Transcendence by C. J. Omololu

Book:  Transcendence

Author:  C.J. Omololu

Publisher:  Walker Books

Date:  June 5, 2012

Source:  Publisher via Netgalley

My grade:  A-

When a visit to the Tower of London triggers an overwhelmingly real vision of a beheading that occurred centuries before, Cole Ryan fears she is losing her mind. A mysterious boy, Griffon Hall, comes to her aid, but the intensity of their immediate connection seems to open the floodgate of memories even wider.
       As their feelings grow, Griffon reveals their common bond as members of the Akhet—an elite group of people who can remember past lives and use their collected wisdom for the good of the world. But not all Akhet are altruistic, and a rogue is after Cole to avenge their shared past. Now in extreme danger, Cole must piece together clues from many lifetimes. What she finds could ruin her chance at a future with Griffon, but risking his love may be the only way to save them both.
     Full of danger, romance, and intrigue, Transcendence breathes new life into a perpetually fascinating question: What would you do with another life to live?

MY REVIEW

Initial reaction

That turned out waaaaaay better than I thought it would at first.

Title and cover

The title is interesting and the cover actually ::gasp:: matches the story!!

The plot

This plot was very slow to start for me.  I mean, the plot dives right into the storyline, but for some reason, I had a hard time getting into it.  Maybe it was because I have a lot going on right now with the end of the school year and I was distracted.  I don’t know.  Of course, once I got further into the novel, it really piqued my interest and I read straight through to the end.

The novel has an interesting premise about reborn souls and their purpose.  I also like the way it tied in the Egyptian Ankh and I’m hoping that the author will tie in some Egyptian mythology as the series progresses.  Another fun thing about this book is the “whodunit” element.  There were so many ways that the story could have gone and for a while, I didn’t trust anyone.  It was thrilling to try and figure out who was the good guy and who was the bad guy.

So, overall, I really enjoyed the book and I felt that the plot became very engaging; it just took me a few chapters to warm up to it.  But once it started to move, I found that I couldn’t put the book down. 

The characters

This was an amazing cast of characters.  They were all so different, yet all very interesting.  Of course, many of them are drawing from a lot of past lives, so that added a lot more depth to their character.  Somehow, these characters all felt so real to me.  I could imagine most of them in real life, and that’s really cool.

They were also pretty likeable.  Even though Cole and Griffon both had some flaws, they were still people I could see myself liking and hanging out with.  I loved Cole’s dad.  Her sister wasn’t so nice, but I could understand why she acted the way she did.  The person I really did NOT like was the mom!  That woman was the stage mother from hell!  But otherwise, it was a very nice cast of characters.

The final grade

My grade for this was an A-.  I had a little bit of a hard time getting into the story, but once I did, the book took off and I read it at lightning speed.  I was also really glad to see that there was a sequel planned.  Even though this one sort of found a stopping point that would work, there’s a lot more to tell in this story.

Thanks to Walker Books and to Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book.  I received no compensation in exchange for my honest review, but I have to say that a trip to London would be nice. : )