C. J. OmololuReseñas

Admittedly it took me longer to get into this then I thought it would. Omololu's writing is a little jarring as it goes back and forth between Cole's 'visions' and her present. And at first it seems pretty routine--girl, guy, destiny and love, so it didn't grip me. Somewhere in the second quarter however it grabbed me. I'm not sure if it was because Cole's visions of her past life came quicker or if the answers to questions just seemed to be occurring with more frequency, but I wanted to know more.

I wanted to know about the connection Cole had with the Italian girl, with the Lady at the Tower of London, why she felt insta-connection to Griffon. I wanted to know why Griffon was so reluctant to get involved with her despite his actions speaking to the contrary. It was kind of annoying that Cole staunchly believed Griffon wanted nothing to do with her at all and his continued presence throughout the first half was him merely being 'nice'. I'm not sure why she had so little self-confidence, or why she clung to that belief so hard for so long.

For his part Griffon's early reluctance is given context later in the book, though it doesn't excuse all of the bad behavior. Griffon did show a maturity that male heroes in YA seem to lack lately; he has some valid points about the difficulty in having a relationship with someone when he can remember all the other relationships he's had. He isn't going into a high school romance as a 17 year old guy--not really. He's going into it with the knowledge of having grandkids, watching spouses die, of living that same moment dozens of times.

That's just not fair to a person who is experiencing everything for the first time (at least as far as they're concerned its the first time).

There's a few red herrings along the way about how Griffon and Cole are connected, as well as Cole and the person hunting Cole for a past transgression she can't remember fully. And I'm not particularly pleased with the very last revelation involving a separate past life of Cole's and the present. For me I was happy with the resolution to Cole and Griffon's feelings, I don't need this to be a series.

I don't need to read another book or two or three about Cole's jumbled feelings and uncertainty. Trust me she did that enough this time around. But that's just me. I recommend this book with the caveat that the ending really isn't an ending and to be prepared for this to not be a stand alone.

On the one hand this didn't become the worst aspects of a love triangle like I feared it would. Omololu handles the emotions and confusion well. The ending felt...cut off though. I was not a fan of Drew, but things felt unresolved and while I love Griffon, things felt too pat.

Lucy would do anything to have a normal life. She would like to have sleepovers with her new best friend, Kaylie, in her own house and maybe invite her crush and perhaps interested boyfriend, Josh over. But she has a secret that she must keep from the world – her mother hoards stuff. Her mother’s mental illness is so bad that she does not smell the odor of rancid garbage or see the towering piles of books, newspapers, and magazines all over the house. Because of this, Lucy and her older brother and sister have never had friends over and Phil and Sara escaped as soon as they could. Then the unthinkable happens and Lucy has to figure out how she can keep the family secret. The ending raises more questions than it answers for this reader but students will learn about the real mental illness of compulsive hoarding.

I could not put this book down! Heartwarming and heartbreaking, this book about keeping secrets and the impact of family on all aspects of growing up kept me riveted.

The book takes place within 24 hours, but it feels like a lifetime by the time the novel finishes. A grand, sweeping, all encompassing look at the disease of hoarding and the toll it takes on the family.

A must read!

When Lexi and Ava were younger, they made up an imaginary triplet named Alicia who served as their way out of trouble when they were kids. Now she’s their alter-ego when dating boys they’d never consider dating as their real selves.

Then one of those boys ends up dead.

Then another.

Lexi thinks it’s time to put ‘Alicia’ to rest, but Ava insists that everything will be fine. However, then there is DNA evidence that points to Alicia being the main suspect in the deaths. Now Lexi is put into the center of it all despite not being with either of the boys when they were killed. So it’s either her twin sister who’s killing these boys or… Alicia might be real after all.

I’ve known of The Third Twin or a while, but I finally bought it not too long ago and I can’t believe it took me so long to finally pick it up and read it! It has been a while since I’ve read a good mystery – I literally could not put it down! The story was engaging and I kept trying to come up with my own theories as to what exactly was going on. When everything was revealed at the end, I felt like I should’ve known earlier, but eh… I didn’t. That’s what makes mysteries fun, right?

The twins were pretty stereotypical in terms of fictional twins – one is more outgoing and the other is more reserved and studious. However, Lexi does get out once in while to go on an occasional date as Alicia. I definitely related to Lexi more so than Ava. Though both girls are pretty shallow when it comes to using Alicia as their alter-ego and dating boys that they aren’t serious about, but I suppose their flaws are what makes them believable characters.

Again, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to the mystery/thriller lovers out there!

A fun idea, and a very diverse cast of characters to carry it out (as one would hope and expect). My only disappointment is that roles are gender-stereotyped: men are described as coming home from or going to work; boys and men are interested in sports.½

Hmmmm....this was a strange one. Hoarding mother. House stuffed with things that she can't throw away. Daughter living with this secret. Quick read and interesting from a psychological point of view.

4.5 stars!

The only real disappointment that I have is that it's already over and I feel like I read it too fast. I couldn't help it though - it kept me wanting to know what happened next so I had to keep going!

Definitely a good YA mystery/thriller that I'd recommend. The fun part was coming up with my own theories of who was behind everything. It was a nice break from my usual servings of fluffy romance books.

Lexi and Ava are identical twins who were adopted at 6 months. When they were young girls they created a third twin, Alicia, to blame whenever there were any mishaps. Now that they are seniors in high school they use Alicia as their alter ego. Alicia is sexy, confident, and lives in the moment. The girls use Alicia to date boys they would never be with in real life or when they want to embody the persona they created for Alicia. The only problem is that the boys Alicia has recently dated are turning up dead. All the evidence is pointing to the Alicia. As Lexi runs from the cops she has to figure out if her sister Ava is the murderer or if Alicia is real.

Although there were small parts of the book I thought the author could have done without, I enjoyed most of the story. I took a star away because I didn't enjoy finding out who the killer was nor the reason she gave for killing the boys. The journey leading up was much better than the end.

Overall I liked the book and I would recommend reading.

This book sat in my to read pile for far longer than it should have. Lucy is extremely likable and I found myself on her side from the beginning. This makes her choices all that much easier to stand behind.

This is a quick read, perhaps too short really. I would have been happy with some more flashbacks and more about what happened to Lucy 'after'. This shortness makes the book feel like a snapshot rather than a story.

Still, I really enjoyed this and would recomend it to others.

timely topic - lots of students i work w/have a fascination w/hoarders (as i do although the show seems to have tired me of the subject). anyway, this book started off promising - characters were well drawn-out and believable - but the ending was abrupt and a little ridiculous and contrived. disappointed.

When they were young, twins Lexi and Ava invented a third identical sibling, Alicia, whom they blamed for everything they had done which might have gotten them into trouble. Now as seniors, they still use the fictitious Alicia when one of them wants to date an inappropriate boy for a brief time. The girls see this as hilarious and fun which it is until the boys start to wind up dead and all the clues point to Alicia!
I think my students will enjoy this fast paced nail biter. I had initial ideas about the killer, and to my delight, I wasn't right.

2.5 stars, really.
Identical twins "create" a third twin that they blame for anything either of them does wrong. Later, they dress up as this third twin to go out with hot, but questionable boys. Then 2 of the boys Alicia dates are murdered, and both twins insist they had nothing to do with it. Who is killing them? Not surprisingly, each twin comes to suspect the other. And they make some stupid choices like lying to the police, and later, taking things into their own hands without contacting police. Like when I'm watching some Lifetime movies, I found myself "telling" them "don't do that!"
I thought I had the ending figured out, but I only got part of it right.
Some good writing, some interesting (but kind of stupid/naive) characters, and a somewhat predictable ending.

Alexa and Ava are identical twins. When they were young they pretended to have another identical sister that was to blame for everything. As they grew older, the third sister allowed them to step out of their comfort zones and be someone they weren't in reality and date people they wouldn't normally be seen with. Alicia has certain rules to go by, especially when it comes to boys, but someone is starting to break those rules. When a boy is killed after going on a date with Alicia, really Lexi, she decides it's time to stop the game but Ava isn't up for it. Lexi realizes she's starting to get in too deep when evidence starts piling up making her the number one suspect and also puts Ava near the crime scenes. Has Ava turned into a killer or is someone else trying to set them up?

I really enjoyed this book. After starting the story it became clear how the novel would end, or so I thought. While I was correct in my main assumption, twists were thrown in to keep me wondering about who the killer really was. The author did a great job of leading me to believe that it would go one way, only to plant seeds of doubt after a few more pages. I just had to keep reading to see who was being themselves and who was just playing a part.

Overall a wonderful story that I'm glad I had the chance to read. I liked that I was able to guess parts and that others kept me guessing. It was well written and suspenseful.

Supernatural/sci-fi-ish elements: great. Teen romance elements: blech. The plot is interesting (if occasionally predictable), but Cole's internal monologue regarding Griffon sounded a lot, too much like Bella Swan. So right now, four stars; in a few weeks we'll see which feeling I'm left with more strongly, and whether I drop it to three.

16 yr old Lucy has kept her mother's hoarding a family secret, at the expense of friendships and a normal teen life. When her mother unexpectedly dies, buried under mounds of trash, Lucy must decide what secrets are worth keeping.

Family dynamics, mother/daughter relationships, dysfunctional families

I found this book slow and repetitive, with an unsatisfying ending. A disappointing read.

So, I thought a book about hoarding may be kind of interesting. I mean, I’ve seen Hoarders; the episodes were both fascinating and kind of gross. And while some of the descriptions in this book had me rethinking the wisdom of eating lunch while reading it, I found myself kind of bored with it all.

I’m the kind of person who thrives on dialog in a story. I love the interaction between characters and the wittier the banter is the better. Unfortunately for me, Lucy is alone through most of this book. I get that she wants to keep her living conditions under wraps. I understand the extreme anxiety she feels about being found out and wanting to keep everyone away from her reality. I even know what it’s like to feel embarrassed by something someone else has done and hope to goodness that your own reputation doesn’t tank simply by association. Really, I do. It’s just that her inner-dialog didn’t really do it for me, and having the majority of the conversations take place in flashbacks left me feeling a bit underwhelmed.

I guess I just kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. You know, for someone to find out. Or for some kind of conflict that never quite showed up. I mean, there is that whole Other Situation with her mom. And if I’m being perfectly honest, finding out how Lucy handled that was my main motivation for finishing the book. In the end, even that left me feeling disappointed. While things do get resolved, I don’t feel like Lucy really dealt with the situation. I mean, she finds a way to take care of it, but she doesn’t really deal with it. Ya know what I mean?

Anyways, I guess the bottom line is that this book was just ‘OK’ for me. It wasn’t horrible. It wasn’t great. It just was. Really, it boils down to personal preference on this one. If you don’t mind some alone time in a character’s head and you have a strong stomach, you may want to check this out. It wasn’t written badly or anything, it just wasn’t for me.

Nicole - Cole to everyone but her mother - Ryan has been getting strange feelings as she tours London with her sister. It's as if she already knows what's around the corner - or what used to be. Streets she's never been on feel familiar to her, old buildings hold a sense of déjà vu as well.

This is Cole's first trip to London so she has no explanation for the feelings, either.

Nor does she know why at the Tour of London she's almost overcome with visions of a beheading - and it feels like her own! When a boy comes to her rescue, Cole hates that someone saw (she's already worried about what these visions and feelings mean) but he's also more than a little cute.

Griffon also seems to already know what happened to Cole. But will she be able to get the answers from him?

And what happens when the visions start getting worse . . . and more frequent?

Maybe Griffon wants to help Cole with what her visions and feelings mean but there are others she'll have to watch out for, as well.


Transcendence is a fast moving tale of past lives and how much of them are brought into the next that mixes romance with danger and will keep you eagerly reading until the very last page. And then waiting for even more!

I've read or started to read several books where past lives and/or reincarnation play into the plot and have to say Transcendence is one of my favorites. I loved that Cole started out with an inkling that something was different about her but not sure just what it was - and not even sure if it was a good thing or not; not sure if it was her sanity or not. That she wasn't someone who just always knew, from birth, that she was the girlfriend of a 1920s gangster , etc., etc. really added to the unraveling of the story.

I also loved her (modern day/present) life and how it worked into things. While she was a cello prodigy, she also wasn't perfect. She's not an idealized character: she has her flaws. Yet, she's also not the character who has nothing going for her until the hero shows up with the explanation of what's happening and suddenly her life has meaning.

Griffon does make Cole a bit swoony, but only in the normal seeming sense. She's an independent character. (Normally I like characters a little less perfect, but I have a bit of a crush on Griffon after reading Transcendence.)

It's nice that the past is worked into the story a bit through flashbacks/visions. It would be nice to see a bit more of it in the next book(s), but really, I love the present that's been created so much that I'll likely love it either way (I just love the different time periods it was suggested could be involved!).

The way the characters' motives get more and more ambiguous towards the end, leaving Cole to really fend for herself is great. It leaves not only Cole second guessing herself, but the readers as well.

There are two scenes in particular that I want to reread to see if there was, on one, more follow up than I remember and, on the other, not the possible inconsistency/not-quite-sense-making that I remember. Other than that, things all came together incredibly well for a novel that had a lot to line up at the end and a lot to work out - though I think some will ultimately be worked out in the next book.

Rating: 9/10

Alicia is the fun twin, the outgoing twin, the one who doesn't give a damn what others think of her, she says what she thinks and she gets what she wants. Also? She doesn't exist.

Ever since Ava and Lexi were little they've used 'Alicia' as a way to disperse the blame, to get what they want, to avoid consequences. But now they've gone too far.

When not one but two boys 'Alicia' dated show up dead the police start pointing fingers at the twins, and when Ava adds fuel to the fire by lying to the police about who Alicia really is Lexi starts to question if Ava is somehow involved.

This book was marketed as "Pretty Little Liars" meets "Revenge" so obviously, being a fan of both shows, that drew me in instantly.

It was much more PPL than Revenge, Lexi wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed and I'm 98% positive most of her problems could have been solved by going to the police with the truth, but honest who would read that book?

Even though I did give it a solid 4 stars it still didn't live up to what I had built up in my head.

The idea of 'The Third Twin' was so intriguing and mystifying but the reveal was a little Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy finds out the Oz is really just a little man behind a curtain.

It definitely kept me on the edge of my seat up until the last couple of chapter where it started lagging a little. Sadly it just lacked the drama and suspense that the first 2/3 of the book had.

I can't say much more without spoilers but if you're a fan of "Pretty Little Liars" I would still check it out.

Until next time,
Ginger

In compliance with FTC guidelines I am disclosing that this book was given to me for free to review.
My review is my honest opinion.

This is one of those books where the author really gets kudos for her writing. I was sucked into the story. It was like a guilty pleasure. One where I kind of had a good/bad relationship with the book. Because on the one hand, I liked how the story was just twisted enough to keep me reading and did leave me in the dark for a while as to the true mystery surrounding Alicia. So the thing I did not like about this book was Lexi and Ava. I found Lexi to be soft and wishy washy. Whereas, Ava was a bitch. She got on my nerves. Alicia was the best of both of them. When they were Alicia I liked them. The guys they went out with though were all jerks. Again this is why I said this book is a guilty pleasure. A fun, fast read that is addicting.

Awww … another one of these novels that falls into your lap at the right moment in time. I admit that I am the type who turns to books for answers to those existential and universal questions, which is not always the brightest idea, but it brings me some measure of comfort nonetheless.

It’s probably more the connection I have with the characters in these books facing similar dilemmas or questions I am facing at the same time, then actually finding any answers. It helps to watch someone else wander through those tunnels of self-exploration, even if that “someone else” is a fictional character.

But enough of that philosophical blabber. Transcendence is the story of Cole Ryan, a teenaged cello prodigy that discovers she is Akhet – a rare individual who has the ability to remember past lives. She first discovers this talent on a visit to London, when a tour through the Tower of London prompts vivid visions of Cole as a young noblewoman who is executed outside the Tower in the 1500s. The visions are so intense that Cole faints … into the waiting arms of deliciously hot hero, Griffon Hall, of course. Turns out Griffon is Akhet too, and has been for a while, so he makes it his personal mission to help Cole accept, understand, and embrace this new ability.

Do I need to say romance here?

Or the fact that Cole’s new abilities also come with danger? Turns out that a woman she may have murdered in a previous life is also back and out to exact revenge. So, we sit on the edge of our seats as Cole and Griffon fall in love AND try to battle an evil “essence” (or what they call the soul that passes from body to body and life to life) set on destroying them.

I see Hollywood blockbuster here.

And the book was fabulous. As I have mentioned in previous reviews, I enjoy YA novels that feature strong and independent heroines. Although Cole and Griffon are falling in love, and Cole finds herself increasingly drawn to him, she still retains an element of her own self: mostly seen through her love for the cello. As Cole works her way through the blossoming memories of her previous lives, she learns that she was a cello prodigy in a previous life, and that her talent has come with her to this one. The cello, as she admits herself, is her one great passion. She feels like she can’t live without it, and as not seen with most 16-year-olds, she dedicates all of her spare time to it (to the chagrin of her best friend, Rayne, who is a refreshing sidekick). It was this passion – this dedication to a singular aspect of Cole’s life – that resonated the most with me. Especially when Cole starts to question the “truth” of that passion. She grows to believe that her Akhet status has somehow made her a cheater – because she knew how to play the cello before she was born into this life, then she is not a true cello prodigy.

And while I don’t question any of my extensive talents or where they came from (ha!), I can understand the journey that Cole is taking to understand what this change in her life means. I introspect a lot – probably far more than is necessary – but I do think a lot about the direction to take my life. What I want to do with my life is a question I know we all face, and I have found my path, but how far can I throw myself onto that path? How can I make it feel as rewarding and fulfilling as I want it to feel? That is my question now as I read this book. I love where I’m headed, and I want to make sure I keep going that way. And I know I will – but I want to make sure that I am experiencing it as much as I can. Cole isn’t facing quite the same questions, but the questions she faces about her future, resonate with another who is also thinking about the future.

So, on the whole, an excellent work. I enjoyed Omololu’s writing style, and her characters felt very real. Griffon is an admirable hero, one I can get behind and root for like Peeta from The Hunger Games trilogy or Four from the Divergent series. He’s got his head on straight, and he understands that women are not perfect in reality, but perfect in how they, as the hero, view them. That felt very vivid in Transcendence, and I would recommend this book for that reason alone. Ladies—you do not have to be perfect for the perfect guy to think you are. However, I think that Cole’s passion for the cello – her life connected to something so different than what you can find in other young adult heroines – is refreshing, and a great inspiration for young readers.

Identical twins Alexa and Ava created a fictitious third sister, Alicia, when they were little; anything that might get them into trouble was blamed on their invisible sibling. Now that they are seniors in high school, pretending to be Alicia allows them some latitude in dating “hot boys” they might otherwise choose not to date and lets them step out of themselves in ways that are at odds with the choices they normally make for themselves.

Then boys start dying and the twins [and, by extension, Alicia] are right in the middle of the police investigation. Things quickly go from bad to worse as the investigators dig into their convoluted story about their pretend sister and the dying continues.

Who is responsible for murdering the boys? Who will be the next victim? And could it be that the twins are being framed?

This story keeps from falling into the standard “surprise, we’re twins” milieu with fast-paced action and a couple of plot twists that venture far from expectations. It’s a well-written, satisfying read, although the intended twelve-year-old audience is definitely too young for this angst-ridden tale of multiple teen-agers gruesomely dispatched in pools of blood, ostensibly by someone they know and trust.

Cover Talk: Alright, peeps. Let me just tell you how much I LOVE this cover. First, it’s not white washed! And I don’t know if it’s a big deal to other people, but I actually want the people on the cover to match the characters in the book. I get completely thrown off when the main character is a described as having brown hair and brown eyes and the cover model is blonde hair and blue eyes. So major kudos for the character looking perfect and beautiful.

Second, I love the bit of London in the background and how it’s kind of foggy. It matched the whole “recovering past lives” thing that Cole has going on.

Third, the font is really pretty. I don’t why it stands out so much, but it is simple and lovely.

First Impressions: Ever since reading Michelle Madow’s book Remembrance a while back, I have been wanting to read more fiction on reincarnation. When I found this book on GoodReads and other fellow blogger’s pages I was super excited!

First 50-100 Pages: Let’s just say, when I started this book, I refused to put it down until page 203. So yes, the first 50-100 pages grabbed me and would not let me go. The handful of flashbacks we get are very intriguing. Omololu created just enough of the previous lives to keep my attention.

Characters: Cole is a very difficult character to sum up. She is ambitious, smart, a little naive, passionate, confused, scared, and strong. Cole is a child prodigy who plays the cello. She meets Griffon, feels a spark, and their relationship develops over into something sweet and romantic. Overall, I really like her. I think toward the middle-end, she was starting to change into a bit of a “googly-eyed,” semi-annoying girlfriend, but she came back from that by the end.

Griffon is definitely one of my favorite male leads that I have come across this year. He is smart, funny, caring, supportive, and just an all around good guy. And I know in a lot of reviews, many say he is too good to be true. Well, to that I say *blows raspberry* “so what?!” This guy genuinely cares about Cole and it is evident in everything that he does. I definitely love him.

Veronique is definitely someone I underestimated. I didn’t realize she would play such a central role this book. I really liked the development of her character and though her story kind of comes to an end in this book, I kind of want her to stay around and play a part in the second novel.

Rayne is Cole’s best friend. I really hope that she gets a bigger role in the second novel. Bigger in the sense that I hope she gets to become aware of Cole’s new world. I really love Rayne and Cole’s relationship. They are best friends with no judgement, no questions, and true dedication.

Plot: I am a huge fan of reincarnation ever since I read Remembrance. I have always loved this idea and while reading this book, i have fallen even more in love with this and really want to read more. My favorite part of this theme is that we get flashbacks into different periods of history. Especially the one in London. I can’t wait to discover more in the second book.

On a personal note, I have always had a huge want, no need, to go to Ireland. My ancestors on both sides are from Ireland and I have felt a pull in my heart, soul, and blood to go back. So when I was reading this book and reading Cole’s reaction to London, tears would well up in my eyes as I read her experiences. I feel such similar experience when reading about Ireland or seeing pictures. I can only imagine how it will feel to actually go there and have my feet firmly on Irish soil.

Okay, back to the plot. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Cole’s discovery of who she is. It is not too fast, but not to slow. I was very thankful for not being overwhelmed with a ton of information. Another quick personal note, I absolutely love anything and everything to do with ancient Egypt (maybe I was Cleopatra in a previous life) and so I was thrilled when I discovered the significance of ancient Egypt to this plot. Specifically the ankh.

Now, onto the romance. I loved the sweetness and the caution. Yes, it was kind of insta-love, but kind of not at the same time. I prefer to call this one insta-intrigue. Clearly, Cole senses something about Griffon that is different and is able to open up to him. I loved seeing their romance involve and am very interested to see what happens in the second book. I have feeling that it will be shaken up, because well, you’ll see when you read this book.

Final Thoughts: This is my favorite part of the review. The part where I tell you that the book is amazing, originally done, well written, contains thoroughly developed characters, and needs to be read now. Ready, go? But seriously, Transcendence is brilliant and the snippet at the end about book two…oh my Lord. I can’t wait!

While I enjoyed Transcendence and it certainly kept me entertained, there are ultimately too many things I didn't like about it to really proclaim it an instant favourite. I think the past-lives, reincarnation aspect is handled well (and ties to Egyptian mythology are always a plus), but the characters and the plotting could have been much, much better.

We begin with the world-building, wherein everyone reincarnates, but only a special few, called Ahket, remember their past lives. The awakening, or transitioning, is marked by random flashes of traumatic or emotional events witnessed in ones past lives. When our protagonist, Nicole (Cole) begins to have these visions, she's convinced she's going crazy, or is very unwell. Lucky a random stranger named Griffon is there to help her through it. This aspect of the book is interesting, and quickly pulled me into the book. The more that Cole found out about Ahket, the more I wanted to know. Getting to meet other Ahket is exciting, and I hope that as the series goes on, more is revealed about the world and the role the Ahket play in it.

My main source of disappointment in Transcendence is the execution - it's somewhat clumsy and unsatisfying, and left me with the feeling that the protagonist is ten kinds of foolish. For example, Cole, freaking out that she's experiencing weird visions, and confronted with Griffon who seems to know more than he lets on about them, instantly trusts him. Even when common sense tells her not to, she's constantly telling the reader how much she innately trusts him. Which would be fine, albeit unbelievable, if she didn't, in the same breath, tell us how she thinks he's crazy for believing the reincarnation stuff. She listens to his theories, meets other Ahket he knows and humours them on their beliefs, but it's a dodgy fortune-teller that eventually makes her believe! Go on Cole, tell me again how you trust this random boy ...

Closely connected, then, is the romance that transpires between Cole and Griffon. It's sweet and cute and oddly satisfying to read about, but Cole quickly becomes one of those YA protagonists that needs every consequence and corollary spelt out for her. She lacks the ability to even think one step ahead, is always angry and upset when the painfully obvious is pointed out to her. In addition, after sixteen years of fierce independence, she completely melts down when a guy doesn't call/text her for a few days. She became disgustingly clingy, which didn't seem natural for the character that the author described pre-Griffon.

Some of my favourite Cole moments -- Griffon's lived many lives before? Oh but he mustn't have fallen in love before! Oh, who are the girls in photos on his shelves? People from past lives, oh dear! Griffon, you say you haven't dated high school girls because you find, thanks to your recollections of past lives, you have more in common with older women? That must mean you've never dated anyone before ... who's that college girl?! Griffon, you haven't called me two days after kissing me! Watch me die here in a puddle of self-pity! And so it went.

On the subject of Griffon, he came across as too perfect. Where are his faults? His psychological hang-ups, the emotional and mental trauma of remembering so much, of having lost so much? I think the level of perfect that Griffon maintained throughout the book is probably what irked me the most. In terms of secondary characters, the author does admirably, creating believable, caring parents, a spunky sister, and an awesome best friend, but I wish these characters had more life. I feel like the author really only pulled them out when the plot needed to be advanced in some way, and they were otherwise left to rot in the back corners while Cole gallivanted around with her beau.

So, overall, where Transcendence failed me is how, I think, the author chose to approach it. In writing for a young adult audience, perhaps it seemed wiser to over-explain everything, to heighten every feeling to the point of melodrama, to create a 'relatable' main character who's middling, average, unremarkable, aside from her Cello playing, can't wear heels, doesn't wear skirts and throws away her life's passion for love. I, however, have read too many books where the world-building and plot elements are watered down, where the protagonist is stereotypical to a fault, to find anything I loved about it.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher for review.
You can read more of my reviews at Speculating on SpecFic.