Mundie Moms

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Blog Tour/ Book Review: Transcendence By C.J. Omololu


Published by: Walker & Company
Released on: June 5th, 2012
Source: purchased
4 stars: I Enjoyed It
Purchase: IndieBound | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Powell's

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? -quoted from Goodreads

A captivating storyline with plenty of romance, mystery, historical references, suspense and reincarnation. Transcendence introduces readers to an incredible world, fascinating characters and a unique story line. I've not read a lot of YA books that tackle reincarnation, and I was really surprised with how much I enjoyed C.J.'s story. I found it to be an incredibly intriguing, fun read. I didn't think this would be a story that I would get as swept up in as I did, and I really enjoyed it. 

Being a fan of history, I loved the way past connects the characters now days. Their ties to each other, and glimpses into various moments into the past lives of Cole was well written, and interesting. There's a part of me that thinks it would be awesome to be able to remember past lives, and to have been alive during key events during history, than there's another part of me that feels that it would be daunting to remember all those lives, similar to how Cole first felt when she came into her powers. Cole, also known as Nicole was a fun character to get to know. I felt like I understood her freaking out over the various flashbacks she has, though she has no idea why she's having them at first and why. The more glimpses I got, the more I wanted to know what her past lives. 

The other character I adored, who also shares the spotlight with Cole is Griffon. This boy doesn't just hold secrets into Cole's past lives, but he's that perfect gentleman who's always been a part of Cole's lives. I loved that while there was an immediate attraction and connect felt, which made perfect sense, there was a well paced build up to the romance the develops between the two. Griffon is so patient with Cole, and he does everything he can to help her grow into her powers and accept what she is and what she can do. I loved seeing how Cole was able to start trusting in him as well as fall in love with him. Griffon has always played a big role in Cole's lives, and I loved the role he played now.

Another thing I liked about this story is the way C.J. explains how reincarnation would effect a person now days. She created a realistic back story and made her book's reincarnation creditable with the history behind what Cole and Griffon are. They are what the Egyptian called Akhet's, meaning a people who can remember past lives they have lived before that can span hundreds to thousands of years. While both Cole and Griffon are both teens now, in past lives they could be different ages. She made it feel more realistic with knowing they would have relatives who are still around, despite the ages of some of the characters. C.J.'s vivid world building and writing was well paced, and really brought her story to life by giving it that realistic touch. Her descriptions, and her reasoning for why things happen was well executed and one of things that made this book so enjoyable for me. I can't wait to read the sequel!

Books, News & Other Things (IMM #126)

Happy Sunday! I hope y'all have had a great week. It was a rather quiet week here on MM's book wise, which has been nice. There's so many books I want to read this summer, that I'm not even sure where to start. lol You can read about why I changed the name of my IMM here. Here's some of the goodies that arrived this week.


Mundie Moms:

Mundie Kids:

Bought:
This has nothing to do with reading, but I totally love this journal I found at the bookstore.
 I have a problem buying journals like I do buying books. haha


Thank you to: Simon & Schuster, Little Brown, Farrar Straus, Giroux, Mr. Lemur and Alaina Knowles for this week's awesome reads.

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Book Reviews:

News: (blog tours, cover reveals, giveaways etc)

Blog tours:
  • Timepiece, interview with Kaleb, Kaleb's playlist & a giveaway
  • Dark Kiss, guest post & giveaway
Cover Reveals:
Giveaways:

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