Review for Sacrifice (Elemental #5) by Brigid Kemmerer

TITLE: Sacrifice
SERIES: Elemental #5
AUTHOR: Brigid Kemmerer
PUBLICATION DATE: September 30, 2014
PUBLISHER: K-Teen
PAGES: 432 pages
FORMAT: E-ARC
SOURCE: Publisher via NetGalley
RATING: 4 bows

For the past five years, all Michael’s life has been is stress. It’s his mission in life to take care of his three younger brothers. After their parents died, he was all they had left and he would be damned if he’d let social services take them away and split them up. Fuck that. He works his ass off to support them and keep food on the table. But after one misstep, it looks like he’ll lose it all. He’s girlfriend, Hannah, is in a similar boat, with a 5 year old son and a job as a firefighter. When the shit really hits the fan, can they beat it together, or will this fight obliterate not only them, but both their families as well?

Character-wise, there is nothing new to say here. We get the Merrick brothers (& Hunter) in full force, fighting to stay together and stay alive. We don’t get much of the girlfriend’s here, but we do see a nice bit of Adam and a bunch more of Hannah. We get several chapters from her perspective. And the more I saw from her side, the more my opinion of her varied. It’s clear that she is good at her job and she a good mother and she puts her son first, but I kinda wanted to smack her. She got pregnant with James at 17 and her parents have stood by her, provided for her, and helped care for her son. When she works, her mom watches James if he isn’t in school. She doesn’t have to worry over who is handling her sons care or pay for daycare and she seem to disregard the fact that she is beyond lucky. Her parents could have disowned her or better yet, still supported her but not had the monetary means to support her as much as they have. Her mom could work for a living, making it necessary to find a daycare that would care for James on a Firefighter’s schedule, which I assume would be no easy feat. And if she really fucks up her life, she knows her parents are a safety net. Michael doesn’t have that luxury. When the shit hits the fan and his house nearly burns to the ground, he has no one to call and no backup. He’s home is where he runs his business from. No home = no business = no money. That’s a serious problem when you are constantly fighting DSS’s attempts to take your brothers. So, my opinion of Hannah is a bit difficult to interpret. I didn’t love her, but I didn’t hate her either.

As for the Merrick brothers, and Hunter, I still love them all just the same. It’s hard not to empathize with Michael’s plight. All that matters is keeping his brothers safe, period, and when things fall apart, he is beyond lost. I just wanted to hug the poor guy.

It’s hard to get deep into the plot here without giving away spoilers, but it’s on the same level as the rest of this series. It’s riveting in a way that you can’t let go of. Don’t start it unless you have time to sit down and finish it or you’ll be spending every spare second just getting through a few more words. It’s amazing and heart-pounding and heart-breaking and I love it.

However, it can never get more than four stars from me and it will never be my favorite of the series. There is one major reason why.****SPOILER****Hunter dies. Now, I think we all know I was not Hunter’s biggest fan until I read his book, but I didn’t want him to die. He sacrifices his life to save Michael in a heart-wrenching way. I should have seen it coming. Everybody else has someone to ride off into the sunset with and his love interest is dead, so it’s only fitting that he should die too, so they can be together in the afterlife. See this face? It’s not a happy gnome face. I didn’t want him to die. I hate that he died. I don’t think it’s fitting and I don’t like it and it makes me highly unhappy. I hate character death. I HATE IT. I don’t mean that light, dislike, I mean I abhor it. Fantasy worlds should allow everyone to live happily ever after. ::sobs:: I also hate novels that make me sad. If I wanted sad, I’d watch the news. I read fiction because I want happy. HAPPY.****END SPOILER***

The other reason is that it felt too short. It felt like there should be more. I understand that it was written in a way that ended the series, but left room for a spin-off. I get that, I do, but I wanted more. Part of this is due to the fact that this book includes copies of the three novellas in this series. Now, before I go further, I will say that my copy of this book is already pre-ordered (and has been for months) and I am thrilled to be getting physical copies of the novellas that I already own digitally….but…They take up a lot of space. When you’re kindle hits the 65% mark, Sacrifice is finished. I went in expecting 400 pages of Michael awesomeness and got less than 300, which makes me a bit sad. Besides that, I don’t like that the love triangle line was blurred. It’s not really a triangle, but it plays some moments up like it will be.

Right now, this doesn’t sound like a rave review. I need you to know that I loved this book and this series as a whole and I highly recommend it to people (except Kandice because the character death will make it impossible for you to love it), but I also had extremely high expectations for it to live up to. On most levels, it succeeds with flying colors, but there were a few letdowns, like the character death that prevent me from loving it as much as I could.

What I loved about it was the same thing I have loved about all the previous ones. The writing is amazing and the characters are so fleshed out that they feel very real, supernatural abilities and all. None of the characters are overly perfect, each having his/her own unique flaws. The plot is far from predictable because I didn’t see that coming and that have that addictive, readable quality that pushes you to just go one more chapter. Really, Kemmerer is a very talented writer and I will be reading anything else she plans to write.

All you need to know is that this book (and this series) is that is amazing and, as long as character death won’t ruin it for you, it’s highly recommendable. Even if character death bothers you, books 1 and 2 don’t have any serious character annihilation. On the other side, if you have enjoyed the previous books, this one won’t disappoint.

****Thank you to K-Teen, an imprint of Kensington Books for providing me with an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review****

Cover Reveal for Sacrifice (Elemental #5) by Brigid Kemmerer

I’m so excited to be able to share this with you guys! Kemmerer’s Elemental series is one of my favorites. Secret is definitely going to make my favorites of 2014 list. It was so awesome I can say that now, even though 2014 is just beginning. I have wholly adored every novel in this series (except Spirit) and I cannot wait to get the next one. You can read more of my rabid fangirling in my various reviews (Elemental | Storm | Fearless | Spark | Breathless | Spirit | Secret). Now, on to business. Pretty, that’s all I’ll say is pretty…and I love Michael. Can this be up on NetGalley now? Cause I WANTS it. No? Well, it doesn’t hurt to ask. I could put a whole bunch of lines and dots and make you scroll (and scroll and scroll) down to finally see this beauty of a cover, but I’m too lazy nice to do that to you. So without further gilding the lily and with no more ado, I give to you the covers (that’s right, plural) of Sacrifice.

The US Edition:

The Australian/New Zealand Edition:

TITLE: Sacrifice
SERIES: Elemental #5
AUTHOR: Brigid Kemmerer
PUBLICATION DATE: September 30, 2014
PUBLISHER: Kensington Teen
PAGES: 432 pages

DESCRIPTION

One misstep and they lose it all. For the last time.

Michael Merrick is used to pressure.

He’s the only parent his three brothers have had for years. His power to control Earth could kill someone if he miscalculates. Now an Elemental Guide has it out for his family, and he’s all that stands in the way.

His girlfriend, Hannah, gets that. She’s got a kid of her own, and a job as a firefighter that could end her life without a moment’s notice.

But there are people who have had enough of Michael’s defiance, his family’s “bad luck.” Before he knows it, Michael’s enemies have turned into the Merricks’ enemies, and they’re armed for war.

They’re not interested in surrender. But Michael isn’t the white flag type anyway. There will be blood on the ground tonight…

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brigid Kemmerer was born in Omaha, Nebraska, though her parents quickly moved her all over the United States, from the desert in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to the lakeside in Cleveland, Ohio, and several stops in between, eventually settling near Annapolis, Maryland. Brigid started writing in high school, and her first real “novel” was about four vampire brothers causing a ruckus in the suburbs. Those four brothers are the same boys living in the pages of The Elemental Series, so Brigid likes to say she’s had four teenage boys taking up space in her head for the last seventeen years. (Though sometimes that just makes her sound nuts.)

Brigid writes anywhere she can find a place to sit down (and she’s embarrassed to say a great many pages of The Elemental Series were written while sitting on the floor in the basement of a hotel while she was attending a writers’ conference). Most writers enjoy peace and quiet while writing, but Brigid prefers pandemonium. A good thing, considering she has three boys in the house, ranging in age from an infant to a teenager.

While writing STORM, it’s ironic to note that Brigid’s personal life was plagued by water problems: her basement flooded three times, her roof leaked, her kitchen faucet broke, causing the cabinet underneath to be destroyed by water, the wall in her son’s room had to be torn down because water had crept into the wall, and her bedroom wall recently developed a minor leak. Considering SPARK, book 2 in the series, is about the brother who controls fire, Brigid is currently making sure all the smoke detectors in her house have batteries.

Brigid loves hearing from people, and she probably won’t refer to herself in the third person like this if you actually correspond with her. She has a smartphone surgically attached to her person nearby at all times, and email is the best way to reach her. Her email address is brigidmary@gmail.com.

Contact Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter

Buy Links For Series: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | iTunes | Indiebound

So what do you think? Isn’t it gorgeous? It may be my favorite cover so far!

Review for Secret (Elemental #4) by Brigid Kemmerer

TITLE: Secret
SERIES: Elemental #4
AUTHOR: Brigid Kemmerer
PUBLICATION DATE: January 28, 2014
PUBLISHER: KTeen, an imprint of Kensington Publishing
PAGES: 352 pages
FORMAT: E-ARC
SOURCE: NetGalley
RATING: 5 bows

Nick Merrick has always been the dependable one. He seems to do everything, keeping his grades up, helping Gabriel with his school work so he can get into fire-fighting training, help Michael with the landscaping business so they don’t have to live off ramen noodles, and keep his brothers from tearing each others heads off with things get too heated. But Nick is about ready to break because he doesn’t know how much longer he can hide his secret, especially when he can’t seem to stay away from Adam, his “girlfriend’s” dance partner. He’s terrified to break the news of his homosexuality to his brothers because he wouldn’t be able to handle they rejection, especially Gabriel’s. Add that stress to the ever-present stay alive scenario with the Guides constantly out to get them and our Nicky has quite a been to handle. Can he keep it all locked in or will he allow someone else to help him?

It seems like every time I read one of the Elemental series, the book that particular brother is mainly about becomes my favorite Merrick and this is no exception. Nick problems felt so real. Unlike the rest of the books, this almost reads like a contemporary romance because you don’t go into a lot of the Elemental stuff. Sure, it’s there and the threat of the Guides is present, but this is much more about Nick’s journey to come out of the closet than anything else. He’s such an easy character to sympathize with. I think he was a bit stupid to worry so much about his brother’s reactions because it’s obvious to anyone that they would support him through anything, but I can also see why anyone would worry, because there are a lot of close-minded people out there. Watching his relationship with everyone here was completely enthralling, but it’s the interaction with his brothers that gets me. This entire series has captivated me in the way we see them, which shocks me as much as anyone else because I’m usually all about the romance, but there is something mesmerizing about this close-knit group of brothers that keeps me coming back.

Another interesting thing about this is it’s told via Nick’s perspective (obviously) and his fake “girlfriend,” Quinn’s perspective. The obvious choice would have been to alternate between Nick and Adam, but Kemmerer is having none of that. While I would have enjoyed being in Adam’s head for a while, seeing deeper into Quinn really balanced her character out for me. I have never hated Quinn, but she was never been my favorite character. I always found her drama a bit much and though it still gets under my skin a bit here, I can finally understand her situation. Her living situation is far from ideal. Her family is downright abusive and she’s trying to get away from them, but has no where to run to since her best friend is too wrapped up in her boyfriend to make and effort and Nick’s so stressed from everything else that she doesn’t want to burden him. It was pretty obvious early on that she was going to end up with Tyler, but watching him jump from psychotic jackass to caring sweet guy was interesting. I don’t know if I can ever really support the couple because Tyler has done a lot of fucked up things, but we start to see him redeem himself and I’m interested to see if he can really turn everything around.

Everything here is just as good, if not better, than the previous novels. I adored everything about it. It makes me want to create a 6 star rating just because it was that good. This is the first novel I’ve read where the main character is gay and if they are all this good, sign me up! It’s not that I have a problem with the subject, just that none of them ever really caught me attention. But Nicky here has had my attention since the first book, so I’m all for whatever kind of story she wants to tell and I get this epic thing and, damn, is the term rabid fan-girling strong enough? I have no personal experience to backup my opinions here, but Nick’s journey felt very realistic to me. I hated seeing him struggle, but that made it more believable and I love that he continues to struggle even after he decides he wants to be with Adam, that everything wasn’t instantly rainbows and sunshine just because he found a boyfriend. And, if I wasn’t already in love with each of his brothers, their reactions to the news would have pushed me over that edge. Chris with his sweet caring nature and quiet understand and Michael with his pride in his brothers success. Gabriel’s inital reaction left a lot to be desired, but I truly believe that had less to do with the fact that Nick is gay and more to do with the way it was sprung on him. Trust me, he makes it up to Nick in the end.

So I made no secret of the fact that Spirit pissed me off in many ways, but this completely makes up for that. Well, okay maybe that’s the wrong word choice, but I would gladly suffer through Hunter’s trials and tribulations (and heartbreak) to get to the epicness that was this book. It was so good that I really want to stop what I’m currently reading, ignoring the massive stack of E-ARCs that will be keeping me busy until June and just read it again. That, in and of itself, is the highest recommendation I can give because I don’t re-read many novels. Seriously people, I know I ranted to no end about Spirit and how it ruined to series for me, making me regret ever recommending the series because I knew whoever I recommended it to would get to Spirit and be monumentally disappointed. While I stand by the fact that it was a terrible novel with terrible things occurring within those pages, I find that now I would recommend the series because the rest of the books make up for that fuckup. This particular book makes up for it and I highly recommend it to everyone, whether you’ve read the rest of the series or not, this book (& Nick) will win your heart!

****Thank you to KTeen, an imprint of Kensington Publishing, for providing me with an eARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review****

Review for Spirit (Elemental #3) by Brigid Kemmerer

TITLE: Spirit
SERIES: Elemental #3
AUTHOR: Brigid Kemmerer
PUBLICATION DATE: May 28, 2013
PUBLISHER: K Teen
PAGES: 301 pages
FORMAT: Paperback
SOURCE: Purchased
RATING: 2 bows

Hunter Garrity’s life has been chaos ever since his dad and uncles death. He’s mother is too deep in grief to be bothered with taking care of her only son, his grandfather is psycho and gives Hunter hell, and the Merrick brothers are cautious and suspicious of his every move. He can’t trust anyone because everyone seems to have their own agenda, including the hot new girl Kate. She keeps trying to get close to Hunter and he can’t figure out why. Can he trust her? Or will she lead him down the path to his own doom?

****WARNING: This review will contain major spoilers, nasty language, and general ranty-ness. Proceed with caution****

I’ve made no secret of the fact that Hunter isn’t my favorite character in this series. I initially liked him in the first novel, but the further I got the less I liked him. It’s obvious that the Merrick brothers want to help him, as does Becca, but he just can’t let his guard down to trust them and it’s fucking infuriating. So I started this warily because I knew a book through his perspective would change my opinion of him and I wasn’t sure I wanted it to change. Well, I was right, it changed. Poor Hunter just can’t win no matter how hard he tries. He’s own grandfather believes the worst of him and actually hits him several times. Seriously, dude, really? Beating up your own grandson? To make matters worse, his mother watches the whole interaction and doesn’t lift a finger to help Hunter. She just fucking watches as Hunter gets his ass handed to him. The further I got, the more I just wanted to help him. At one point he is sleeping in his Jeep, seriously contemplating theft as a means to keep feeding himself and Casper, his dog. When Michael Merrick extends a helping hand, he doesn’t know if it’s a trap, but he has no choice but to accept it.

Watching Big Mike try to help him had me loving Michael even more than I already did. This is a guy that’s always trying to do right by those around him, even if they are all too stupid to see it. I really can’t wait until his gets his own full novel. I’m so ready to see the world through his eyes. He constantly saves Hunters ass even though Hunter is so suspicious of the activity. The way Hunter treats all the Merricks had me wanting to punch the idiot. After all he is seen of them, he still can’t believe that they would help him.

Then there is Kate. In a way, she’s Hunter’s perfect companion, with the same trust issues and inability to pull the trigger. She’s had the Guide training and she’s officially on a mission, but she can’t bring herself to be as cruel as her partner on this job, Silver. She can’t understand how they can just kill people because they are Elementals, even when they aren’t doing anything bad or dangerous. How is she supposed to do that? She’s drawn to Hunter and for the whole 20 pages or so that they were finally together, really together, I was in heaven. Our tormented Hunter finally gets the girl, one who really understands where he is coming from. AND THEN SILVER KILLS HER. My reaction was something like this:

Was that entirely fucking necessary?!?!?!? What.The.Fuck! I feel traumatized. I feel incandescent rage. WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME? I have adored every other book in this series and while I wasn’t overjoyed to read Hunter’s book, I was sure I’d love it as much as the others and I did enjoy it, but it is impossible for me to love it. I really wanted to stop reading right there, but I pushed through the last twenty or so pages to see if maybe she was just fucking with me. Nope, Kate’s really dead and this isn’t like Supernatural where people are constantly being resurrected. Even after that though, everything came together too quickly. They defeat the bad guy and save the children and Hunter patches things up with his mother and ::group hug::…okay, so they don’t really group hug, but they would be less opposed to it than before.

What you really need to know is this: If you want to read this whole series, which I still recommend, just be prepared to dislike this. I can never get over that. I don’t care that Kemmerer has killed a love interest in the past. Doing it once was, well not acceptable, but I can get over it because it was a novella and we didn’t get overly attached to her, but this, spending a great deal of time in Kate’s head only to watch her get slaughtered, that’s just offensive. I’m still excited to read Nicky’s book next, but I’m truly saddened that Kemmerer felt this was the best way to handle Hunter’s love interest. I will never understand why. Basically my overall feeling is this:

Review for Fearless (Elemental #1.5) by Brigid Kemmerer

TITLE: Fearless
SERIES: Elemental #1.5
AUTHOR: Brigid Kemmerer
PUBLICATION DATE: July 31, 2012
PUBLISHER: Kensington Teen, a division of Kensington Publishing Corp
PAGES: 59 pages
FORMAT: Ebook
SOURCE: Purchased
RATING: 4 bows

Hunter Garrity has always been picked on in school. He knows how to defend himself, but doesn’t really want to fight so mostly avoids the bullies. So when Clare approaches him wanting help, he’s a bit off kilter. She claims she just wants information, but is she telling the truth?

I’ll admit I’ve been avoiding this. I should have read it when I read all the previous books, but I’m not exactly Hunter’s biggest fan. Now, since I am going to read Spirit, which is also about Hunter, I thought I just read this novella first to gage how bad it’s going to be. The answer? Not so bad. Hunter’s past is bad enough that, once you get past the bullshit, you can’t help sympathize with the shit his been through. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still not in love with him, but I do like him a bit better now and I’m not as apprehensive about reading Spirit now. I’d still rather skip to Secret because I’m dying to read Nick’s book, but maybe Kemmerer will surprise me by making me love a character I don’t really like now.

Anyway, this short novella follows Hunter as he tries to educate a classmate about gun safety. It’s obvious there is more going on than she’s admitting too, but with his Elements, he can’t help wanting to help her. Even after she fucks with him, he still runs to her aid when she’s in trouble. So, maybe I can see the appeal of Hunter. Despite the dickish things he does in Storm/Spark, maybe he’s not so bad. I’ll let you know for sure after I finish Spirit!

Review for Breathless (Elemental #2.5) by Brigid Kemmerer

TITLE: Breathless
SERIES: Elemental #2.5
AUTHOR: Brigid Kemmerer
PUBLICATION DATE: April 30, 2013
PUBLISHER: Kensington Teen, a division of Kensington Publishing Corp
PAGES: 65 pages
FORMAT: E-ARC
SOURCE: NetGalley
RATING: 5 stars

Nick Merrick has always been the level headed one, the unofficial peacekeeper among his hotheaded brothers. But his personal issues are finally starting to get the better of him and he doesn’t know if he’s brothers will understand or where to turn.

Okay, I have to say that I never saw this coming. Maybe I’m just blind or maybe there really were no clues at all, but I would never guessed that Nick Merrick is a closet gay. And so self-conscious that he can barely breathe. He always seemed to be the most together of the bunch and now that we finally get a peek into his mind, we can see that he’s terrified that he won’t be able to overcome his homosexual tendencies and that his brothers won’t understand, especially his twin. When Adam shows up, he finds it harder and harder to fight his attraction. The tension builds beautifully. I just wanted to give poor Nicky a hug and tell him it would all be alright. I don’t think he really has anything to worry about with his brothers because they are so fiercely loyal, but we’ll see how that plays out. I can’t wait to read his full novel to see how that turns out….too bad Hunter’s books up next. It’ll definitely be worth the wait though!

****Thank you to Kensington Books for providing me with an eARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review****

Review for Spark (Elemental #2) by Brigid Kemmerer

TITLE: Spark
SERIES: Elemental #2
AUTHOR: Brigid Kemmerer
PUBLICATION DATE: August 28, 2012
PUBLISHER: Kensington Teen, a division of Kensington Publishing Corp
PAGES: 345 pages
FORMAT: Paperback
SOURCE: Won from Step Into Fiction
RATING: 5 stars

Gabriel Merrick has always been the bad one. Fire, his element, is beyond his control and though he tries, he can never seem to get it right. He uses sports as an outlet for his excess energy and frustrations, but now his new math teacher is threatening his right to play sports. Then someone starts setting fires and everyone blames him…but he’s not doing it. Everyone refuses to believe him, except a quiet girl in his math class who keeps throwing him off balance.

Gabriel has to be my favorite of the Merrick brothers. Cocky and badass, with a fierce loyalty to his brothers…mmm…just the way I like ‘em. His brothers have it easy compared to him. Their elements help them, bending to their will, but all fire wants is destruction, whether it is what Gabriel wants or not. It demands it and he can do nothing to stop it, only succeeding in slowing it down a little sometimes. One of the things I was looking forward to in this book was seeing a bit more of Gabriel and Nick’s twin bond and I was a little disappointed there. Towards the beginning the two get into an epically large fight and don’t speak to each other for most of the novel. But for those who wanted that, the scene at the end where they makeup is totally worth it. It’s so emotional and perfect and unexpected that it had me in tears. His relationship with Michael also got to me a bit. The two are so alike that it’s easy to see why they fight all the time, but hard to imagine why Gabriel can’t see the similarities.

Then there is the girl, Layne. Quiet and geeky, she isn’t who you would expect Gabriel to fall for. She doesn’t party, doesn’t drink, and has the biggest overprotected father I’ve ever read about. Her relationship with her deaf brother was especially fun to read. I’m fascinated by sign language, so naturally it caught my interest. She’s always been attracted to Gabriel, so when she notices that he is majorly struggling in math, she offers to help and a very reluctant Gabriel agrees. The attraction between them was instantly obvious, even though Layne was too self-conscious to even consider that he could truly be attracted to her.

I loved almost everything about this novel, but my favorite part has to be the sibling dynamic. Typically, I’m all about the romance, but here, I just love the way the brothers interact. Especially Michael’s relationship to his brothers, trying to both be a brother and a father and failing more often than not. The moments when him and Gabriel do finally see eye to eye are beyond touching. Speaking of romance, though, there is plenty of that here. Thankfully, this installment is love triangle free and you get plenty of Gabriel/Layne action.

This is one of the very few sequels that I ended up enjoying more than the original. Storm was great, but Spark somehow manages to be better. I cannot wait to read more of this series and more by Brigid Kemmerer in general.

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.

Review for Elemental (Elemental #0.5) by Brigid Kemmerer

TITLE: Spark
SERIES: Elemental #0.5
AUTHOR: Brigid Kemmerer
PUBLICATION DATE: March 27, 2012
PUBLISHER: Kensington Teen, a division of Kensington Publishing Corp
PAGES: 50 pages
FORMAT: Ebook
SOURCE: Purchased
RATING: 5 stars

Well, now I see what all the fuss is about. This tiny novella just lays the groundwork for Storm. Michael is a very powerful Elemental and because of that, he must walk a very thin line. Emily’s family is terrified of Michael, but that fear manifests as anger and aggression and she’s always thought those feelings were well founded. Michael’s family, after all, must be as bad as everyone claims. But when Michael shows up at the sports center where she works to spend some time in the batting cages, she begins to learn that maybe they are all wrong.

This is every bit the star crossed lovers bit that it sounds like. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I see the parallels between this and Romeo and Juliet. Since it’s well known that I despise that story, that puts this on unstable ground ****SPOILER****especially once you start reading Storm and realize that Emily dies somewhere in between the two stories…which really upsets me.****END SPOILER**** Even knowing what’s to come, I can’t help but love this short tale because it hooked me and make me want to read Storm.