Review for Storm (Elemental #1) by Brigid Kemmerer

TITLE: Spark
SERIES: Elemental #1
AUTHOR: Brigid Kemmerer
PUBLICATION DATE: April 24, 2012
PUBLISHER: Kensington Teen, a division of Kensington Publishing Corp
PAGES: 353 pages
FORMAT: Paperback
SOURCE: Won from Step Into Fiction
RATING: 5 stars

Becca Chandler was just being a good citizen when she saves Chris who is getting the shit beat out of him one night. But it just might have been the worst thing she could have done. Now, she knows that Chris and his brothers are Elementals and very powerful ones at that. She also knows that they all have people who want to kill them and now, so does Becca. There is an obvious attraction between Becca and Chris, but Chris runs so hot and cold that she doesn’t know what to make of him. Then Hunter, the new kid at school, shows up and she can’t help but be attracted to him. So which side will she choose?

Yeah, that synopsis sucked, but I can’t seem to make it better, so we’ll just have to stick with it. Initially this book didn’t catch my attention. No offense to the cover models, but I just didn’t think they were that attractive and so I never picked it up. Sorry, but you guys just didn’t do it for me. Then I won an autographed copy and decided to give it a try. I am fucking glad I did. It is great.

In a lot of ways this book reminded me of Onyx by Jennifer L Armentrout (which is high praise) but I won’t tell you why. ****SPOILER****Okay, so maybe I will. The main way is the basic plot. Girl likes boy but boy is difficult. New boy moves to town and girls dates him. Old boy is untrusting and angry. New boy is really bad guy…or well part of the bad team and things deteriorate rapidly.****END SPOILER**** I will tell you that all the characters felt fully fleshed out and real. Throughout most of the beginning, I wasn’t sure which guy to root for. It’s pretty obvious that Chris is supposed to be the main guy since we get some from his perspective, but Hunter seemed the nicer guy. Plus, he drives a Jeep and has a German Shepard named Casper who follows him everywhere. ::drools:: Sorry, but I’m a sucker for a cute pooch. I knew that he wasn’t exactly what he seemed, but I still liked him. Chris, on the other hand, was a refreshing change of pace from the typical YA guy. He’s quiet and a bit unsure of himself and I adored him. He likes Becca but is too scared to make a move.

Becca, well, I’m on the fence about her. She’s always saving people, but then she pushes her best friend away for most of this novel in favor of boys, which is a quality I hate in females. I get it, your significant other is important, but isn’t my friendship as well? Anyway, I can sympathize with her issues and I wanted her to end up with Chris, but I’m not totally in love with her (or maybe I was for just the moment she punched Gabriel in the face, because that was awesome).

The writing was that amazing kind that sucks you in until all you can think about is finishing this book and nothing else matters. The plot was intense, if a little predictable. I so knew that her dad was the Guide and that Hunter was somehow mixed up in that and that Becca was some kind of Elemental and just didn’t know it.. General, if you like paranormal YA romance this is for you, if you can overlook the love triangle.