Spirit by Brigid Kemmerer

Spirit by Brigid Kemmerer

Book stats:
Reading Level: Young Adult
Paperback: 301 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Kensington Teen
Release Date: May 28, 2013

Series: Elemental #3

Source: From Publisher for Review

Reviewed by: Lili

Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository

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...

Brigid Kemmerer is back with the third book in her amazing Elementals series and she does not disappoint! I have to say that I was slightly worried going into this one because Hunter isn’t a Merrick brother, but the Merrick’s still played a large part in this one and Kemmerer took advantage of that and decided to steer this story in an entirely new direction.

And by that, I mean that this story was heartbreaking at times. Hunter’s misunderstood and trouble seems to follow him. He can never pick a side because he does love the family make-up of the Merricks, but being a Guide is in his blood. His family situation is falling apart, his life is out of control, and the girl he may have feelings for is a player. Let’s just say that it’s really easy to realize why he is perhaps the most complicated character in this series. While Gabriel is deliciously complex, Hunter is complicated in an intriguing way. His confusion and inability to trust people easily are explained in this one and I can honestly say that I don’t mind his issues anymore because they are so believable when put into situations such as he is.

But I have to say that the best part of this novel was the progression of certain characters...two in particular. Obviously, Hunter. Hunter’s storyline was taken on a really unconventional route that I never would have expected, so I applaud Kemmerer for taking a literary risk that ended up paying off. I can’t explain anything without ruining the plot line for you, but Calla’s back and she’s more aggravating and vile than ever and Hunter also has terrible luck with the ladies.

The biggest surprise in this novel was Michael Merrick. I really, truly love him now. He was inadvertently Hunter’s guiding light in times of need--showing up whenever necessary the way a true big brother and guardian should. And I started to love him for it. It’s making me extremely excited for Michael’s book, book five in this series, when book four has yet to be released! While I understand Hunter and pity him greatly, my love for him does not compare to my love of the Merrick brothers because I think that their struggles to survive and characterizations are absolutely delicious. They are among my favorite characters ever, and Michael has joined his three younger brothers because of this novel. I’d say Hunter is the perfect sidekick to the amazingness that is the Merrick brothers, but you can’t tell Hunter that or there’ll be an all out brawl. So despite the great characterization leap in him, he’s still somewhat the same!

In the end, the new direction that Kemmerer took in this one was well done. Both Chris and Gabriel’s book had a similar overall story arc though the process to getting to the end differed greatly. And if you read Kemmerer’s recent novella, BREATHLESS, Nick’s story is going to differ completely, but Hunter’s story was the perfect way to set this new plot progression of dropping bomb after bomb into motion. While I can’t say I loved it as much as Chris or Gabriel’s story, I greatly enjoyed this one and will definitely always be a loyal Kemmerer fan. I recommend this one to absolutely anyone who is willing to pick this series up, though the first two books must be picked up first.

Posted by Lili at 06:00

 Brigid Kemmerer, Fantasy, Kensington, Review, young adult  2 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!

Follow Lili on: Lili's Reflections | Twitter