Review of Rise of the Savior
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Smrithi Arun
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Review of Rise of the Savior
[Following is a volunteer review of "Rise of the Savior" by Antoine Bonner.]
Rise of the Savior: Acolyte of Truth by Antoine Bonner is an action-packed, fantasy novel that serves as a prequel to Rise of the Hearts. However, the book can be considered as a standalone piece as well.
The story revolves around an eighteen-year-old girl, Amanda, who struggles through major life decisions regarding college selection and career options, like any regular girl of the same age. On her way back from a karate tournament, she gets into a life-threatening accident and is forced to accept help from a deity who, in turn, blesses her with certain powers, making her an acolyte of truth. On the other hand, Dr. Jamie goes through emotional turmoil when he learns that his six-year-old son is dying. That’s when he accepts help from the Deity of Death and is determined to save his son at any cost. Amanda’s main purpose is to stop Jamie from straying off on a destructive path. She has help from her six-year-old sister, Saira, who happens to be the acolyte of transcendence and a few other friends but the road to peace isn’t an easy one.
The book begins with a language that is easy to understand and follow. As it has been written in the third person present tense, I felt like I was reading a script for a play or a film. This aspect helps with visualization to a certain extent, so brownie points for the same. Furthermore, Antoine Bonner has done a fantastic job with world-building and character development throughout the story. The adjectives used to describe the nature of the dialogues in certain areas are inciteful and help in conveying the true emotions of the scene. Rise of the Savior has great potential if it gets adapted into a film.
To read this book, the readers must have adequate knowledge about spiritual terminologies and the mythology behind them. Since I had some basic knowledge, I really enjoyed the whole concept revolving around the kundalini and prana, and I appreciate the author for the same.
Further, I felt that Saira was the most unrealistic character in the book. Even in fiction, the characters must have some relatable characteristics to establish a connection with the audience. Here, six-year-old Saira has the most exquisite vocabulary and uses a phone already. Saira’s parts and dialogues gave vibes one usually gets from a grown-up character.
Moving on, there were a few characters with similar names that demanded more concentration than an average reader can usually give; for example, Amanda and Ameena. To make the reading experience smoother and more enjoyable, the author could’ve used more pronouns in certain areas and constructed some of the sentences in a better way. Additionally, it was laborious to keep track of who was speaking, especially during lengthy monologues, as the name of the speaker was mentioned after. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the end of the climax scene as much as I hoped to.
Overall, I rate this book two out of four stars. As the storyline progressed, reading the book became difficult. The editing style and the reasons mentioned above cost it two stars. Lastly, I would recommend this book to a mature audience because the book has references to graphic content and profanity. I believe Rise of the Savior will truly be enjoyed by urban fantasy and Japanese anime fans.
******
Rise of the Savior
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Rise of the Savior: Acolyte of Truth by Antoine Bonner is an action-packed, fantasy novel that serves as a prequel to Rise of the Hearts. However, the book can be considered as a standalone piece as well.
The story revolves around an eighteen-year-old girl, Amanda, who struggles through major life decisions regarding college selection and career options, like any regular girl of the same age. On her way back from a karate tournament, she gets into a life-threatening accident and is forced to accept help from a deity who, in turn, blesses her with certain powers, making her an acolyte of truth. On the other hand, Dr. Jamie goes through emotional turmoil when he learns that his six-year-old son is dying. That’s when he accepts help from the Deity of Death and is determined to save his son at any cost. Amanda’s main purpose is to stop Jamie from straying off on a destructive path. She has help from her six-year-old sister, Saira, who happens to be the acolyte of transcendence and a few other friends but the road to peace isn’t an easy one.
The book begins with a language that is easy to understand and follow. As it has been written in the third person present tense, I felt like I was reading a script for a play or a film. This aspect helps with visualization to a certain extent, so brownie points for the same. Furthermore, Antoine Bonner has done a fantastic job with world-building and character development throughout the story. The adjectives used to describe the nature of the dialogues in certain areas are inciteful and help in conveying the true emotions of the scene. Rise of the Savior has great potential if it gets adapted into a film.
To read this book, the readers must have adequate knowledge about spiritual terminologies and the mythology behind them. Since I had some basic knowledge, I really enjoyed the whole concept revolving around the kundalini and prana, and I appreciate the author for the same.
Further, I felt that Saira was the most unrealistic character in the book. Even in fiction, the characters must have some relatable characteristics to establish a connection with the audience. Here, six-year-old Saira has the most exquisite vocabulary and uses a phone already. Saira’s parts and dialogues gave vibes one usually gets from a grown-up character.
Moving on, there were a few characters with similar names that demanded more concentration than an average reader can usually give; for example, Amanda and Ameena. To make the reading experience smoother and more enjoyable, the author could’ve used more pronouns in certain areas and constructed some of the sentences in a better way. Additionally, it was laborious to keep track of who was speaking, especially during lengthy monologues, as the name of the speaker was mentioned after. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the end of the climax scene as much as I hoped to.
Overall, I rate this book two out of four stars. As the storyline progressed, reading the book became difficult. The editing style and the reasons mentioned above cost it two stars. Lastly, I would recommend this book to a mature audience because the book has references to graphic content and profanity. I believe Rise of the Savior will truly be enjoyed by urban fantasy and Japanese anime fans.
******
Rise of the Savior
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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