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Lisa Ann O'Kane

Essence Kindle Edition

by Lisa Ann O'Kane (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

51 ratings

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Autumn escaped a cult, but now she realizes she's fallen into another. Growing up in San Francisco's Centrist Movement, sixteen year-old Autumn Grace has always believed emotions--adrenaline, endorphins, even happiness--drain your Essence and lead to an early death. But her younger brother's passing and a run-in with a group of Outsiders casts her faith into question. Ryder Stone, the sexy, rebellious leader of the Outsiders, claims Essence drain is nothing more than a Centrist scare tactic -- and he can prove it. Autumn follows Ryder to his Community of adrenaline junkies and free spirits in Yosemite National Park, and they introduce her to a life of adventure, romance, sex, drugs and freedom. But as she discovers dark secrets beneath the Community's perfect exterior, she realizes the more she risks in search of the perfect rush, the further she has to fall.

Print length

384 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Strange Chemistry
Publication date

June 3, 2014
Reading age

14 years and up
File size

804 KB
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Dario Nardi
69
Kindle Edition
$7.65

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Editorial Reviews

From the Author

I hope you enjoy my debut novel ESSENCE. It was inspired by the summer I spent living and working in Yosemite National Park--as well as the crews of adrenaline junkies I have fallen into and out of through the years. If you have any questions or would like to connect with me on social media, please visit my website for more information. I look forward to hearing from you!

About the Author

Lisa Ann O'Kane is a wildlife educator and former vagabond who once camped out in Yosemite National Park for an entire summer, an experience that inspired her debut novel ESSENCE. She currently resides in Florida, and she is now a huge fan of shooting stars, indoor plumbing and keeping both her feet planted firmly on the trail.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00H6J6KHK
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Strange Chemistry (June 3, 2014)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 3, 2014
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 804 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #2,804,319 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #31,455 in Teen & Young Adult Fantasy eBooks
- #54,441 in Teen & Young Adult Fantasy

Customer Reviews:
51 ratings

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Lisa Ann O'Kane

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Lisa Ann O'Kane is a young adult author and former vagabond who once camped out in Yosemite National Park for an entire summer, an experience that inspired her debut novel ESSENCE (Strange Chemistry Books, June 2014).

Her background is in zookeeping and environmental education, and she has been kicked, cornered, bitten, and chased by nearly every animal she has ever loved. She currently resides in Florida, and she is now a huge fan of shooting stars, unexpected adventures, and keeping both her feet planted firmly on the trail.

Customer reviews

5 star		67%
4 star		27%
3 star		3%
2 star		4%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Two Worlds

Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2014

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I don’t read much YA or speculative fiction, but “Essence” drew me right along. Set in San Francisco and northern California (around Yosemite), this novel is a dash of gentle sci-fi mixed with a dash of romance. The coming-of-age awakening for protagonist Autumn Grace starts in eerie fashion. She’s stuck in a cult—the Centrist Movement—that believes in minimizing self-expression in order to not expend too much of each person’s set quantity of “essence.” Outbursts—of all kinds—shorten life. (An Interesting concept.) She has questions about the mysterious death of her brother and is about to be formally separated from her mother as a “Free Soul.” She meets a group of teenagers in a nearby park who entice her to follow them back to their group, the Community, leaving her mother and the odd cult behind. The new group embraces danger and risk. Autumn is soon doing things she would never have dared in both the athletic and love departments. Guys circle around and Autumn faces choices and takes personal risks that force her to grow and accept responsibility for herself. Just when I thought the romance-triangle tangle might take over the book, O’Kane slips in a nifty, dark new theme that ups the ante. The walls close in. Danger is no longer an abstract concept. Feeling turns to action. The Community has its own way of taking care of business—and hiding secrets. Autumn peers into the void, learns to be wary of extremes, and begins to trust herself. I don’t read much YA or speculative fiction, but I met the engaging author at a writers’ conference in Denver a few years back. She was clearly a thoughtful, energetic writer and that spirit comes right through on the pages of “Essence.”

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Sara K.

Easy read to take you to another place

Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2014

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Even though this book was geared for YA's I saw via Facebook a friend of mine was reading it. The description peaked my interest even though I'm in my early 30's :)

I'm glad I took a chance and this book. The message was awesome. Life is about love and balance.

It really reflected the author's personal journey in Yosemite as her words painted a picture, made you feel the things the main character felt on her new journey. Fantastic fun journey this book took me on. Start to finish and I'd recommend it for sure!

Great concept and like other reviewers I sure hope Lisa is inspired by a new venture to write another one.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Chris Catt

A REAL PAGE TURNER FULL OF SUSPENSE, ADVENTURE, INTERESTING CHARACTERS AND ALL THE ISSUES PEOPLE STRUGGLE WITH IN LIFE

Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2016

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This book is totally AWESOME. I picked up “Essence” upon a friend’s recommendation and am so glad I did. I’m not a huge reader, so a 300+ page novel was a lot for me to take on. Even though the target audience is teen / young adult, as a middle aged grown-up, I just couldn’t put this book down. The amount of adventure author O’Kane wove through the story was just enough to calm my ADD mind and keep me turning the pages for more. Being a professional clinical psychologist, I could relate to the centrality of the emotional experience we have as humans and to the constant struggle to cope with our emotions as we go through different life experiences. Author O’Kane creates an interesting mix of characters who I really came to know as the story progressed. There’s an underlying theme woven throughout as to whether emotional regulation and stoicism leads to longevity vs the polar opposite approach of living life full throttle as an adrenaline junkie. O’Kane spins a tale of two different groups demonstrating each of these approaches to life and does so in the fantastic settings of San Francisco and Yosemite Valley California. Having traveled to both places, the novel totally came alive for me as the author vividly described both the settings and the characters within them. As you read this novel, you’ll likely identify with one of the characters whether it be Autumn, Ryder, Jett, Cody, Kadence, or Shayla. They all struggle with the same things most teens / young adults struggle with: emotions, hormones, feelings towards the opposite sex, truth, identity, character, independence and authority. In a novel filled with suspense and excitement, O’Kane addresses issues we all have to deal with as we come of age and grow in maturity. Her pacing of the story and the character development made me keep turning the pages for more. This is easily the longest book I’ve ever read and I hope Autumn and Ryder’s adventure continues in O’Kane’s next novel. If you’ve read my review this far, just go ahead and BUY THIS BOOK. You’ll be glad you did. I recommend the hard copy because more proceeds go to the author and will help finance her next work. –Dr. Chris Catt, PsyD, HSPP, Licensed Clinical Psychologist and author of “Leaving Life in the Fat Lane”.

Helpful

Brandon Cooke

Abundance, Jeeps, Moonbows, and Meditation Tents

Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2015

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Only took a few days to breeze through the discriptive text that continually beckons your natual man into the wilderness with Autumn and Ryder. The characters are easy to identify with and their struggle for acceptance both internally and externally is one that reverberates with not only seekers and wanderers but with intellectuals and mainstream thinkers alike. Thank you, Lisa, for sharing your heart and taking us on this exciting adventure.

'...the sound melted through my entire body until I felt myself buzzing with happiness. I was here. In the middle of the woods. In the middle of this beautiful night, and I was connected to so many amazing people that it was suddenly hard to tell where they ended and I began.'

-Brandon

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Geoffrey

Great book

Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2020

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A simple book about an awaking youth and the joys of discovering life and hope. I am not sure about trying slack lining.

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Eugene Scott

Exciting, thoughtful novel

Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2014

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"Essence," Lisa O'Kane's debut novel, is fun and fast and incredibly descriptive. The story and writing are strong (her depiction of how a character feels after a sexual encounter is sensitive and very real). Yosemite comes to life and even serves as another character in O'Kane's writing. And once you are in the story, it moves you to keep turning and find out how Autumn survives--or more. I really enjoyed reading this YA even though I'm a bit older than that now. Her descriptions of the adrenaline sports are spot on. And I enjoyed the exploration of the tension about what makes for a life filled with essence. I can't wait for her next novel.

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Top reviews from other countries

Simon Fraser

had read the back cover and stated that this seemed like a good example of the field

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 5, 2014

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ESSENCE
by Lisa Ann O'Kane

Having never read a novel of this genre, even when I was an actual teenager, it was with some trepidation that I took on this story. One of my nurses, an expert in the field she assured me, had read the back cover and stated that this seemed like a good example of the field. So I started the book and was very pleasantly surprised. I like the character of Autumn and the gradual revelation of the circumstances surrounding Brady's death was sufficient to keep me engrossed until the next section of the book...Ryder Stone. I must confess to a raised eyebrow at the name, although aforementioned nurse did assure me this was quite according to genre and I concur that the character would not have had the same gravitas had he been called Gerald.
Then we moved onto Yosemite, and what a cool place it is too. Only someone who has been there and loved it could have described it as vividly as on these pages. The choice of location and the various adrenaline junkie pursuits kept the book ticking along nicely, and helped me through the sections of teenage angst, passion and groping! (sections I confess I struggled with slightly, but my wife assures me I am emotionally stunted and I am inclined to agree with her). And the ecstacy trip...beautifully described although not something I have experienced myself; I hope the research was fun!
Then we move to the climax. The author had given us sufficient clues to realise this Shangri-La was not as perfect as one would believe, so the Camp 4 section was intriguing and when Rex finally reveals himself in his true colours, giving Ryder the opportunity for redemption, a thoroughly entertaining finale ensues.
So a fantastic debut novel from Ms O'Kane. I for one am looking forward to her follow up. And will there be a sequel to this? Will we see Autumn and Ryder expose Camp 4? Will Autumn try to free her mum and Aunt Marie? Did the others make it to Mono Lake? This reader for one would like to know

Craig DeStephanis

A fun read

Reviewed in Canada on June 26, 2014

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A dystopia within a utopia within a dystopia. I couldn't put this book down once I started reading it. The characters and scenery are beautiful, extreme sports are exciting, and the mysteries of the Yosemite park society becoming more and more ominous. This book reminds me of The Beach by Alex Garland. It should also be made into a film.

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