Breathless by Brigid Kemmerer

Breathless by Brigid Kemmerer

Book stats:
Reading Level: Young Adult
Ebook: 65 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Kensington Teen
Release date: April 30, 2013

Series: Elemental #2.5

Source:Netgalley

Reviewed by: Lili

Purchase: Amazon

Too many secrets. Not enough time.

Nick Merrick is supposed to be the level-headed one. The peacemaker. Since it’s just him and his three hotheaded brothers against the world, that’s a survival tactic.

But now he’s got problems even his brothers can’t help him survive.

His so-called girlfriend, Quinn, is going quick as mercury from daring to crazy. Meanwhile, Quinn’s dancer friend Adam is throwing Nick off balance, forcing him to recognize a truth he’d rather shove back into the dark.

He can feel it—-the atmosphere is sizzling. Danger is on the way. But whatever happens next, Nick is starting to find out that sometimes nothing you do can keep the peace.

I am normally not a novella girl, but when I saw BREATHLESS on netgalley I knew I had to have it because Kemmerer’s Elementals series is among my favorites. When I was accepted this afternoon, I began to read immediately, and I was not disappointed! So much so, that I simply had to review it as soon as possible. Let’s just say Nick Merrick, the brother that controls the air, has me breathing deeply to calm myself down after that doozy of a 65 page short story.

It’s very hard to hate Nick. Out of all of his brothers, he’s the one that has everything figured out. He’s the level-headed one to in comparison to his twin brother Gabriel’s fiery passion. But, what we quickly learn from this novella, is that there’s a lot more turmoil in his mind than one would think. Told in both Quinn and Nick’s point of views, it has me craving book four in the Elemental series that releases in early 2014. My one complaint is that I wish more was told in Nick’s point of view. While this was a dual pov novella, I was antsy for Quinn’s drama-filled antics to end so that I could see what else happened with Nick because Kemmerer dropped the mother of all plot twists on us. All I’ll say in this regard is new couple alert!

I have to say that my favorite part of this novella was that we realized our normally logical and sane Merrick brother is full of his own type of fire. The character growth was incredible. While I enjoyed Chris’s story in STORM, Gabriel’s experiences depicted in SPARK is among my favorite stories to this day. I never thought that any of the Merrick brothers would compare to the fiery turmoil and intense passion that is Gabriel Merrick’s life until we got this first-time glimpse into his twin’s head. Kemmerer managed to open up an entire world of possibilities in a mere 65 pages full of immense character growth and the beginning of a life altering journey. Our walking SAT book that is trapped by circumstance and secretly craves some passion in his life turns out to be a character more complicated than I could have ever imagined.

While book three in the Elementals series promises to be amazing as always, I can’t help but will the currently unnamed book four to be released, like, yesterday. Nick’s story must continue. If you are anything like me and normally avoid novellas, I highly recommend picking this one up due to the implications it will have on Nick’s future story. Kemmerer is a force to be reckoned with among the young adult fantasy genre. With the ability to create deliciously complex characters, she’ll always leave you begging for more and will easily claim a spot on your must-buy list for life. I know she definitely has a spot on mine!

Read an Excerpt

Posted by Lili at 05:30

 Brigid Kemmerer, Kensington, Review, young adult  3 People left their mark

I'm a 18 year old from a small town in New Jersey that's a newcomer to the book blogging world. Because I am an incoming senior in high school the closest thing that I have to a job is being a volunteer at the town library, so I spend most of my time reading and persuading my parents to let me buy more books!

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