My review of Transcendence

Transcendence (Transcendence #1) by C.J. Omololu
Release Date: May 21, 2013
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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.

Transcendence is a captivating and interesting story about people with souls that can remember all of their past lives. A mysterious plot accompanied by an adorable romance.

Transcendence begins with Cole and her sister visiting the Tower of London, when Cole has a vision of a beheading many centuries before. It's certainly not normal and Cole is sure that she is going crazy until a boy named Griffon who comes to her rescue, and they can both feel the immediate and intense connection. As the two meet back in their home town in the US, they grow closer and Griffon reveals what they really are. They are members of the Akhet; people who can remember their past lives and try to do the best for the world in each life. Now Cole is trying to remember as much as she can of her previous lives, but also try to figure out those who may want to cause her harm.

I wasn't really sure how the story would go, or whether I would like it, for I have read many mixed reviews! Though after reading, I can happily say that it kept me thinking and also kept me interested. But at times I did feel like the story was going no where and the characters were a bit dull. The pace was slow, but things did speed up towards the end.

One thing I wasn't too keen on were the visions that Cole kept having of her past lives. Sometimes I didn't understand what was going on, or the link to her current life, I just felt like they were, you know, just there to fill the pages. Of course, some of the visions were very significant and actually pretty interesting to read. But like I said, I felt that some of them were a little bit pointless.

I liked the romance between Cole and Griffon because it was all pretty cute and really showed the lighter side of the story. The plot twists were very, very surprising and I did not even see them coming until the last moment. Hopefully Omololu will have some more of them in store in Intuition!

Rating

A review copy was provided by Bloomsbury