"Transcendence" Review

"Transcendence"
by C.J. Omololu

Publisher: Walker & Co.
Release Date: June 5, 2012

Source: ARC sent by publisher

My Rating: 4. out of 5 stars

Summary from goodreads.com:  

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:

This book was definitely a new and different type of YA paranormal romance. Dealing mostly with past lives and reincarnation, I hadn't read any YA books with this type of plot line. The romance was interesting also, because of all the twists and turns that their relationship took. Sometimes Griffon was a little too mysterious and aloof for me though. One of the twists in their past lives really threw me for a loop, I wasn't expecting it at all.

I didn't really get into the conflict that Cole had with Veronique, which was actually most of the book. The two ladies shared a bitter conflict in their past lives. I suppose I would have rather been reading about Cole's conflicts within herself with her cello ability being due to past lives, and with her becoming acquainted with being Ahket, and of course I'd rather have read about her romance! The Veronique drama slowed the book down for me, especially the flashbacks written all in italics. They were certainly neccessary for the story, but my eyes aren't really fond of reading large chunks of texts in italics.

There's a twist coming in book two that I was curious about for most of this book, and I thought maybe it would play out within book one. I'm very curious about it, so I will probably read book two as well!

Main Characters: 4/5
Supporting Characters: 3/5
Setting: 3/5
Romance: 4/5
Uniqueness: 4/5
Cover: 5/5
Writing: 4/5


Bottom Line: There were a lot of new and different stories to be told here, and in future installments of the series.