Review of Transcendence by C.J. Omololu

Title/Author: Transcendence by C.J. Omololu
Publisher/Date published: Walker Books for Young Readers, June 5th 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley

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 have to say that after finishing Transcendence, I'm left with mixed feelings. There were parts that I absolutely adored and sometimes I just found myself shaking my head and wanting to do a facepalm. And some of those times I did.

For me, Transcendence started of with a bang by being right in the middle of London and heading towards the Tower. Be still my little anglophilic heart. The whole scene were Cole and her sister went on the tour I was thinking: YES, that is what the Beef Eater did when we went there as well!! It's sorta embarassing how excited I get by stuff like this ;) I was really feeling the moment with Cole's first flasback to one of her previous lives. So we were doing really great. But then when she sorta loses focus with reality because of the flasback and Griffon comes to the rescue, Cole immediately gets all 'let's hide the things I'm good at and I'm not pretty enough to be with this gorgeous piece of manhood that has come my was'.

And I'm kinda tired of that attitude in female main characters. Not just in YA, although it does happen there more often than anywhere else. I would really like to see a girl with at least a figment of confidence. I wasn't Miss Self-Assured when I was a teen, but when a goodlooking boy talked to me, you better believe I wasn't thinking 'he's too pretty to be talking to me'.
Ahem.
So, I'd like to see some female MCs own up to their strengths and not put themselves down ALL THE TIME. Cause it's a bit off-putting for me.

Anyway.

I did really like seeing Cole's past lives unfold and learning more about her past and the bad guy who's after her. Even though I guessed pretty early on what one of the big plot twist was going to be. The other one I had absolutely not seen coming and it was really intriguing! The flashbacks might actually have been the best part of the book, I felt like the writing was more lush and everything became alive and I just felt like I was there in the moment, while I didn't have that same reaction when we were in 'present' time.

Unfortunately, I didn't fall in love with Griffon right along with Cole. He blew hot and cold and I wasn't feeling it. I didn't really connect to either of them and towards the end I found myself facepalming a couple of times at Cole's actions. I mean, seriously? You go and put your trust in the one person who holds a neon sign saying "I WANT TO HURT YOU"? And I completely agreed when Cole's best friend asked her 'Isn't that a bit dramatic?' YES! Way to jump to conclusions. It's just that this seemed a little off and out of character and just there so the story could reach the big finale.

For Fated, the next book in this series, I see a love triangle coming up, but it might actually be one that makes sense. I'm really curious to see how C.J. Omololu will handle it!
The idea of past lives and the Akhet are fascinating and I'm sure we've only seen the tip of the iceberg where this is concerned! I loved how C.J. Omololu connected this to different events and important historical figures and even to extremely talented artists/sportsmen.

I think this was a pretty good start to a series, but I hope Cole will grow somewhat more as a character in the next novel. There were things that worked SO well: the flashbacks and the big plotlines were amazing! But when something makes me do an actual facepalm, well, that's not so good. I am however very curious to find out what will happen next, so I'll definitely be picking up Fated when it comes out!

My rating: 3 stars