Review of Rise of the Savior: Acolyte of Truth

[RAVISHA BHARDWAJ]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Rise of the Savior: Acolyte of Truth" by Antoine Bonner.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Rise of the Savior: Acolyte of Truth by Antoine Bonner is a fast-paced fantasy with a unique and interesting premise. The protagonist, Amanda, is a teenager and all she wants to do is go to college outside of her small town and compete in karate, and also, understand her six-year-old sister, Saira, who is a rather precocious child. But her life changes after an accident, and she realizes that she has some special powers and a deity buried within her. What’s more, she must use these powers to save the world from evil. Fortunately, her younger sister, Saira, also possesses some special powers and supports her in rescuing the world.

Amanda faces several challenges as she accepts her destiny as the savior. The book has a great storyline and plenty of action that makes it difficult to stop once you start reading. The world Antoine Bonner has created is full of intrigue and mysteries. I liked that Amanda is unsure of herself as the acolyte of truth and the narrative delves into her development and subsequent acceptance of her destiny. The book follows an anime-style story with events seemingly influenced by Manga/anime. To fully appreciate the action in this urban fantasy, the readers must use their imagination, and the detailed writing makes it easy to do so.

While I enjoyed reading Rise of The Savior: Acolyte of Truth, this book is far from polished and has a plethora of underwhelming aspects. I enjoy a fast-paced thriller, but the events here are random at best. While the premise is interesting, the execution is exhausting. The weakest part of the book is its writing except for the action sequences. The writing while establishing the setting is bizarre, and the dialogues are ludicrous, to say the least. The characters are ambiguous, but we don’t see their motivations enough as their ambiguity is stated in a paragraph and the story moves on. It prevented me from being emotionally invested in the story or root for any character. Even the most gruesome moments were exciting only for the action, and it did not really matter who would win. That is also the case because apart from a few interesting twists, the story is highly predictable.

Overall, it is an interesting premise but the story needs redrafting to be more fleshed out in its execution. I am giving Rise of the Savior: Acolyte of Truth a score of 2 out of 4 stars due to the aforementioned reasons. My chief concern remains the fleshing out of characters and the conversations between them. With some intense revision, it could be an excellent page-turner. To its credit, it is a well-edited book with only two typing errors.

I would recommend it to young adults who enjoy reading thrillers, mysteries, and urban fantasies. Sensitive readers should let this one pass due to the extensive amount of violence and profanity.

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Rise of the Savior: Acolyte of Truth
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[Kavita Shah]

The story sounds good. Amanda is new to her powers but has a a big task to do. Saving the world won't be easy. The cat on the cover looks cute. Thank you for a great review!