Review: Spirit (Elemental #3) by Brigid Kemmerer

Firstly, thanks to Kensington Books for this NetGalley <3



Date Read: May 13 – May 17 2013
Release Date: May 28th 2013
Publisher: Kensington Teen
Source: NetGalley
Genre: Paranormal

My rating: 

Synopsis: 
"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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“But now life had shifted, leaving him stronger, yes, but also more vulnerable.”

The fourth instalment in Kemmerer’s Elemental series is probably the darkest yet and her best so far.

Storm still stands as my favourite Elemental book; Gabriel will always be the best boyfriend of them all and Nicky forever my favourite character, but there was just something about Spirit that really hit the spot and made me go “WOW!” Maybe it was the darker themes, the slightly different approach Kemmerer took this time around or possibly the way Hunter Garrity was portrayed. Or maybe it was a combination of all these things but darn this book made my heart squeeze because of ALL the feels.

Hunter has always been a difficult character for me – to like and to understand. His actions in the previous books have always made me question his alliances, his motives, and his true feelings. Well, he’s pretty much stripped bare with his heart on the line in Spirit and woah does this boy have a lot going on in his head. Can I just say now I want to give Hunter a hug? A massive hug where I just hold him and tell him I understand and I’m here for him. Vying for his grandparents’ acceptance as he struggles with trying to anticipate Calla’s (that bitch I hate her) moves, Hunter is faced with so much conflict and decisions. Who can he trust? How can he keep people from getting hurt? How can he keep himself from getting hurt any further? All this while everybody seems to be against him. I just loved all the conflict he was dealing with! I didn’t always agree with his choices but I finally understood why he did the things he did with his major trust issues. Kemmerer has done an AMAZING job with Hunter’s character. A lot of the time I forgot he’s just a sixteen-year-old high school student because of everything he had to deal with.

“I can’t please anyone, and every time I try, I’m just one big fucking disappointment.”

Along comes Kate and there’s something about her Hunter is drawn to… But I’m not sure I was. I’m sort of undecided about Kate’s character, I thought it was weird the way she kept throwing herself at Hunter. And the way she seemed to use people made me really dislike her even in light of the situations. I thought there could have been more depth to her character too; we got a glimpse into her history but I just thought that everything about her was just explained on the surface so I couldn’t completely connect with her. She's definitely badass though!

“What’s this really say?” she said, making her voice provocative. “Something dirty?”

What I love about Kemmerer’s writing is there’s no insta-love. She can write steamy-as scenes and I’ll know it’s just attraction not like or love instantly. Thought Spark was sexy with Gabriel? Well you thought wrong, because DANG Spirit has some hot make-out scenes. I revelled in the romance, in the way it developed slowly, so hesitant, so delicate and so easily broken.

“His tongue brushed her lips, teasing. Her lips parted, allowing him in, drawing at his mouth until she pulled a gasp from his throat and his hands snaked under the sweatshirt.”

The secondary characters ermagherd *jumps up and down* The whole thing with his family, his grandparents, his mum and dad, really intrigued me. The way secrets were revealed about his parents gave me so much hope. I loved the Merricks here, especially Michael! The way he interacted with Hunter made me really understand him and see a different side to the controlling brother seen from the younger Merricks’ POVs. Each of the brothers have their own conflict with Hunter and I could see them all trying to resolve their issues and it just made my heart warm <3

“But you can’t blame me if I end up punching Gabriel in the face.” “Don’t worry,” said Michael. “He usually deserves it.”

The plot was amazing, especially that ending! I’ve never cried in an Elemental book before but the feels Spirit gave me... my creys ;____; – I hope you’re happy Brigid! I could never tell what was going to happen at every turn of the page, would Hunter do this? Or that? And I’d be like “omg please no” *bites lip* “ERMAGHERD Y U DO DAT?!” Everything was so action-packed and there was so much tension I really had no idea how anything was going to play out! The way Kemmerer writes is truly brilliant; the way she managed to create all these emotions and build up to that climatic ending, I was just a mess by the end.

“Somehow it felt like a lifetime, so much intensity crammed into such a short span of days.”

Perfectly paced, filled with conflict but balanced with humour, well-thought out plot and a gutsy ending, Secret has a lot to live up to – but I don’t doubt Kemmerer will live up to her expectations.

“He felt like he’d almost caught something precious, only to have it shatter as soon as he touched it.”