Novel Review: Secret (Elemental, #4) by Brigid Kemmerer

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Kensington Teen

Release Date: January 2014

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

EARTH. FIRE. AIR. WATER.

Nick Merrick is stretched to breaking point. He's trying to keep his grades sky-high or he won't get in to college. He's trying to keep his brother's business afloat or the Merricks will be out on the street. He's trying to keep the secret of where he's going in the evenings from his twin brother Gabriel - or he fears he'll lose his family. And he's trying to keep his mind off the hot, self-assured dancer who is his 'girlfriend's' partner.

And then Quinn takes to hanging around his sworn enemy, and an Elemental Guide is counting the hours until he can try again to kill the Merrick brothers. Storms are brewing. On all sides.

SECRETS IN THE WIND. DANGER IN THE AIR.

The Cover:

I rather like this cover. It matches the others in the series, and I like that it gives you a good idea of what you're getting. And since there are two main characters, two main stories, in this book, I like that there are two people on the cover. I like it.

Review:

I haven’t yet gotten to the previous book, but I did really enjoy the first two. And now I’m a little afraid of what happened in Spirit. But even given that, I really enjoyed this book.

The whole Elemental business is getting serious, with a couple developments in this book. And the next one is the last, so I’m expecting there to be even more in that one.

But my favorite parts of this book is the character stuff.

Firstly I want to talk about Quinn. She’s pretending to be Nick’s girlfriend, because she’s afraid of really finding someone she likes. And then, because of Nick, she stumbles upon Tyler. And Tyler is a jerk, upon first impression and many others. He’s Nick’s enemy, and Quinn doesn’t like him from the beginning. And yet… she keeps going back, and he starts opening up. And even with Nick’s romance, this is the one that got to me. Tyler is there for Quinn when she needs someone, when she needs a place to get away from her family. And I loved it.

Then there’s Nick’s story. And I won’t spoil the big secret of his, but it’s important. And his romance with it is so sweet, and what he needs so badly. But telling his brothers is the hard part, and I feel so bad for how scared he is. Especially when Gabriel, his twin, reacts so badly.

I loved the depth and the surprise in this book. This takes the story line so much deeper, so much more intense. And I just loved it.

This book was amazing, and it has definitely made me want to pick up the other two left for me.

Teaser Tuesday[165]: Secret (Elemental, #4) by Brigid Kemmerer

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

-----------------------------

Secret (Elemental, #4) by Brigid Kemmerer

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Kensington Teen

Release Date: January 2014

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Goodreads Synopsis:

EARTH. FIRE. AIR. WATER.

Nick Merrick is stretched to breaking point. He's trying to keep his grades sky-high or he won't get in to college. He's trying to keep his brother's business afloat or the Merricks will be out on the street. He's trying to keep the secret of where he's going in the evenings from his twin brother Gabriel - or he fears he'll lose his family. And he's trying to keep his mind off the hot, self-assured dancer who is his 'girlfriend's' partner.

And then Quinn takes to hanging around his sworn enemy, and an Elemental Guide is counting the hours until he can try again to kill the Merrick brothers. Storms are brewing. On all sides.

SECRETS IN THE WIND. DANGER IN THE AIR.

Excerpt:

“‘Why?’ she fired back. ‘Because I’m only good for guys to use me? That’s working out really great for you, isn’t it, Nick?’” (Kindle e-book, pg. 112)

What are you reading right now?

Wishlist Thursday[75]: Sacrifice (Elemental, #5) by Brigid Kemmerer

Sacrifice (Elemental, #5) by Brigid Kemmerer

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Kensington Teen

Release Date: September 30, 2014

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Earth. Fire. Air. Water.

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

Michael Merrick understands 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 in for his family, and he's all that stands in the way.

His girlfriend, Hannah, understands pressure too. She's got a child of her own, and a job as a firefighter that could put her life in danger at any moment.

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. Everything is set for the final showdown.

Four elements, one family. Will they hold together, or be torn apart?

Why?:

I’m a bit behind in this series, but I have really enjoyed what I’ve read so far. I am especially interested to see what Michael’s? story is, given what we’ve seen of him in the previous books. I do hope to read this series in order, so I want to catch up soon.

What are you looking forward to?

Novel Review: Spark (Elemental, #2) by Brigid Kemmerer

Rating (Out of 5): ~4 (maybe 4.5)

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Publisher: K Teen (Kensington)

Release Date: August, 2012

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Gabriel Merrick plays with fire. Literally. Sometimes he can even control it. And sometimes he can't. Gabriel has always had his brothers to rely on, especially his twin, Nick. But when an arsonist starts wreaking havoc on their town, all the signs point to Gabriel. Only he's not doing it. And no one seems to believe him. Except a shy sophomore named Layne, a brainiac who dresses in turtlenecks and jeans and keeps him totally off balance. Because Layne has a few secrets of her own...

The Cover:

This cover is very similar to the first one, and so I feel similarly about it. I think it's embarrassing, not one I would want to carry in public, but I don't really mind the look of it. I like that there are boys on the cover that actually represent the boys in the book, and that it goes really well with the cover of the first book. I think that Gabriel looks nice, and the model represents him well, and the colors work well. Also, since this book has more romance in it, and that it's more steamy, than the first book, that this type of cover represents the book pretty well.

Quotes:

• "'He’d figure out how to fight back. They’d figure out he was willing to fight back. Then they’d leave him alone.’” (Paperback, pg. 66)
• "'My dad used to say, “If you can’t fix what you did wrong, at least try to make something else right.”’” (Pg. 106)
• "'We’re not setting you up to fail. We’re calling because we want to help you succeed.’” (Pg. 212)
• "There were different levels of good, Layne thought. Had to be.” (Pg. 218)
• "'Your scars aren’t all you are…'” (Pg. 268)

Review:

I liked the first book of this series, but this one was even better, by a lot.

This one starred Gabriel, the fire element, the angry twin. I didn’t really mind him in the first book, aside from finding him frustrating. In this book, it was similar, but I did actually like him a lot. The frustration was still there, though.

I understood him a lot better in this book, his reasons for doing things, his feelings behind what he was doing and what everyone else doing. I felt rather bad for him, a lot. But there was also the frustration with him blowing up and fighting with people when he didn’t need to, and when he knew that he shouldn’t. It made me want to shake him a little.

I still really liked his brothers, and got a lot closer to them in this book. He fights with them a lot, but he is still close to them, and it was nice seeing them get along. Particularly Michael, who I didn’t know how to feel about in the first book. I saw a nicer side of him in this book, which has me interested for his book (the fifth one). Hunter, too. He and Gabriel got close and I liked their friendship. Hunter kind of screwed things up, again, which is making me want to read his book (the third one), just so I can see into his head and figure out why he’s doing these things.

It bothers me that it seems like, between this book and the first one, that the boys don't talk and fight and jump to conclusions about the others, and then seem better by the end, just for it to possibly happen again in the next book. Thus meaning that they never actually learned or solved their problem in the first place. I'm sensing this becoming a theme in the series, and I really hope I'm wrong about that.

Then there’s Layne, Gabriel’s girl. I really liked her, and related to her in some ways. I liked getting to know her, and think that she’s really good for Gabriel. I liked her little brother a lot, and it seemed like she was in a better place with her father at the end of the book, which was good.

The romance between Layne and Gabriel was really, really nice in this book. Rather hot at points, too, but overall really nice and good for them both. Their romance is probably a large part of why I enjoyed this book so much, because I’m a romance person, and it was so much more intense and present in this book.

My only real problem with this book was the slut-shaming. It was present in the first book, but it was really apparent and obvious in this one. Both Layne and Gabriel shame other girls for their clothing choices, pretty much that being their defining feature for them to throw themselves at guys. It was really hard to take at some points, it wasn’t really needed, particularly because neither of them learned anything by it.

Also, it really bothered me that they shamed the ‘popular’ girls for throwing themselves at guys and wearing revealing clothing, and yet Layne kind of wanted to be them, and even dressed like them at one point, which of course was viewed as an entirely different thing. The hypocrisy of that bothered me.  

Still, I really enjoyed this book. And I really want to read the others in the series, and hope to get them some point soon.