"The Saving of Aris" by Novamelia

"The Saving of Aris" by Novamelia is a dramatic novel. It follows the protagonist Aris from his early childhood to his late youth. Different characters have different views on religion--particularly Christianity. Seeing as how different characters are portrayed dissimilarly, both positively and negatively, one view is not pushed so much over the other. Still, there are some points in the book where Christian readers will be offended. The people Aris interacts with really shape him, as he contemplates his role in life. Things get even more confusing for him as he questions why God allows bad things to happen. There is sadness and angst when Aris learns he was conceived in a church. Aris goes through many psychological stages where he searches for his identity--his soul even. In the end, though, it appears as though Aris finds his way back to God; or readers see that God never gave up on Aris no matter how situations may have appeared. There is swearing and some explicit details of traumatic events in this book that do not make it suitable for children. This book is a good test of faith for readers. Christians can look at what characters say and find holes in their depressing logic; this would be great for group discussion in a religious setting.