ARC REVIEW: Spark (Elemental #2) by Brigid Kemmerer

 

Author: Brigid Kemmerer

Series: Elemental

Genre: Young Adult – Paranormal

Publisher: K-Teen

Amazon pre-order: Spark

Release Date: 28^th August 2012

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

Gabriel Merrick plays with fire. Literally.

Sometimes he can even control it. And sometimes he can’t. Like the fire that killed his parents.

Gabriel has always had his brothers to rely on, especially his twin, Nick. But when an arsonist starts wreaking havoc on their town, all the signs point to Gabriel. Only he’s not doing it.

More than Gabriel’s pride is at stake -- this could cost him his family, maybe his life. And no one seems to hear him. Except a shy sophomore named Layne, a brainiac who dresses in turtlenecks and jeans and keeps him totally off balance. Layne understands family problems, and she understands secrets. She has a few of her own.

Gabriel can’t let her guess about his brothers, about his abilities, about the danger that’s right at his heels. But there are some risks he can’t help taking.

The fuse is lit…

REVIEW: 5 out of 5 stars

Spark was kindly provided to me by Netgalley for K-Teen and follows on right where Storm left off.

I absolutely loved Storm, book one in the Elemental series which followed Chris and Becca’s story but I wasn’t a huge fan of Gabriel, he held so much angst and anger which seemed to flow over into this book.

Gabriel Merrick has had a difficult time adapting to his ability which is controlling fire, harnessing it hasn’t proved easy since he first came into his element as a teen and is also what caused the death of his parents leaving him with a lot of guilt, he acts out a lot and is often in trouble with either his poorly thought out actions or with what he says; he could be quite the jerk at times.

I enjoyed Spark’s plot, when an arsonist starts lighting fires in town, all the signs point to Gabriel and being the stubborn being he is he doesn’t refute the claims he just continues to assist when needed, with the help of his new found friend, Hunter. The Elementals have also called a truce with Becca’s father, the guide who caused them all the grief in Storm – Gabriel wasn’t too keen on agreeing to this so acts out.

Gabriel was such a tortured, lonely soul who I truly felt sorry for; his behavior left a lot to be desired but he had so much anger and sorrow that it just caused him to be somber, argumentative and at times plain cruel. He ran from any drama rather than confronted it full-on.

The love interest is Layne, who I thought was amazing! She stood up to Gabriel and let him know exactly how she felt about his behavior. She wasn’t the popular cool girl, she was the type who blended in, she was extremely smart and helped Gabriel in a way that noone had done before – besides his brothers, they complimented each other really well. Layne also had a big secret of her own which completely shocked me!

Each of the characters is developed to perfection, secondary included. You can’t help but feel for Michael and the task he has taken on in raising his wayward brothers. I adore Gabriel’s twin Nick but I was saddened by how their relationship had changed in this book and seeing Chris and Becca together and happy was wonderful. Simon was also pretty sweet as was the enigmatic, mysterious Hunter. We also have the bad guys who were written really well.

Brigid Kemmerer has written a real page turner with amazing characterizations in Spark; the pacing flowed beautifully, the writing was detailed and perfect and the plot gripping.

Overall, Spark was highly entertaining with wonderful characters, heartbreak, a sweet romance, and action and intrigue that kept the story flowing perfectly. Ms Kemmerer is certainly going on to my auto-buy list; both books in this series have been amazing! My only gripe is I now have a whole 10 months to wait for the next book in the series, Spirit which is told from Hunter’s POV.