Transcendence by Shay Savage

🛑 Please Do Not Read If You Would Like to Avoid Spoilers 🛑

Ratings:

⭐️: 4.25/5

🌶: 3.5/5

Tropes:

- Historical

- Fantasy

- Caveman/Student

- Time Travel

- Virgin Hero & Heroine

- ⚠️ Trigger Warning ⚠️

- Hero's POV

Review:

I read this book part of a book club I am part of called Twisted B**ches created by YouTuber MoreToMary It has been an exquisite time being part of such a book club and to be honest if it wasn’t for this club, I probably wouldn’t have read this book. But, I am glad I did and it is different from any other book that I have read before. The book takes place millennials ago when cavemen existed because guess what? The hero of this story is none other than a caveman himself which is prevalent based on the book cover. I have never in my life watched a film or show solely dedicated to telling a story about caveman before and it is not because I am not interested, but I have never had the urge.

However, this book really proved that you need to give a book a chance even after reading the description and viewing the book cover. The book follows Ehd a caveman who lost his family and whole tribe due to a fire that happened prior to the beginning of the book. The book was amazing because this is the first time, I have read a book that is only told from the perspective of the hero of the book. Since he didn’t speak English because during those

times it didn’t exists it is great that the book was told from his point of view. The writing I can say was clear and precise which made it easy to read form the view of man. At the opening we find out the struggles he faces and trying to survive them at the same time such as resisting running into wild animals. Also, hunting in order to stay alive which was a struggle in itself, but became even harder when his new guest arrived out of nowhere. Up until that point Ehd thought he was the only person alive in his location after the destruction of his tribe. It was great to read this because I know hunting can be a struggle, but during these times it was even worst. Not to mention there was no tools available that would help with finding or conducting necessary task to stay alive 😲.

When Elizabeth arrives, who goes by Beh, because Ehd can’t pronounce her full name I knew this book was related to time travel. I was capable of realizing she was from a different time based on the way Ehd described her. She had clothes different from his and wore makeup which definitely didn’t exists during that time 😂. I was scared for Beh because Ehd was pretty aggressive to her because from the beginning he looked at her as his mate though she was sucked into a different time by accident obliviously. It wasn’t his fault though because he didn’t know and had no knowledge of what was going on other than that he needed to mate with someone and produce children. It would be times when he gets naked in front of her and she shy’s away becoming scared rightfully so. However, when the book first begins, I was not interested at all and waiting for the book to end. It just seemed like Ehd and Beh was sharing space and because of the language barrier there was little to no communication. Though once the book came close to the middle things started to heat up, I was scratching my chin because the book was actually well written with a great plot.

There were scenes when Beh was being attacked by a wild animal and Ehd saves her which was a first because he always wanted to avoid such threats. He actually made a path to understand her and grow a connection with Beh though at the beginning she was resistant. They were the only two people there and Ehd protected her at any chance even going as far to say if she dies, he will follow her without ever moving. I knew the connection was going to develop because of the lack of other presence, but when was the true question. Their relationship started off with soft kisses and bonding over bathing and more survival task. Also, it developed with occasional touching scenes which were awkward to read at times 🙃. However, their bond grew and grew eventually leading up to s*x. I gave a trigger warning

because at times Ehd did try to have intercourse with Beh when she didn’t want it manhandling her. He soon came to realize the word “no” meant she didn’t want to continue with such and didn’t want to mate with him. I did like that about him because I understand he didn’t understand her or know that she didn’t want to be just mate with him at first. He made sure to understand the words she was speaking and that was gravely important. Also, there was a scene when Beh was almost r*ped by another caveman that Ehd had never seen before, and I was scared out of mind in this scene. The man was bigger than Ehd and was actually beating the hell out him when he was trying to save Beh. Then during the turmoil Beh does get injured knocking her out and making Ehd really proclaim his love for her and the loneliness that he scared to endure again. He does end up killing the man which is confirmed at the end making him feel extremely guilty because he never killed a fellow human. I know some people are resistant to reading any scene with aggression and s*xual assault attempts which is the reason I am warning those who are reading this.

But, back to Ehd and Beh when they have s*x, we learn Beh is a virgin. Early on in the book Ehd reveals he is a virgin as well, though not in those particular words, never having had s*x before. From his perspective it was interesting to read it because he is basically describing it as the best thing he has ever felt. Personally, I found it funny at times during their s*x scene because of the sounds that were described he was making 😂. A reason why this book is great to me is because it a first for me in a lot of ways that being the fact that this is the first book, I have read from the perspective of a man entirely. To add on, this is the first book I have read, and the hero is a virgin. That was amazing and I am glad Shay Savage, the author, incorporated that into the book. They continue to have s*x on the regular with each other after doing daily task. Of course, during those times there was no such thing as protection, so Beh gets pregnant which makes Ehd happy.

They have a baby girl named Lah and soon after her birth Ehd tries to get her pregnant again 😂. At one point Lah becomes sick and without medicine or more around Beh and Ehd are left to watch her die. Until another person arrives through a portal and that person is Beh’s father. When this happened, I thought he was an angel or something and was confused by it at first. Since it is told from Ehd’s perspective we don’t know what is going on other than the fact that Beh’s father is going through the portal with Lah leaving Ehd and Beh to grieve her. It breaks Ehd which is hard to watch because he was always this strong person that protected his family and felt like he didn’t when Lah was taken. He was a great protector and he worked with what he had to protect his small family which wasn’t much. It does show grief in that way especially pertaining to men who are always trying to hide their emotions, but it is nothing wrong with letting your tears go. They do have another baby, but a son named Lee who Ehd loves dearly, but occasionally thinks about Lah. He doesn’t have to think about her two years after Lee’s birth because Beh’s father brings Lah back with equipment needed that wasn’t clear on what is was, but helped them survive better. Lah never aged and that surprised me because I was wondering if the timeline were completely different. After this transpires, they live their life in bliss even finding a new home eventually after meeting a friendly tribe. They go on to have two more child building a family and connecting with other families. When it ended it was sad because Beh and Ehd died in each other’s arms which was bittersweet with Ehd sticking by what he promised to never let Beh go after her death.

The epilogue was MIND BLOWING and I am glad to have seen it from Ehd’s perspective. Basically, the book came full circle like the movies Final Destination because Beh’s parents who are within the science field are conducting research on her and Ehd. Her mother and her team even found there remains calling them The Prehistoric Lovers. It was weird and confusing, but also thrilling finding out how Beh even came to be in the new time with a

caveman. To add on, based on Beh’s father’s notes when she was in modern day, he knew he had a connection to someone of the remains found. Then finding the artifacts Beh left behind and some specs of the clothing she had on when first arriving to the new period made me gasp 😱. I was not expecting that, and I wonder if her family knew all along that it was her in the present day found during that time. When she arrives and she describes Ehd I was happy to find out that he was attractive because I thought he looked like the stereotypical cavemen which isn’t the best-looking men 🤢.

This book was truly amazing, and I can tell Savage completed her research. I was kind of surprised of how she conveyed Ehd because he was sweet and did everything he needed to communicate with Beh and it paid off. I would have given this book a higher score if some questions were answered and it was from Beh’s perspective. But it wasn’t so I gave it a 4.25 out of 5 which is still decent. I do know that there is a novella available in connection with this book told form the view of Beh called Luffs. I definitely plan on reading it because I know it answers some questions that I have. The main question of mine is why Beh stayed after her father came, she should have been able to leave and go with her father. I know she had Ehd and her baby, Lah, to think about, but they could have gone with her. Maybe she thought Ehd couldn’t adapt, but she adapted to his world with issues at first, but she eventually excepted her circumstances. He definitely would have made progress in the modern-day world in my opinion. It’s just that if it was me and I was sucked into such a time I wouldn’t have been able to survive or made the sacrifices she made along the way. If given the opportunity to go back to my time, I would accept it in a heartbeat even with a lover I would have just brought him with me 🤷🏾‍♀️. The book was great even the s*x scenes being written well though they were kind of rushed and not detailed. But, s*x scenes are not that

important to me unless there is a well written plot and it very much was. I am hoping there will be another book released in relation to this book maybe a full-length novel from the view of Beh or their children. If anything, she basically taught the English language when I think

about it and changed the course of history 😆.

This book was very well written, and I do recommend it to anyone and to allow the book a chance before judging it!

"Transcendence" Amazon Link