Review: Essential for any fans of the series
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 10, 2012
Mini-golf and batting cages. Emily Morgan's summer job at the sports complex could not be more boring. With an average of two customers a day, her time is filled with singing show tunes and trying to survive the intense summer heat and counting down the days until she has enough money to escape and perform on Broadway.That is until Michael Merrick starts stopping by after his job at his family's landscaping company to use the batting cages. After a misunderstanding involving her golf club and his head...  the two come to a somewhat uncomfortable compromise. He can get his batting practice and she won't tell her family that she's associating with one of the Merricks. Emily's brother Tyler would like nothing more than Michael and people like him dead.Whilst the Morgans have weak ties to certain elements, the Merricks are can control the Earth, Fire, Air and Water and because of this many in society consider them to be dangerous. And dangerous things need to be destroyed.This story is one that I wish I'd read before I read Storm. This novella explains why Michael is so bitter towards the world and why he considers anyone except for family as the enemy.The brothers interactions with each other are one of my favourite things about this series. The boys are typical teenage boys despite the supernatural abilities they have to control the elements. Fighting in the hallways and other sibling stuff that may seem mundane to some just added a sense of realism to the story for me.I also loved the banter between Emily and Michael. The way they talk and the descriptions of each other are the stuff that make me anticipate Michael's story - if he gets one.It was surprising to me just how sad I found it and how attached I got to Michael and Emily's story over such few pages. There's a bit of a mystery at the end and I think it's a great read for anyone who wants a little more back story to the Elemental series.Elemental is included in the paperback copy of Storm in the US edition but can also be purchased as an ebook.