Emily's Trial

Akasha Chronicles #2

by Natalie Wright

Two years ago, Emily's journey began. She learned the ancient magic of her Celtic ancestors, and became a modern Celtic Priestess. The golden torc, forged by faerie hands, is still wound around her arm, fused to her soul. She was entrusted with powerful magic - secret knowledge.

But even a Priestess can feel desire - temptation - and the quest for love. Will passion entice Emily to use her sacred magic in a forbidden way? Can new love take root in a world of nightmares? And will her friendships survive Emily's Trial?

The Journey Continues...

Genres: Fantasy, Magic

203 pages, Paperback

First published October 2, 2012

About the author

Natalie’s stories transport readers to realms of magic, myth, lovable misfits—and dragons! She is the author of Season of the Dragon (2023), named a Top 10 Indie Epic Fantasy by Ingram; a BookLife Editor’s Pick; and winner of the silver medal in the 2023 Readers’ Favorite Awards (Epic Fantasy).

The first in a planned 5-book series (Dragos Primeri), book 2—The Spring Dragon— is set to release in early Spring 2025.

Natalie also co-hosts the Tipsy Nerds Book Club podcast: The best of Sci-Fi & Fantasy—with a twist! You can download the popular SFF podcast free wherever you get your podcasts. Read the book, grab a cocktail, and join the conversation: http://tipsynerdsbookclub.com.

Natalie is a judge in the international NYC Midnight writing challenges and a full member of SFWA. She frequently appears on panels at book festivals, SFF cons, and other book events throughout the western US. If you'd like to meet Natalie in person, check her website for book tours/signings/event schedule.

Natalie lives in the desert southwest of America with her husband and two cat overlords, and visits her college-age son frequently in NYC.

For current news about new releases, cover reveals, invitations to ARC teams, etc., become a subscriber and/or follow Natalie on her socials:

Website: www.NatalieWrightAuthor.com
Threads: @NatalieWrightAuthor
Facebook: @NatalieWright.Author
Instagram: @NatalieWrightAuthor
TikTok: @NatalieWrightAuthor

Reviews

[Michelle's Paranormal Vault of Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by this 2nd installment in the Akasha Chronicles series. We got to meet Emily in Emily’s House first (book 1), then we get this great adventure. I really enjoyed this book, I will say I liked it a lot more than the first book. Not that I didn’t enjoy the first one, but she is only 14 in that book, and I have a hard time relating to children that go off an do stuff that I can’t believe, like taking off to Ireland alone, with no adults, from America, sorry, just not happening, getting on a plane, and her one friend, Jake “borrowed” a passport, as he didn’t have one, and was able to convince them at the airline he was 18 and he is a small 14 year old? Yeah, didn’t believe that. BUT, in this book, its 2 years later, and this was a lot easier for me to relate to, and believe.

In this book, like I said, its 2 years later from when she first learned of being the descendant of a Celtic Priestess, meaning she is one now herself. We have some major adventures in this book, and she now has some really awesome powers. I will try to not say too much, so I won’t spoil anything from the first book Emily’s House.

I love the worldbuilding and imagery Natalie does with this story, it pulls you in, and you feel like you are there in the story with them. I love how we get to see how much Emily and her friends have grown so much, and really just get to know them.
This whole series is full of fun magick, faeries, sprites, you name it, we have it all, just about. I love it all. I fell in love with this world, like I did with the Iron Fey series I love so much. It gives me the feel good feeling when I step into this world in the same way the Iron Fey did. Don’t get me wrong, they are not alike or anything, just similar in the feel with the fey and all.

I was sure on the edge of my seat at times, as I got about halfway, when some major manipulation by the enemy happens for Emily to possibly loose her friends; I felt her fear and pain. It sure was suspenseful.

Here is a funny scene I had enjoyed, its not a spoiler or anything, in the beginning of the book, Emily is at a party with a guy she likes and her friend Fanny, his name is Owen, and calls her Miss Magic.

“Sure, I can take a joke,” I said. I’ll show them one of my jokes.
Within a few seconds, the guy who had made the joke about the size of Owens … er, private parts … started to rise into the air. He was so drunk that at first, I’m not sure he even noticed. But then he started yelling, “Hey! What the hell?” Everyone started looking over at us, and it got quiet. I raised him up, up, up. What would he look like spinning? He began twirling like a top, faster and faster. He still had a cup of beer in his hand, and the beer was spilling down on the rest of the Neanderthal crew.
Owen joined everyone else in laughing.
“You can take a joke,” Owen whispered into my ear. The
feel of his warm breath on my ear made me just about lose it
and drop the guy on his head. But I held it together long enough to bring him down gently. All the twirling must have been a lousy combination with the beer because he ran from
the room and tried to make it out the front door. We could hear him ralphing in the hallway. Didn’t make it.
A round of applause rose, and it was Owen who started it. “A round of applause for Miss Magic,” he said as he
beamed. Chants of, “Again, again, again,” rose up from the crowd.

I highly recommend this series. It’s easy and fun to read, I know younger teens will really connect, but is still fun for all ages. Very well written.

5 out of 5 stars for me.
I received a complimentary copy of this book for a book tour with Reading Addiction Virtual Blog Tours.


First book in this series.

[Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is book 2 in a series (the first is Emily’s House) and I have to say that this book blew me away. I thought Book 1 was good but this one was great- sooo much better. This book takes place 2 years after book 1, so Emily is now 16. She is still the Celtic Princess, armed with her magic dagger and golden torc. Her best friends are still Fanny and Jake. This time she enters a portal like in Book 1 but in this book she enters a different world than before. This world is horrible- it is full of darkness, danger, despair and negativity. The ruler of it, named Ciardha, lives and grows on people’s fears. All the negative thoughts and fears Emily and her friends have while in this world come true and they actually live them. It is a horrible place for them to be. Can they survive that world alive? If they do, will their friendships survive? And will the real world survive or will it be taken over by darkness?? These are all things answered in the story.

The detail in the story made it so real. I pictured every scene as if I was there. I could not put the book down! Natalie has a very creative imagination and I was impressed. It has a lot of adventure and action and I loved the characters. This story had a little more of a love interest thing going on than book 1 (which I liked) and I was very curious to see what would happen. I was curious about Owen- a boy introduced in this book- and his real feelings for Emily. I wondered if he really liked her or was using her to do magic and go into the portal.

This book leaves you with a huge cliffhanger- something I usually do not like- but I was ok with it in this book. It leaves you wanting much more and I cannot wait for book 3!! A great read and job done by Natalie!!!

Reviewed for www.youngadultbookaddict.blogspot.com

[Tee loves Kyle Jacobson · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Emily's Trial we continue on her adventure and oh what an adventure it is. She has just faced down the first evil she has ever known and now she is a Celtic Princess with power. She is armed with her magic dagger and golden torc she will have to face down more evil. This time the evil shows itself in the form of desire, temptation, and love.

In this next quest Emily will go through she will have to fight desire that she has never known. She will have to fight the temptation that will present itself very subtly and the most trying quest will be love. Who can she trust when it comes to matters of the heart? Will she be able to love and hold on to her Princess Celtic ways? Will she lose her power and in the process lose herself?

What will happen to her two best friends? Will their friendship end or can it survive the bumps along the way? In this next installment of the Akasha Chronicles Emily will have to walk through the fire to gain an understanding of what is to come. Come along for an EPIC journey with Emily and her two best friends. I can't say enough about this series! I love it and I love how Emily is evolving in each book and becoming more and more like an adult.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emily is two years older in the second book Emily's Trial in the Akasha Chronicles and has become a Celtic priestess with powers and her friends and followers. One of the things I liked about the first of the book is that she no longer hides what she has become from her peer even though she is different. This book is written for young adults or teenagers and being true to yourself but different from your peers often creates problems for this age group. The differences are presented in a positive manner, even if Emily does not receive total acceptance of her peers; this is so like what teenagers face in real life.

This adventure continues for Emily to a dark realm where she grows and develops along with the cast of other teenage characters. The story is exciting, interesting and holds the reader on the edge of their seat waiting to see what happens next. Both of Natalie Wright's books in this series, Emily's House and Emily's Trial are great fiction for young readers.

[Mical Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think Natalie Wright is an amazing writer. I love her work. She puts a little twist in the story here and there. The plot of this book is about a girl in high school, who recently found out she is a "Priestess" of the goddess, Brighid. She is the goddess of everything pure. But there is. guy Emily likes, and he knows of her powers after she uses them in the cafeteria, and on a girl named Greta., He asks Emily to take her to another realm. She said she has done it before so she did it again. But they end up in a hell-like-prison. for the god of evil, Ciardha. Ironically, he is Brighid's little brother. They go through numerous games Ciardha wants them to play, to try and get out, but everything is with a cost,
I chose this book because I met the writer and she I from my home town. I would 100%, recommend this book, and the next two, to anyone who likes fiction and fantasy. My favorite part, would be when Emily has to help the boy out of a coffin, 6feet under the ground. But only to find out, she gets stuck with him.

[Cheryl Duval · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awsome Continuation of Akasha Chronicles

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

I was surprised to find Emily flaunting her abilities and showing off. She learned so much
in the first book but it doesn't appear it stuck with her. Emily has become pretty much
thoughtless about her destiny and, because of this, she get's herself and her friends in
a world of trouble, and that's an understatement! This world of nightmares that they entered is amazingly described as are the creatures that they encounter. This book shows great imagination and creativity on the part of the author as we follow each of the friends. I was very surprised by some of the incidents and never expected certain things to happen. Very
frightening, very sad. I can't wait to read the next book. This is an incredible journey and
I recommend this as a great YA book. I also recommend it for adults.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed book 2 of the Akasha Chronicles even more than book 1. In typical teenager fashion, Emily is bored and wondering what life has in store for her. Unfortunately for Emily, her boredom, combined with her crush on one of the popular boys, add up to a bad temptation that lead her and her friends into a dark netherworld where Brighid's dark brother is imprisoned. Emily learns a lot of lessons about true friendship and what happens when she uses her powers for the wrong reasons. I thought the plot flowed well and the dialogues between the teenage characters rang true. I also thought the addition of Gretchen as a new main character was a good one, as it's hard to tell which way she'll go. The book ends with everything looking pretty bad for Emily, so I'm looking forward to reading how all the various issues are resolved in book 3.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Emily's Trial" is the second book in the Akasha Chronicles and continues where "Emily's Home" left off. Filled with magick you can not help but finish reading the book till your done. I love how Emily's character grows and look forward to more. You really need to read "Emily's Home" first in order to see who they are and how each character develops.

This review is based on a complimentary copy which was provided for an honest review.

[Kathryn Svendsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Emily’s Trial, Emily and her friends are now sixteen. Natalie Wright has done a credible job in “aging” her characters. They sound and act like sixteen-year-olds. They have the same insecurities and hormonal drives that all teenagers do. Couple that with magical powers and you’re in for a wild ride.

After returning from Ireland in the previous book, two years have passed and life has gone on pretty much as normal. Emily has grown a little careless with her abilities, and uses them to amuse herself. She has also started looking around at the boys with interest and wishes she could get to know Owen Breen much better. But Owen is a senior and wouldn’t give her, a junior, the time of day.

When Emily decides to use her magic to play a trick on Greta, another student who always calls her “Freak Girl”, Fanny and Jake get upset with her for “stooping to Greta’s level”. It seems not all is going perfectly well among the three friends.

This incident brings Emily to Owen’s attention and to Emily’s surprise and delight, Owen asks Emily on a date! One thing leads to another and he talks her into opening a portal and taking her to the Netherworld. Sadly for them, that’s not where they end up.

Along with Jake and Fanny, and stowaway Greta, Emily and Owen arrive not in the Netherworld but in the Umbra Perdita, ruled by Ciardha. This is a place where your nightmares become reality.

Natalie Wright has the ability to write with detail, making it easy to visualize the words on the page and “see” what is happening. You can almost smell the sulfurous air in the Umbra Perdita.

There was a lot of action in this book, and it moved along at a nice steady pace.

I didn’t really care for the swearing that the teens used in their speech. I have to admit though, that with many teens in today’s day and age it is pretty common.

I thought that this book showed what happens when we let things like pride and selfishness get in the way; how it damages our relationships and how we’d best think about our actions and their consequences before we do something that we know we are going to regret. If Emily had done that, she might not have used her dagger for selfish purposes as she was warned not to by the goddess. It cost her more than she could have imagined.

I thought this was unique novel with an interesting way of presenting its themes. I gave this novel 3 stars out of 5.

Thank you to the author, Natalie Wright for providing a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. A positive opinion was not required. All thoughts are my own.

[Tonja Drecker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an action packed book, starting with Emily's statement that she's started the apocalypse and diving head first into a high school flirt in the cafeteria. Although Emily's Trial is a continuation of Book 1 in the Ashka Chronicles, Emily's House, the reader can dive into Emily's world without having joined her on that first adventure. In other words, it is a stand-alone in the beginning.

Emily - or Miss Magic - possesses magical powers, which are strengthened through the Torc, a type of bracelet bound to her arm. Set in our modern day world, she sticks out; magical powers aren't a common everyday thing. But she doesn't hide them either. Neither does she use them for any special purpose. They're simply there and offer a great opportunity for cafeteria pranks. Pranks? Yep, Emily isn't a perfect girl. She's a character with many rough edges, and these lead to some very bad decisions.

All in all, I liked Emily. She's very realistic and like many teens her age, let's her good judgement be over-shadowed with superficial desires. Her 'comrads' aren't true blue all the time either. Although they go out of their way for her in the beginning, they're support waivers when things get tense. This lack of a 'stand-by-me' feeling made it increasingly hard to like them, but it did make me sympathize more with Emily.

The story is mostly set in a nightmare dimension with varying, clever scenes, which are well written, creepy, dark and slightly gruesome. There were moments which made me cringe. Of course, Emily isn't weak but uses her warrior talents to barely defeat the monsters thrown at her in well written fight scenes. The only thing she's lacking is a little more self-assurance. Her self-doubt gets a little tiring at times.

The story moves along at a great pace, and there's definitely enough tension and danger to hold a reader's attention. The lack of trust, whining and inability of the characters to listen to each other is frustrating, but many of the reactions fit to the age group. I'd be lying if I said I enjoyed the ending. I love happier ones or at least ones with several rays of hope. I'm assuming this happy ending will come, but first in the next book.

[Eden · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must say, I liked this one better than the first. It was much easier and less cringy to read. I feel like it was just the style of the writing in the first book that really put me off reading the second, but I can't stop at the first book, I have to read the entire trilogy.

As a basic overview of the plot, Emily has now returned to school after saving the world (in the first book) and is having to put up with a world of bullying. Then, Owen, the most popular boy in school seems to fall for her, and asks her to show him some magic. She knows she shouldn't do it on a day like this one - full of dark energy, but in a desperate bid to get rid of the nickname 'Freak Girl' she transports Owen, Fanny, Jake, Greta (her school bully) and herself to what she hopes is Akasha. She's wrong. She ends up transporting to the equivalent of hell. She has to save her and her friends before any of them are too weak to leave.

I enjoyed the first part of this book the most, the whole school aspect. I love myself a cheesy teen book, and that's exactly what the first few chapters of the book brought to the table. It was a typical high school setting, and was very enjoyable to read. It was nice to see a bit of character development from Emily, as she finally grew up a little. The whole Umbra Perdita part of the book (y'know ...... hell) was good, but didn't really hold my interest. In my honest opinion, I thought it went on for too long. You get all of the cliché action parts, you know, like she saves the boy, and then is given an impossible choice of who to save, and predictably makes the wrong one. And just as you think they're about to escape, there's more. And that's where I thought it went on too long.

The whole action part of the book was good. I actually felt nervous at some bits, and that's always a sign of a good book. And you know I love a good love story, which of course there was. The thing I loved about this book was that it brought a bit of everything - humour, classic teen romance, action, a typical bullying story and tragedy. I do recommend you read the series, as together, they make a good read.

[Teresa Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Emily’s Trial the story of Emily continues in the second book of the Akasha Chronicles. In this book we pick up where the first left off, just a few years later.

Emily is now sixteen, and has been entrusted with much power and responsibility since she has become a Celtic priestess. As we all know the more you are given, more is required a lesson that Emily is going to have to learn.

In the midst of balancing today’s world along with her other world, Emily is still sticking out in the ‘normal’ world while finding herself growing up and changing once more as her heart begins to want for normal teenage things like love. As harmless as that can seem, Emily must be careful to not allow her wants to make her use her new found gifts and powers in a wrong way.

When she isn’t in our world, Emily has entered a new dimension that is full of new evils, terrors and nightmares that leave her in several situations that many wouldn’t get out of which leaves her relying a lot on her skills that she has been to overcome what is set in front of her.

What I love most about Emily is that she feels very real. She isn’t perfect, she messes up and her friends are not always there for her in the capacity that they should be and just like us she must find a way to move past all that and overcome the things that she can.

I think between the world descriptions and the fight scenes that Natalie did a wonderful job with this sequel and in some ways I think it is better than the first book. While I do recommend reading book one, I think that you could enjoy book two even if you didn’t read the first in the series.

The characters are stronger and change as they should in a fluid timeline and you can see how all of them are maturing and still coming into their own, while the fantasy side of it will keep you hooked and wondering how she will beat the things that are set in her path. All in all this was a great book and I hope to see another in this series in the future.

I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review which has been stated above.

[TheCosyDragon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review has been crossposted from my blog at The Cosy Dragon . Please head there for more in-depth reviews by me, which appear on a timely schedule.

The cover promises things that aren't delivered! I wanted Emily to be a bit more heroic (I mentioned that in my review yesterday as well). She strikes me as being a bit of an idiot, and damn it, she could be less weepy. They all could be a bit less weepy. More fighting to the death perhaps.

I kept reading this novel because it was short, and I felt that not too much could go wrong. How wrong I was! There is a lot of action going on, and this novel is definitely plot driven. The characters didn't endear themselves to me, but the action was good.

I just couldn't get over how stupid Emily was. I wanted her to redeem herself, but indeed, she didn't have all that much going for her. Oh, how much she threw away. Idiot! Arg!

Beware - cliff hanger ending. So if you loved Emily's House, then maybe you'll want to wait until the third book in this series comes out before you read this novel. Otherwise you'll find yourself horrified and wondering how things can be set right. I felt that Bridgid should have had a bit more omph too.

The writing style has improved since the first book, although there is still a fair amount of telling instead of showing going on. I certainly found that the dialogue was improved though.

This one does have death, and darkness, and despair. Emily is a bit older, a weeping 16 year old, and so the themes reflect that in a way. I'd therefore recommend it for younger teens, as I feel it doesn't have the substance required to keep things interesting for an older reader who prefers characters like me.

[Shaila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Title: Emily's Trial- Book 2 of the Akasha Chronicles
Author: Natalie Wright
Rating: 4.4 STARS!
REVIEW: Okay...Emily's Trial...well this story was definitely a trial for Emily. All throughout this novel I felt like telling the author- What the bloody hell!?
While, in my review for book 1, I wrote about how I loved Emily's character, Book 2 made me HATE her. The pace was slightly slow, and even though, Emily's trial occurred in one particular realm, there was a lot of discoveries. So many scenes were explored thoroughly. The storyline was still pretty good, but I was expecting a little more from the characters. I know if you read this book, you'll think- what the hell is this reviewer going on about? Haven't the characters been put through enough? And my answer is yes. They were put through a lot, I just expected a little more courage from them. One thing I was glad about, was that the writing, plot, and twists were still genuinely written. The author did not budge from her dedication to this work, and the result has shown in the success of Emily's Trial. I think, throughout this book, Wright will make us hate and love each and every character, except for the villain, of course. But that is how a good novel is. Also, the ending, while it made me quite unhopeful, was perfect for the novel, and a impeccable cliffhanger to lead readers on to the sequel. I know I will be chattering my teeth till I read Emily's next instalment.

[Janine Caldwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, I'm still panting from all the action that took place in Emily's Trial! Ms. Wright takes the reader on a nonstop thrill ride that keeps you in suspense. The nightmares recreated in the story feel so close to our real fears, you might even cringe while reading them.

The characters in this second installment of the Akasha Chronicles have matured and we are left with a deeper sense of Emily's weaknesses, enduring her to the reader. However, as a high priestess, I'm expecting her to come back strong and kicking major butt in the next one because in this one she does take quite a beating. I was really pulling for her in the end that someone would show her the loyalty they showed from the first book, but I suspect the friends will find each other again.

Overall, a solid read and I'm looking forward to the next in the series.

[Larry B Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emily’s Trial (book 2 of The Akasha Chronicles) by Natalie Wright is an excellent YA fantasy. It is action packed and full of adventure.

The author did a great job of weaving a tale of adventure that was fast paced and easy to follow. The story never lagged or dragged on but kept my interest from the first page until the last. The storyline contained all the needed fantasy elements combined with youthful excitement of the teenage heroine to make for a great read.

Natalie Wright did an excellent job of continuing to develop her characters and their various storylines after the first novel. It added to the fantasy part of the story to watch their social interaction developed.

I really liked Emily’s Trial by Natalie Wright and I highly recommend this book.


[Please note: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.]

[Books In Brogan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 2nd book in the Akasha Chronicles and is much darker then the first one so not for those looking for a average YA urban fantasy novel but good enough that still want to read the next one to see how to story contiues.

Books 1 of the Akasha Chronicles

ViewThis review was originally posted on Books In Brogan

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading "Emily's House", I couldn't wait to delve into book 2 of the Akasha Chronicles "Emily's Trial", and read the further adventures of Emily and her friends.

This book is a lot more violent and darker than the first book. It's a fast paced, well-written book that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the last page.

I can't wait to read the final installment in this fabulous YA Paranormal trilogy.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.