Review: Beautiful and bittersweet prequel novella!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 29, 2012
Seventeen-year-old Emily Morgan is an air elemental, but thankfully for her, she is not a pure elemental which means she does not have much power. It is a good thing too. The ones with too much power are rarely, if ever, safe...for others and themselves.But when Emily takes a summer job only to find that fellow senior and extremely powerful earth elemental, Michael Merrick, frequents the place, she is both excited and fearful. Michael is good-looking and the total brooding type, but he and his family are her family's mortal enemies.She should stay away from him. It could never work out between them with her family on the warpath. But their attraction is too hard to ignore.I read Elemental after reading Storm. While it is not necessary, I recommend that you read Elemental first. I only read Storm first because I was trying to get it done to post the review during its release week (which I did) and I felt like I was racing the clock (which was my own fault for losing track of time haha). Otherwise, I would have switched the order because things that happened to Michael and Emily appeared in passing more than a few times throughout Storm and so I already knew what was going to happen. I just did not know what happened during the beginning and the journey to get there, which definitely colored my view of this fifty page novella.Like Storm, Elemental has two points-of-view: Emily's and Michael's. This is something I really like in novels because 1) I think young adult books need more male perspectives and 2) I really enjoy the pairing of a female's and male's point-of-view. I also really enjoyed getting to know Emily and for that matter, really getting to know Michael because he is almost a different person in Elemental. I really understood him more after reading it. It also really showed how there are always two sides to every story, but it was also frustrating because most of the characters in both books only want to know their sides. Only time and three more books in the series proper will tell if a resolution comes to pass. I am all too ready for that journey!Elemental provides a concise yet more in-depth view of Michael and introduces the reader to Emily. It was very bittersweet and beautiful for me because I read Storm first.Recommended for fans of Storm and those fourteen and older who are interested in a new young adult series that features male perspectives with the paranormal twist of controlling the elements. One instance of minor violence.Google "The Musings of ALMYBNENR" to see this review in its original format and to follow my book review blog.Please note: Whatever I rate a book here, please check what the ratings mean on Goodreads, because those are what I go by.