Transcend by Scarlett Dawn Series: Origin #2
Published by Self Publish on 2017-06-18
Length: 278 pages
Reviewing eBook from My Book Shelf
Rating:
Reading Challenges: 2017 Dystopia Reading Challenge, 2017 New Release Challenge
The bestselling, groundbreaking Origin series continues with Transcend. Women are disappearing in New City, and the Corporate Army assigns their best soldiers to the case. In a world still recovering from war and death, every woman is needed for the survival of the human race.
Mina Kramer is a socialite in New City. She smiles for her father’s business associates, laughs at all their jokes, and acts the perfect daughter. When she’s suddenly abducted from a party at Baker Corporation, her whole world turns sideways. The kidnappers aren’t asking for her family’s money, the one item her parents have plenty of. With only confusion and captivity in her future, she prays for a rescue by her parents.
Except her saviors come in the form of the all-power Mr. Finn Baker and Poppy Carvene, a tiny sprite of a woman. And they don’t return her to her parents. Mr. Baker decides he wants to keep her and use her as bait to flush out the kidnappers’ leader.
Mina must push her fears aside or dive deeper into them. Does she want to run to her parents, who are safe? Or will she transcend to a woman who fights criminals bent on destroying New City? And can she overcome her startling feelings for the sexy Mr. Baker, a man who harbors secrets of his own?
This book has ALL THE FEELS!!! Transcend by Scarlett Dawn built me up and then gutted me. Following Trigger, the second book in the Origin series takes on a new couple while continuing the plot thread of the previous book. While I made no secret of my lack of interest in Trigger, I found myself engrossed in Transcend and fell in love with the characters and world Scarlett has created.
Mina is perhaps my favorite character in the series so far. She is a scholar, still young enough to not face the decision of marriage or army, and she’s had a formal upbringing which the author conveys with her odd, almost stilted dialect. It took some getting used to but I liked it. It helped to flesh the character out more. Mina is NOT a naive girl either. She is smart (remember scholar!!) and it doesn’t take much for her to figure things out.
One of my biggest complaints in Trigger was that while the reader knew about the shifters thanks to the blurb, the shifter aspect didn’t actually enter the story until past the midway point. Not the case with this book! It starts from the very beginning with a terrified Mina who witnessed the pack of shifters become animals when they didn’t know she was watching in the park. Mina is now terrified of these “monsters” as she has to interact with them. They are the corporate “kings” and she has no choice as her father is a wealthy, influential man invited to their parties. I liked this, it felt real to me as Poppy’s reaction in Trigger did not.
Then there is Finn, the white tiger and God’s best friend. He was one of my favorite characters in the last book and I loved getting to see him in this book. Like Mina, he has a formal air about him. He is very serious but also has a playful side, like the cat he becomes. He is kind and gentle with Mina and basically gives her everything she needs without her having to ask. He’s extremely intuitive when it comes to her and I have to say I may have fell in love with him just a little 😉
While obviously this is a paranormal romance with a dash of dystopia, the book also focuses on the overall series plot that was set up in Trigger. Something is happening, something is after Poppy and now Mina. There are those golems, clay men that come to life and then the mysterious “Master” behind them. Honestly it’s intriguing. Who is after them? Why? There are as many answers as there are questions in this book. And that ending?!?!?! It gutted me. I knew it was coming and it still gutted me.
Overall I enjoyed Transcend much more than its predecessor. Mina and Finn were believable as a couple. It wasn’t a lust then love situation as the author built up their friendship and mutual attraction before throwing them in bed together. I liked the sweet build up of romance between Mina and Finn. And even though the ending gutted me and threw me for a loop, I’m more than a little curious to see where the series is heading in Torment. PLUS if I’m right there will be at least 6 books because there are six aberrations….please say I’m right Scarlett Dawn! If you enjoy paranormal romance, I highly recommend this book. If you’re looking for more dystopia though, you might want to pass. There isn’t much on that front.
Side Note: While each book in this series can be read as a standalone, I don’t recommend it. I recommend reading in order so you don’t miss any of the world-building or the overall series plot.
About Scarlett Dawn
New York Times bestselling author and award-winner, Scarlett Dawn, is the mastermind behind the Forever Evermore fantasy series, the Origin paranormal dystopian stories, the Vampire Crown paranormal romance thrillers, the Mark science fantasy saga, and the Lion Security contemporary romance series.
She lives in the Midwest, adores her music loud, and demands her fries covered in melted cheese.
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