Elemental (Elemental #0.5)

I don’t have the best track records with novellas, so imagine my surprise when I not only enjoyed Elemental, BUT found it peaked my interest in picking up the rest of the series!

So much of what’s touched on in Elemental – the small group of people who have extraordinary control over an element and are disliked enough for it that people want them dead, the guild in charge of regulating those with powers, the fear behind becoming a rogue elemental, a shady deal that’s supposed to guarantee Michael’s safety in town – are all things I am eager to learn more about! It’s also the reason Elemental is losing a star; while I can appreciate that Elemental is a novella and won’t be providing all the answers, a little morsel to sate my hunger would have been appreciated!

I really enjoyed reading from both Michael and Emily’s PoVs, as it gave some insight into how they were both feeling about the other. That being said, I did find their leap from outright antagonism, to shaky friendship, to romance happened a little quickly – even for novella standards. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy their moments together though!

"Her cheeks were faintly pink, her breathing rapid. The blond hair and fair complexion made her brother look like a freak, but it suited her. He’d say she looked like a china doll, but then she’d swung a putter at his head on Wednesday. A contradiction in terms: strong and fragile, all at the same time. Like she might cry, but she’d slug him first."

They shared a similar humour, and I found myself grinning more often than not.

"She’d never stood this close to him before, to where she could see the flecks of gold in his brown eyes, could count each individual strand of hair that the sun had lightened. He still smelled like summer, cut grass and sunscreen with a hint of something woodsy.

The chain-link fence between them somehow made this more intimate instead of less.

Don’t be stupid. Even serial killers can be hot."

I was surprised by how quick to anger Michael was, but quickly realized that he was constantly having to defend the most innocent of actions – like visiting the batting cages – because someone was always looking to force him into using his powers – which is a big reason I NEED to continue with this series. Why does this town care so much about people with stronger powers? Why are there so few people who are born stronger than most? What happened in the past to make them so ostracized? Elemental hinted at so many secrets to unfold, I’m tempted to throw my reading schedule out the window and pick up Storm immediately!