Ascendant

How did I get it?:
Received from author in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:

When I was twelve, my mother disappeared. I was the first person to never find her.

I’m sixteen now and she has never been found, alive or dead. I’m not the girl I should have been.

When Charlotte Stevens, bright but failing, is sent to stay at her mother’s childhood home in Somerset England her life is changed forever. While exploring the lavish family manor, Gaersum Aern, Charlotte discovers a stone puzzle box that contains a pentagram necklace and a note from her mother—clues to her family’s strange past and her mother’s disappearance. Charlotte must try to solve the puzzle box, decipher her mother’s old journals, and figure out who is working to derail her efforts—and why. The family manor contains many secrets and hidden histories, keys to the elegant mystery Charlotte called mom and hopefully, a trail to finding her.

Thoughts:

This is another one of those books with a synopsis that completely pulled me in. I really couldn’t wait to get stuck into Ascendant. It was incredibly easy to read. I read it within 24 hours as I was engrossed and just had to know what was going on. I kept putting it down for a break, but ended up picking it up again within minutes!

The story is gripping, clever and it wasn’t predictable. It’s billed as young adult, but I believe readers of all ages would enjoy it. The mystery was well written, not giving too much away at once, encouraging the reader to read on.

I absolutely loved the characters. Charlotte was a great character, all too often characters in young adult books can be a bit needy or sometimes just plain irritating. Charlotte is clever and incredibly engaging. Caleb and Hayden are the main male characters. Caleb was very sweet, but a tad possessive. Hayden was a typical ‘bad’ boy that you find in YA books. I was glad that Charlotte didn’t spend her time fawning over the two boys, because that’s something that is all too common in YA reads.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Ascendant. It was fast-paced, interesting and very easy to read. Look out for my interview with the author Rebecca Taylor coming up very soon!

Would I recommend it?:
Of course!