The Claires by C.L. Gaber

Item: The Claires: An Ascenders Novel
Rating: 5
Author: karenbaron

Posted March 14, 2020 by karenbaron in Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Review, Young Adult / 1 Comment

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Claires: An Ascenders Novel

by C.L. Gaber

Published by Big Picture Media on January 14, 2020
Genres: YA Fantasy
Pages: 417
Format: Paperback
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Get Your Copy at: Amazon

Four beautiful girls. Quadruplets. They are not identical.
But each is named Claire.
Claire V is Clairvoyant—clear seeing with visions of the future.
Claire S is Clairsentient—clear feeling as she embraces another’s pain.
Claire A is Clairaudient—clear hearing to tap into the spirit world.
Claire C is Claircognizant—clear knowing with 100% accuracy.

Born in 1911, they first died together in 1928 at age seventeen. Two months later, they were reborn. And reborn. THE CLAIRES only live to seventeen and then they’re violently murdered. Somewhere in the world, a woman finds out she’s pregnant with quads. The Claires return to a new family as they try to break a curse that guarantees they die young.

It’s current-day Los Angeles, and once again, their seventeenth birthday is looming. Can they save themselves, clean up the streets in the name of penance, and crash their own prom?

The Claires by C.L. Gaber is surprisingly an extraordinary book that I didn’t know if I was going to like it or not. Each of the Claire sisters has a special Clair gift that is basically said in their name.

Will The Claires be able to break their curse?

Claire Violet

Claire Violet (better known as V) is the oldest of the quadruplets and the clairvoyant one. She is the first point-of-view that we enter (after some backstory), and I have to say that as a girl, she has taken to using her gift in 2013 as one would do. She uses her power to get money from her classmates. The one thing that sucks is the dying part and having to be reborn just to do it all over again. V can see the future and uses it to her advantage sometimes.

What I like about V is that despite doing this dance all the time, she is still trying to be smart and break this curse. It just sucks that they are trying too late in their last year to try this. The one thing that I dislike about V is that she can be kind of mean when she really shouldn’t be.

Claire Sophia

Claire Sophia (better known as S) is the second born child of the quadruplets and the one that is clairsentient. She is the second point-of-view that we enter, and I have to say that it must suck to feel all the emotions of everyone around you with no way of stopping it. S is the sappy one of the four Claire’s and the one that tries to keep the other three on track with their emotions. Except that isn’t always an easy feat.

What I like about S is that she tries to see the good in everyone, including her sisters and their current family. Except that sometimes that isn’t easy when it comes close to dying. The one thing that I dislike about S is that she didn’t try to stick up to V enough.

Claire Alice

Claire Alice (better known as A) is the third born child of the quadruplets and the one that is clairaudient. She is the one that can see ghosts, hear things that no one else should like when she is walking by a house A can listen to their conversation inside, and she can hear if someone is about to crossover into the spirit world. A is the third point-of-view one and the one that is in constant contact with their actual mom. Well, when she isn’t talking to any of the other spirits that come a-knockin’. A is more into talking to Cass, their “brother” in this lifetime. None of the other Claire’s like him.

What I like about A is that she tries to be a good person in this life even if it isn’t working for her. Especially when it’s to give Cass the benefit of the doubt, but then again, that could just be the old age getting to her. The one thing that I dislike about A is that instead of being with ghosts, she could meet boys her age, then she may not be sad at the end of this life.

Claire Clover

Claire Clover (better known as C) is the last of the quadruplets and the one that is claircognizant. She is the one that is all-knowing and never guesses wrong. Basically, she’s the Yoda of the group. C is a vegan and the one that helps out their current dad with his police work. She is a bit meaner than V when it comes to protecting the other Claires. Or when they like to make their “brother” and his girlfriend that lives next door squirm. C is the one to look out for, especially when it comes close to their death day.

What I like about C is that in this life, she has tried to become a better person, especially with helping out their dad with his cases. The one that I dislike about C is that being all-knowing doesn’t mean that she needs to have an attitude all the time.

Cass

Cass, Caspian, is the firstborn child to his mom and dad. He was born a year before his little sisters. He was raised with them being his sisters and tried hard to act like their big brother. That is until the four of them continually try different tactics to get rid of him. He can also talk to spirits and maybe some other things that he hasn’t tapped into yet. What I like about Caspian is that he is an excellent character that tries hard not to hate his little sisters even though they test him a lot.

I feel bad for Cass. He has to deal with the Claires, and what they do to his family life makes his head spin. One swift head spin that he has no clue how to stop.

5 Stars

The Claires by C.L. Gaber is a new take on fantasy books. I haven’t read Ascenders before but after reading this one it makes me kind of want to read them now. I don’t know if we will ever get another book with these four sisters, but I kind of want to see if they do eventually break the curse. Along with what happened between 2013 to 2017, that made them not come back as fast as they usually do. For that reason, I am giving this book five stars and recommending it to anyone that likes to read fantasy books.

A special thank you to Wunderkind PR for the opportunity to review this book.

The Claires is the first novel spin-off of the best-selling Ascenders Book Saga.

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of The Claires by C.L. Gaber.

Until the next time,

Happy Reading!

About C.L. Gaber

I’m C.L. Gaber, an author and film journalist for the New York Times Syndicate and Chicago Sun Times. I also co-authored Jex Malone series. Originally from Chicago, I make my home in Nevada with my husband, bonus daughter and two unruly dogs.

My husband knows that Ascenders began with me in bathroom half the night writing on tiny notepads because I didn’t want to wake him. When daylight did roll around, I told him, ”Baby, I had the most incredible dream”.

…

Scientists don’t always agree on many things because that’s their gig. But most will inform you that the human brain doesn’t fully form until you’re 24-years-old. It’s explains a hell of a lot of things including why we do such reckless and unforgettable things when we’re growing up.

It also begs the question: What happens to those who die young? Where does all that reckless energy and boundless potential go? Does it just get snuffed out…or does it ascend to another realm?

Go HERE to read more.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges: