Unfortunately, I couldn’t put the story down. Within three days, I had binged half of a book, which was all of the content that had been released up until that point. Why is this character waking up new to the story, like I am? How is it that he doesn’t know he’s the one crying? Anna Miriam Brown, the author, is a masterful storyteller who has been using multiple platforms to intrigue readers with this fictional story based on the gospel. She is great at getting readers to emotionally connect to the characters’ lives and herself, and her art on Instagram only adds to the allure of her work. 

Young Apostles is a visual novel series that’s similar to “The Chosen,” though it also fits in with recent kids movies that are set in the Bible. It’s not meant to be regarded as truth. There’s marketing and content to experience on Instagram, the book is free on Webtoon and you can buy physical copies of the first volume currently on Amazon. The series looks to be expanding with the current release being the first volume of 12. There are currently posts on Instagram about a musical based on it. Brown has also written other books and musicals.

One highlight of Brown’s storytelling is that, assuming the reader knows the gospel, they know that one of the two Judases will betray Jesus. But just like the disciples, we don’t know which Judas is which. Every chapter with the current Judas (only one has been revealed yet) adds more evidence that he will or will not be the one who betrays Jesus. We really have no clue. There’s a lot of romance, which isn’t too exciting. The particular types of romance we see are great to characterize, which I enjoy doing at least. There’s a rivals-to-lovers trope, which is particularly funny because we know that one of the characters has to get married to fit with the biblical canon, but they seem to view their relationship as a war. Some of the characters are easy to connect with if you’re someone who thinks about theological questions a lot.

There are a lot of mentions of gore, however, it is rarely shown. This is not a horror series, and the chapters with demons don’t feel like horror to me, though they may become more horror as we move along the biblical canon. Unlike “The Chosen,” Brown has decided to focus much more on class struggles and slavery, with several of the POV characters being enslaved people. This also means we see some of the effects slavery has on real people, including PTSD. If the reader can handle these topics, then I do recommend this series. I would like to be able to discuss the plot with more peers, though, so this recommendation may be seen more as recruitment. If you are Christian, I recommend reading it with the willingness to get into Bible lore, for example, all of the names of the disciples. I also recommend reading it even if you aren’t Christian, as it’s simply a very fascinating story, and Brown has stated it isn’t only for Christians. I do recommend being able to deal with disappointment in plot twists.