Spark (Elemental #2)

Surprisingly emotional, Spark stunned me by being so much more character-driven than its predecessor, Storm. Touching on Gabriel’s feelings of inadequacy and loneliness, his angst that I found frustrating in Storm, became relatable in Spark. The addition of Layne, both equal and opposite to Gabriel in every way, created deliciously thick sexual tension and showed us a person that could finally balance out Gabriel’s unpredictable temperament. Passionate and heartbreaking and raw, Spark was an absolute treat to read!

I wasn’t Gabriel’s biggest fan in Storm. While I wouldn’t say that I disliked him, his seemingly misplaced anger was something that I struggled to understand for most of the book. Fortunately, with Spark Gabriel has become an open book. Embarrassed by his role as the black sheep, the brother who can’t seem to do anything right or without making everything worse, Gabriel is slowing distancing himself from his family. He feels betrayed by their willingness to believe the worst of him, and an aching loneliness at being so emotionally unavailable. This causes him to act out, to inflict harm on them before they can harm him, using his words as weapons. There were so many times when I just wanted to give Gabriel a hug, to hold him close and whisper that everything would be ok and that it wasn’t his fault. When he was vulnerable, he had my heart in his hands. When he was purposely vindictive, I wanted to reprimand him for not trusting his family to have his best interests at heart. Kemmerer did a fantastic job at making Gabriel tortured and angst-filled, without making him pathetic or a mockery.

Actually, Kemmerer did a fantastic job with all of her characters in Spark. It took me a little while to warm up to Layne (I couldn’t be sure of her motivations!), but she has this innocence and subtlety that sneaks up on you. While I wouldn’t call her naive, she has this…goodness about her that makes you want to be a better person; she tried her hardest to see only the best in other people, despite constantly being shown them at their worst. I loved that she had the same defence mechanisms as Gabriel, and that they were able to call each other out on using them. I loved that she challenged Gabriel at every step, and that he was so worried about scaring her away, that she was able to speak openly to him and he had to stick around to listen. I loved that she made Gabriel insecure!

"He’d never given a girl his number and walked off. At the time, it seemed like a great idea – put the ball in her court, leave her with a line and ten digits scrawled in her notebook.

Now it was like water torture, knowing she had it, knowing she was making the deliberate decision not to call.

Christ, was this how girls felt?"

I loved Layne's insecurities, and I loved that she didn’t let them define her. I love that she spoke up for herself, and that she was quick to forgive. And I loved her steamier moments with Gabriel.

"She’d always imagined he would be rough, but he wasn’t. He was gentle, cautious, drawing at her lips in a way that pulled a sound from her throat and made her want to press up against him.

Oh. This was what all the fuss was about."

There’s absolutely no competition in my mind; I ship Gabriel and Layne wayyy more than I ship Chris and Becca.

Spark’s plot was fast-paced and suspenseful, even though it definitely took a backseat to the character development for me. I enjoyed watching Gabriel open up to Hunter, watching him learn how to better control his element, and learning about how all-consuming his affinity for fire could be. I loved the threat the Guides and Becca’s father posed, though I do wish that they had had a bit more of a presence; for an organization that’s supposed to be in charge of removing rogue Elementals, they’re pretty slack about it. Then again, it might have taken away from my Laybriel time, which would have just been a travesty!

If you haven’t already figured it out, I loved Spark. I loved watching Gabriel open up and begin to trust someone with his secrets, I loved falling in love with Layne and I loved falling in love with Layne and Gabriel. The Elementals stuff provided a nice, suspenseful backdrop, and Gabriel’s affinity for fire added a sense of reckless abandon that I found addictive and powerful to watch. A certain betrayal towards the end cut deep, and the damaged relationship between Gabriel and Nick pulled at my heartstrings. An emotional read, Spark is a wonderful addition to the series!

Gabriel is an elemental just like his brothers. He can control fire and finds himself drawn to it. Fire is not always around though, unlike his brothers elements of earth, air and water so he has to create it himself sometimes to learn how to control it. He has always been able to rely on his brothers for help but he seemed very lonely to me in this book. His youngest brother Chris has Becca, his twin Nick is dating Quinn and his oldest brother Michael meets a girl as well. Gabriel is sort of left alone and spends time with Hunter who is also an elemental. That is until he meets Layne. She is a what some would call a nerd, dresses in turtlenecks and seems rather shy. Pretty much the complete opposite of Gabriel. But these two have more in common than they think. For quiet sometime Gabriel's twin Nick has been doing his homework and taking his tests for him. But when the new teacher catches on Gabriel looks to Layne to help him get through this math class so that he will not be kicked out of sports. When a series of fires break out in town everyone seems to be looking to Gabriel as the culprit He is drawn to the fires as much as he is drawn to Layne. The fires also bring up memories from Laynes past. Will these two be able to get past all the obstacles in their way and will Gabriel learn to control his element?

I loved this book from start to finish and ate up every word. While I do love all the Merrick brothers, Gabriel found such a special place in my heart. He really does get put through the ringer in this book. With his brothers all off with their girlfriends he is left to fend for himself most of the time. I really just wanted to wrap him up in a big hug and tell him it would all be ok. While it was nice to see his vulnerable soft side at times lets not forget that Gabriel is a bad boy with a bit of an attitude who can control fire. What's not to like right?

Another character that we meet in this story is Layne's brother Simon. Simon is deaf and has been bullied at school because of it. I loved the interactions between Gabriel, Layne and Simon. The fact that Gabriel doesn't know sign language but gives Simon his phone to type out a text so they can communicate was just so cute and sweet. He really defends Simon against the bullies and tries to help him with his basketball goals. Most of the time Gabriel is such a badass with a bad attitude, it was nice to see this vulnerable sweet side of him. I think it is great that authors touch on these subjects that are real issues in everyday life. I hope we get to see more of Simon in the books to come, I really loved this character.

It is very rare that I find a series where I have to read all of the books one right after the other. Usually I will pick up the first book and then read a few others between it and the second. However, with the elemental series there was no waiting. I read both books and the two novellas right in a row. Now I have to patiently wait for the third in the series Spirit. I can't wait to see what Kemmerer has in store for these characters next. I am sure that it is something that will shock me and leave me wanting more.

Review originally posted on my blog: http://www.ramblingsofabooknerd.com/2013/04/review-spark-elemental-2-by-brigid.html