Transcendence (review)

A visit to the Tower of London leaves sixteen-year-old Cole Ryan with the sneaking suspicion that she might be crazy. Fortunately, Griffon Hall, a swoonworthy looker of a guy, gracefully steps in to her life and informs her that her recent visions of her own imprisonment and execution are actually evidence that she is one of the Akhet—a people who can remember their past lives and use their accumulated knowledge to better the world. Not all reincarnated souls are so benevolent, however, and a series of accidents indicate that a wronged spirit from Cole's past is out for vengeance. As her visions become clearer, Cole learns some disturbing things not only about her previous selves but who Griffon may have been to her—and why he can't be trusted now. Omololu wisely keeps the narrative tightly focused on Cole's current crisis even as she introduces a bit of worldliness through the various flashbacks; Cole's voice is appropriately self-centered, concerned mostly with how her new status as an Akhet will affect her life in the present. Her visions of the past and her interactions with Griffon, who she finds attractive as much for his good looks as for his endless amount of Akhet wisdom, serve to broaden her horizons even as they challenge her notion of herself—an experience to which many teens will readily relate. Unfortunately, Cole's whiplash reactions to every new bit of information she uncovers makes her unreliability as a narrator more frustrating than intriguing, and the convenient appearances of Akhet experts just when Cole requires knowledge will strain reader credulity. Still, the sexy biracial love interest (who, for a pleasant change, is actually dark-skinned on the cover) may provide broader appeal, while the concept of reincarnation brings a thoughtful twist to the supernatural romance and may grant the title multiple lives in circulation.