First, it took far too long to find out what happened with Michael and Emily (from the e-novella "Elemental", which I read before this and is a prequel). We found out like...60% of the way in. I wasn't happy about it, and I'm even less happy with how it affected the family.

Second, I like the Australian cover to this book a lot more. While I appreciate the fact they are highlighting the fact these books are first about the brothers, they're kind of cheesy and I'd swear the models for Gabriel and Nick look nothing a like despite supposedly being identical twins. And Michael looks like a constipated thug. Which pleases me none.

As for the novel itself, I really enjoyed it. Becca pissed me off at times (she's kind of wishy-washy in regards to Hunter and Chris), but I'm really glad that Kemmerer chose to lay a lot of the focus on the interplay between the brothers. Chris is the youngest Merrick, his element is Water, and apparently the least likely to get into any trouble (the twins apparently make a habit of it and Michael is just labeled as troublesome).

I don't recommend reading "Elemental" before reading this, despite it being a prequel. Five years (I think its five years) pass between the end of that novella and this book so its jarring. The parents are gone, Michael is even surlier then before and the Merricks are treated as social pariahs. I don't think enough information was really given to fill in the blanks correctly. We're told a lot of what happened, but the connection is really missing. Especially with how the brothers treat Michael.

As I mentioned Becca rather pisses me off at points. She makes some very stupid decisions, that threaten incredulity and my belief she has a brain in her head (especially at the end). I feel for her, her ex-boyfriend really spread a vicious lie about her and when it all comes out its for the most senseless and jerk reason. The entire situation may be a trigger for some however as it involves rape/sexual assault, so be forewarned (nothing occurs, but it gets hella close). However she doesn't seem to have learned appreciably from the incident.

Then again thinking back on that town, the inhabitants seem to be stuck in an almost Salem Witch Trial like environment. They vilify anyone they deem different--at the drop of a hat it seems and will trust a few very questionable sources without getting the whole story. The person who is sent to get to the truth of the matter does a horrifically bad job of it, injuring innocent dozens, and possibly killing some. All because one group of people are like 'THEY ARE THE BAD GUYS. KILL THE MERRICKS.'

Kemmerer, for all the fact this is a fascinating world and a fascinating cast of characters (most of the time), stacks the deck so heavily against the Merricks it makes everyone else look like the devil incarnate. There is no adult supervision, and what few adults wander in and out of the story seem to be oblivious to the fact the teenagers are hellbent on harming each other (at best) and killing each other (at worst). By halfway through the book I was trusting no one at all who wasn't an Merrick and highly suspicious of anyone who interacted with them (even Becca!).

There's also another niggling worry--Becca is mostly out of the loop in regards to the whole Elemental power struggle being raged in her town and ostensibly around the world. Apparently its meant to be a secret of some sort, but with so many of the townsfolk running around being the YA paranormal version of Benders, how has she never heard the rumors? A character I can't mention for spoiler reasons pretty much says 'I wanted to keep you in the dark', but as that character wasn't around for the better part of her life how exactly did they achieve that?

This review turned out to be a lot more negative then I wanted, because I truly enjoyed this book. I read it straight through in one sitting and then rushed off to buy Book 2 and the novella "Fearless" (which is centered around one of my least favorite characters, sigh). I'm hoping that the next novels do more to fill in the blanks for me. ( )

I picked up this series because I loved the Cursebreakers series. This is more paranormal than fantasy which is okay, but I think I like her fantasy writing better - less YA and darker. But this book was okay. I'm not crazy about love triangles, but I liked the idea of four brothers with different elemental powers. Chris, the subject of this book, has an affinity with water. Becca Chandler is in his class but she has a reputation and is hanging around with Hunter, the new boy in school. There's a lot of angst and drama as you'd expect but the story held my attention and I want to know what happens in the rest of the series. ( )

When I was sorting through my books to see if I added a finished date I came across this one...

...of which I have no memory of reading... (O_o)

My Thoughts:My Thoughts

I somehow managed to have later books in this series for review that I had not had a chance to get to yet, so I finally got a chance to borrow this one from the library and give it a read.

For starters, it took me a little while to get into the story because the beginning seemed a bit, dry and slow going. The fact that the author included a fight scene right at the opening of the book kind of bugged me and I was never able to put my finger on why.

Throughout the text of the novel, there were a few stand-out editing problems that niggled at me and they did interrupt the flow of the reading process, such as "Wite-Out." This misspelling was the one I had the hardest time with.

The action did finally pick up at about the middle-point of the book, but it still left me feeling like I was missing something. I felt like there were a few holes in the plot that I couldn't quite get my head around. But it finally started coming together just in time for the book to end.

What stands out to me right now is that the author gives a great deal of detail regarding some aspects and some situations in the story, but then leaves big gaping holes in other places.

There is one quote from the novel, about location 2945 for Kindle readers, "sex and rape are a few motions apart."

First of all, this is a YA novel. That may be a bit too heavy for a YA reader. And the sentiment in and of itself really irritated me. There were points where there were things that had happened to the main character that she played off as her own fault, and it took her a long time to become empowered in her own right.

Overall, though, there were twists and turns in the plot that I totally did not see coming. I enjoyed reading this book and look forward to reading the rest of the series.

Have you read this book? This series? What are your thoughts? Were you as bothered by the gaps as I was? What did you think of Chris' brothers? Is Michael really as big of a jerk as I think he is, or can he really redeem himself? I can't wait to see what is going to happen next.This review was originally posted on ( )

I read this book ridiculously quickly. Like, ignore the rest of the work quickly.

I obviously enjoyed this book. Lots of swoony boys, some intrigue, and magic. All good things. I thought Quinn was going to turn out to be evil, but she didn't (at least not yet). I wasn't at all surprised by the identity of the bad guy, not by Becca's discoveries about herself. I don't think figuring those things out detracted from the story. ( )