Review: Rise

Rise by Luis Almonte
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book had a little bit of everything: witches, high school, magic, romance, and vampires (that don’t sparkle). This world is something completely different than your typical witch coming of age story.

Alexia is a young teenager who is struggling to find her place as part of her family. Just because you are the daughter of the high priest and priestess for their clan doesn’t mean you’ll inherit the same amount or type of magic. While her brother and sister appear to follow in their mother’s footsteps, she is left with a different mentor because her magics are more battle oriented than traditional. Her abilities, however, have become strong enough to qualify her for the trials (along with her younger sister and older brother).

In high school, things are changing. The girl she thought was her best friend is being very distant. The new boy in school holds her attention in a way no other boy has before. Oh, and she’s really not supposed to even consider dating him for so many reasons. Throw all of this in with the stress of preparing for trials and Alexia is rightly overwhelmed. While just trying to survive this hellish year, she’s also got a handful of secrets, lots of pressure from her parents, and is manifesting some surprising skills. As the start of a series, this definitely left you with an unpleasant cliffhanger. With everything still up in the air, it was hard to feel really satisfied at the end.


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