Always be Reading, Books & Swoon, Bookcrastinators In Wonderland, Dapper Animals blog, and Once Upon a Twilight.)

Today, we have the opportunity to ask Josephine Angelini a few questions about Firewalker. Without sharing spoilers, I have to say this book left me with some massive feels at the end! Here's Josie:

So, if you remember, I (Flo) decided to take the plunge into Read. Sleep. Repeat's #ARCAugust this year! I had some books that I really wanted to get read ahead of their release dates, so this was a perfect challenge.

The quick update: I did it! And then some!! My original goal was to read 3 ARCs. I did so, and I even managed to throw in an extra one I've been wanting to read as well! Let me pat myself on the back for a minute! *pat, pat*

How did you do? Remember, regardless of how you fared against your goal, you succeeded simply by going for it in the first place! Here are my #ARCAugust reviews:

Hello, Goodbye, and Everything In Between by Jennifer E. Smith: http://www.booknerdsacrossamerica.com/2015/08/hello-goodbye-and-everything-in-between.html

Firewalker by Josephine Angelini:  http://www.booknerdsacrossamerica.com/2015/08/firewalker-by-josephine-angelini.html

Serpentine by Cindy Pon:  http://www.booknerdsacrossamerica.com/2015/08/serpentine-by-cindy-pon.html

...and the BONUS one, Everything, Eveything by Nicola Yoon: http://www.booknerdsacrossamerica.com/2015/08/everything-everything-by-nicola-yoon.html

See you all next year for #ARCApril!

This picture of me and Josephine Angelini from back in 2012 is one of my favorites. So cute!

Book Summary
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!

Flo's Review
As usual, I have to start off my review of Josephine Angelini's book talking about how much I and the other Book Nerds love her. It's like a habit now. Lol! But we do. What a sweetheart! 

Here's our review of Trial by Fire.

Firewalker is interesting in that it addressed the issues I had with Trial by Fire, but it also didn't at the same time. My main thing with Trial by Fire is that I felt that while the concept was cool, it took a lot of explanation that detracted from the action in the story. I figured that now that the world -- or in this case, worlds -- have been established, Firewalker would just be action. Well, yes and no. A lot of things happened, but it still felt like we were getting a lot of exposition. Some new characters take on central roles in the story and need to be taught. This was a useful refresher for me, as it's been over a year since I was in Lily's world, but it brought the same slower feel of the first story into this one.

Another thing I wanted from this book was to learn more about Lillian and why she did what she did. My wish was granted. We get the full story and, without giving anything away, it's not black and white. Lily explains in frustration to Lillian that she has to know the full story because they are the same person and she (Lily) wants to know whey she (Lillian) would make the choices she made. This idea of Lily and Lillian being the same person is explored from many different angles in the story and that was pretty cool. This also extended to other characters, and I really liked reading about it unfolding in different ways. 

Speaking of other characters...we see a lot of "the other side" with many of the major players in this book. As in, we saw them one way in Trial by Fire, but now we are seeing another side of them in Firewalker. Sometimes this is good (yay!) but sometimes it is not (sad day!)

Now that Lily is not simply learning what she is and who she is, she can take the next step in character growth: she can start really becoming her true self. She grows a lot in this book as a leader and is confronted with difficulties because of it. How she handles these situations is what sets her apart as her own person and is leading her to her full potential.

So, there's Rowan and there's Tristan...but can we talk about Breakfast?! #TeamBreakfast! I absolutely adored his character. If I didn't think Una would kick my butt in .2 seconds, I would be all over that.

Of course we are left at the start of something new and (what looks like) big at the end of the book. I have no idea what book 3 will be about, but I am looking forward to where it will take us and how everything will be resolved.

Thanks so much to Macmillan for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.