Blog Tour + Book Review: Transcendence

Title: Transcendence by C.J. Omololu

Release Date: June 5, 2012
Publisher: Walker & Company
Pages: 336 pages
Genre: Paranormal
Source: Publisher in exchange for an honest review

Goodreads Summary: 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.

I love YA novels with ethnically diverse main characters so when I saw the (gorgeous) cover of Transcendence, I knew I had to read it. I’m happy to tell you that the pretty cover is matched by an action packed story with a unique mythology.

The story starts in London where Cole starts having strange visions and eventually passes out while site seeing with her sister. A swoon worthy American boy helps her and while she feels a strange connection to him, he is nothing but polite, not showing any romantic interest in her. After Cole returns home to San Francisco, she can’t stop thinking about Griffon and it’s not long before their paths cross again. Griffon knows that like him, Cole is Akhet: a group of people who remember their past lives every time they are reincarnated. While all this is new for Cole, Griffon has been Akhet for centuries and since Cole is starting to have memories of her past lives, he decides to help her with the transition.

I liked Cole’s character. She is a cellist and a prodigy and I liked that the cello plays a huge part in the story. I was worried that there would be insta-love between Cole and Griffon but even though Cole is quickly attracted to Griffon, the relationship develops well. I’m very happy that Ms. Omololu addresses the issue of Griffon’s age in the story. Even though Griffon is physically a 17-year-old boy, being Akhet means he remembers living several previous, full lives. Griffon’s character is more mature than the average teenage boy and the author does tackle the issues with him being so much older than Cole, mentally speaking of course. I’ve read so many YA books where the guy is some paranormal creature who is hundreds, even thousands of years old and still acts like he is 13, not to mention the relationship with the female character can take on a pervy nature. Not the case with Transcendence and kudos to Ms. Omololu for addressing this age difference up front.

Transcendence has romance, mystery, action and the Akhet mythology is cool and very interesting. I am looking forward to the next book in the series to find out more about it. Transcendence is June’s book for the Multi-Cultural Book Challenge so be sure to come back tomorrow for an interview with C.J. Omololu and a chance to win a copy!

Content: Kissing, profanity and violence.

My Rating: Really Good!