Review: A prequel as a good addition to the series not necessarily the better to start though
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 23, 2013
This is the prequel to the Elemental series. Elemental features Michael the oldest of the Merrick Brothers, as adolescent, years before the event set in Storm. We discover an adolescent afraid and angry with the universe that set him apart. He already wants to protect his family and he is feeling guilty to put them in danger when he just wanted to be normal.  He is also a bit rebellious, and confronts his parents when they punish him instead of the culprits... in that sense he is a lot like how Gabriel will be in the future.While trying to keep a low profile, he is controlling his energy by playing baseball, alone in front of the machine yes but with the same dedication as a professional player. However, one day, he discovers Emily, his nemesis' sister, at the cashier and fates starts. First, the young woman is afraid, since the beginning she always heard how the Merrick  were dangerous, how Michael hurt her brother....however when she sees the reaction of her family when she tells them she met him. Doubts are planted.  Slowly, both adolescents will confide in each others, learn about each other while in or around the practise cage and see that the truth is not necessary what they thought.If you have read Storm before reading Elemental, you get to see Michael under a new light and you understand him better. You also know how the story of Emily will finish because Elemental doesn't tell the complete story it's not really a cliffhanger but the ending is supposedly know and not what is the most important.  I wouldn't recommend reading this before Storm even if it's the prequel of the story because you will be missing too much.  In storm you get this story from Chris `point of view, so he doesn't develop the feeling of both Emily and Michael. When you read this after Storm you see how much Michael was vulnerable, how guilty he feels when it was just a tragedy.I really took pleasure in reading this prequel and to see Michael younger made me appreciate him more. Before I understood a bit the relationship between Michael and Gabriel but I didn't get why the older brother didn't explain himself, why he suffered the insults and fights without replying and this novella  explain everything. So a must read for the fan of the series