New Review! Rise by Luis Almonte, 3.5 Cranky Stars

Rise by Luis Almonte
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



*** 3.5 Cranky Stars ***

Alexia is the middle child of a family of witches and her parents were their coven’s high priest and priestess, which meant a lot of expectations, surrounded Alexia, her older brother, Ryan and her younger sister, Sam when it came to their craft.



Every witch had to pass a test called the Pre-Trials to qualify to the Annual Trial which is an important rite of passage in the witching world. It’s not determined by age but rather the mentor who trains young witches nominates their charge when they think they are ready. All three were nominated and would face the Pre-Trials at the same time.



The story reminded me of several different popular books out there: Divergent, Hunger Games, Harry Potter and a bit of Twilight. The witches live among the humans in secret. Aside from training for the Trials, Alexia has to go to high school and be involved in high school life and drama while keeping her other life hidden as it’s forbidden to disclose their existence to non-magical people.



Then another set of supernatural beings turned up and muddled the waters a bit more.



I liked the story but there were so many subplots embroidered into it that made falling in love with it difficult. There were also a few inconsistencies in the plot I would rather not say to avoid spoilers.



Granted, Alexia is only fifteen years old and the unwillingness of the adults to disclose vital information to the teens could explain all the bad decisions she made throughout the book. Let’s hope that book 2 will step up a notch.

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