Blog Tour: ARC Review: Spirit (Elementals #3) by Brigid Kemmerer

Today we are happy to be a part of the Spirit Blog Tour hosted by The Midnight Garden Blog Tours. 

Find the other tour stops HERE.

Spirit (Elementals #3) by Brigid Kemmerer

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:
Release Date: May 28, 2013
Publisher: KTeen
301 Pages

With power comes enemies. Lots of them.

Hunter Garrity just wants to be left alone. He’s learned the hard way that his unusual abilities come at a price. And he can’t seem to afford any allies.

He’s up to his neck in hostiles. His grandfather, spoiling for a fight. The Merrick brothers, who think he ratted them out. Calla, the scheming psycho who wants to use him as bait.

Then there’s Kate Sullivan, the new girl at school. She’s not hostile. She’s bold. Funny. Hot. But she’s got an agenda, too.

With supposedly secret powers rippling to the surface everywhere around him, Hunter knows something ugly is about to go down. But finding out what means he’ll have to find someone he can trust…

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This review is spoiler free for the Elementals series.

I'm obsessed with this series. I have to admit, we had a rocky beginning, but after reading the first book? I was willing to offer my firstborn son. Now, after reading Spirit, the third book in the Elementals series, Brigid Kemmerer can have my soul.

Hunter's life is in the gutter. His friendships have fizzled after the events in Spark. His grandparents have made it clear that they couldn't care less about him. His mother is negligent and sick with grief over the death of Hunter's father. The boy is alone, his abilities make sure of that. The new girl, though, has caught his eye. It's obvious that she's hiding something big, but Hunter thinks he's found someone who understands, someone he can trust. 

I was not expecting a book from Hunter's point-of-view and was a bit taken aback when I realized that's what Spirit was. Hunter was not my favorite character, but I was definitely curious to learn more about him. His past was still pretty unclear after the first two books. We knew very little about Hunter, but his role in the series has grown a lot since the beginning so getting a chance to learn about him was necessary. 

The author continues to portray phenomenal storytelling. Her writing style is addictive, making her books "unputdownable." The plot moves very steadily. I had trouble putting it down! There's just something about this series that sucks in you in and doesn't let you go even after you finish the journey. It's like crack. Book crack. (And the withdrawal symptoms come after the end as well.) 

The emotional aspect of this series also rose in this novel. The level of intensity is almost overwhelming sometimes. I was surprised that Hunter's story was able to provoke a lot of emotions from me. Kemmerer handed out angst like it was candy in Spirit. I teared up more than once. This book pulls out other feelings as well. There were moments of frustration, of anger and some hilarious parts that will have readers laughing out loud. 

The characters… Sigh… These boys. I love them all. Nick may be my favorite, but I've come to love them all--even Michael, which was kinda shocking. (After you read this book, you will get what I mean.) While Hunter has been a character with many ups and downs, getting into his thoughts and emotions was really insightful. Reading from his point-of-view will give the audience a better understanding of why he has done what he has done and what he's learned from his actions. Who didn't I love? Hunter's love interest, Kate. I couldn't stand her and never grew to like her. Though her character definitely develops as the story progresses, she never made a place in my heart. If you read it, I'm sure you would at least understand why I feel this way. From the moment she is introduced to the very end, I thought Hunter deserved better. 'Cuz by the end of the book, my lukewarm feels for the boy turned red hot. (Insert awkward giggles.)

So would I recommend this series? Yes times ten billion. It's a fantastic series, and Spirit, although not my favorite, is a great addition to it. I'm eagerly awaiting (see: dying for) the next book in the series, as Nick is my favorite brother! Brigid has made a true fan out of me, and if you give it a shot, I'm sure she'll be able to hook you in as well!

I received an e-copy of this novel from the publisher for my honest opinion and review via Netgalley. Big thanks to Kensington Teen and The Midnight Garden Blog Tours for allowing me to join this tour!

ARC Review: Breathless (Elementals #2.5) by Brigid Kemmerer

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:
Release date: April 30, 2013
Publisher: Kensignton
65 Pages

Too many secrets. Not enough time.
Nick Merrick is supposed to be the level-headed one. The peacemaker. Since it’s just him and his three hotheaded brothers against the world, that’s a survival tactic.

But now he’s got problems even his brothers can’t help him survive.

His so-called girlfriend, Quinn, is going quick as mercury from daring to crazy. Meanwhile, Quinn’s dancer friend Adam is throwing Nick off balance, forcing him to recognize a truth he’d rather shove back into the dark.

He can feel it—-the atmosphere is sizzling. Danger is on the way. But whatever happens next, Nick is starting to find out that sometimes nothing you do can keep the peace.

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“On the outside, you’re absolutely identical, but on the inside, it’s like you’re polar opposites.”

Nick Merrick. The other twin. The quiet one. The calm one. The one always in the background.

Don't get me wrong. I love all of the Merrick brothers and I adore Nick but he was never really featured in the other books as much as his siblings. He would appear, give his words of calm and wisdon, and the trickle out. So it was hard to really get a sense of who he was. Then came Breathless.

 

I think this may be my favorite of all the novellas released so far. The other two were glimpses of the past; this one took place in the present, immediately following Spark. Nick is currently dating Quinn and school has been canceled because of the fire in the library. Quinn, who I wasn’t very fond of in the past books, spends her days practicing dancing in order to avoid her family. Nick spends his days pouring over college applications and essays, struggling with decisions about his future.

When Quinn needs a ride home from dance practice, the ever gracious Nick goes to pick her up. There he meets, Adam, a friend of Quinn’s and a fellow dancer. Adam immediately rattles Nick, stirring up something inside that Nick’s been pushing away. When the two are thrown together to rescue a drunken Quinn, Nick isn’t quite sure how to act and he starts to close up, not wanting to think about what everything means.

“What’s with the twenty questions?”

Adam looked out the window. “I thought we were having a conversation.”

Yeah – if a conversation was like stumbling along a dark hallway, wondering what your hands would find if you reached out.

I loved, loved, loved everything about this novella. I didn't even mind Quinn. I actually liked seeing a little of her home life. It gave her more substance and I could finally understand some of her attitude. I was instantly drawn to Adam. His easy-going personality and his openness about who he really is made it effortless to fall under his spell. But it was Nick and his inner struggle that won my heart. Kremmerer wrote him so honest, so confused and so torn that you just wanted to wrap your arms aruond him and tell him everything will be ok.

 

I think Adam put it best at the end, "When you're sure of what you want, I'll be right here." And right here I'll be. I absolutely cannot wait for his book next year.

 

 

I received a copy of this ebook via the publisher and Netgalley in return for an honest review.

 



 

Teaser Tuesday: Spark & Life After Theft

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB over at Should Be Reading!

To participate, all you have to do is:

• 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 what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can ad the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

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"When he reached out to grab the knob, to throw the door wide open, he thought of Layne, the intensity in her eyes when she stood up to him.

Sometimes you cut right to the quick, you know?"

Chapter 12, 29%
Spark (Elementals #2) by Brigid Kemmerer

"Depsite his assurances, I don't think anything can make that moment when your mom opens the door to find you on the porch with a  cop easier. Her face went pale and she looked up at Officer Herrera with a dazed expression."

Chapter 20, 58%

Life After Theft by Aprilynne Pike

What are you reading this week?

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Book Review: Elemental (Elementals #0.5) by Brigid Kemmerer

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:

Release Date: March 27, 2012
Publisher: K Teen (Kensington)
50 Pages

Earth, Fire, Air, Water – they are more than you dream.

As an air Elemental, 17-year-old Emily Morgan doesn’t have much power. That’s okay—she knows what happens to kids who do.

Like Michael Merrick. He’s an earth Elemental, one with enough power to level cities. Which makes him sexy. Dangerous. And completely off limits. At least according to Emily’s family.

But her summer job puts her in close contact with Michael, and neither of them can help the attraction they feel. When forces of nature like theirs collide, one misstep could get someone killed. Because Emily’s family doesn’t just want her to stay away from him.

They want him dead.

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Review:

This series, Elementals, has been big in my circle of friends lately. They made it sounds like each book was perfect and I would love them from the very first page. I decided to start out with book "0.5"  and from that snippet, I don't understand what all the fuss is about. I was really excited to read this series. I really hyped up to read these books because love for this series crazy high, not just just in my group of friends, but it seems like it's everywhere! The idea of it is so interesting. I've honestly never read anything like it before, besides in a fanfiction. The fanfiction story that I read was phenomenal and it made me expect a lot from the start of this series.

The plot was interesting, but it wasn't very clear. I never understood why it was so bad that Michael was powerful, or how anyone knew his strength in the first place. It's very obvious to me that the truly dangerous ones are those like Tyler, Seth and Emily's dad. Why no one else saw that? I don't understand. Much of this novella didn't make sense to me and the way it ended just annoyed me. In my opinion, this was too short to really give background details and that may be the main reason I didn't enjoy it. After reading Elemental, I feel like I should've read the first book before this one and it would've made more sense.

It didn't help that the characters weren't ones that I really enjoyed reading about. Emily was annoying and ridiculously immature. Her family is full of complete jerks! I honestly hate them. They were rude, awful and totally evil and she made no move to object to what they were doing to Michael and his family. I know she wasn't happy, but in my opinion allowing it to happen and not trying to stop it is just as bad as condoning it. Michael was very… meh. I didn't love him, but I didn't hate him. He was just another "bad boy" in a long line. The characters could have had a lot more depth and the story could have gone a lot farther and still been a novella. 

Even though I didn't enjoy this novella, I will be continuing on with the first book. I hope as the plot develops and I get to know the characters better, I will fall in love with the series. We'll see, I guess.