{Review} Storm by Brigid Kemmerer (Elemental #1)

From Goodreads: Becca Chandler is suddenly getting all the guys, all the ones she doesn’t want. Ever since her ex-boyfriend spread those lies about her. Then she saves Chris Merrick from a beating in the school parking lot. Chris is different. Way different: he can control water just like his brothers can control fire, wind, and earth. They’re powerful. Dangerous. Marked for death.

And now that she knows the truth, so is Becca.

Secrets are hard to keep when your life’s at stake. When Hunter, the mysterious new kid around school, turns up with a talent for being in the wrong place at the right time, Becca thinks she can trust him. But then Hunter goes head-to-head with Chris, and Becca wonders who’s hiding the most dangerous truth of all.

The storm is coming.

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This is one of those books that steals you away from reality, wrapping you up in its enticing story and captivating you long after the very last page.  I can’t believe I didn’t know about this series sooner (I became aware of it one week prior to going to PAYA 2012) and I’m so very glad that I found it.  Kemmerer is a fantastic writer, an epic storyteller with such a vivid imagination.  This story, with the element manipulation, romance, feuds, and life threatening situations is a must read for all!  A. Must. Read.

Chris Merrick is the youngest of his brothers.  He’s the water elemental, just coming into himself and attempting to fully harness his element, while his older brothers, Gabriel (Fire), Nick (Air), and Michael (Earth) all work to hide their abilities from all prying eyes.  As a family of full elementals, considered the most dangerous by partial elementals, the Merrick boys have much at stake—they’re not supposed to be alive, no full elemental is, because they’re too unpredictable and dangerous, even if they don’t mean to be, and the teenage years, with learning to control themselves, are the hardest.

Chris and his brothers are doing the best they can, but with their elements constantly beckoning to them and the partial elementals badgering them from every side, things have a tendency to go from bad to worse, especially when they can’t even get along with each other.

I loved Chris.  I loved all the Merrick boys, but Chris is the main character in this novel and he really steals the show.  He’s extremely well written and I loved watching him grow and mature throughout the novel, especially as he’s got so much to contend with.  It’s not easy being a teenager, and Kemmerer does a phenomenal job fleshing Chris out to the point that the reader really feels like s/he’s a part of the story.  Becca is another phenomenal character and I highly enjoyed watching her slowly figure things out as the story progressed.  I kept wishing I was her… her life, while not all glitz and glamour, is so much more exciting than mine… not to mention she’s hanging around five seriously sexy guys… In terms of all the characters, I really love that not everyone is what they seem in this novel, and while I was able to guess who was behind what on occasion, I was still floored by the revelations Kemmerer sets forth as the story winds down.

Another aspect I love about this series is that each novel (and novella) focuses on a different character, so even though the story is moving forward as it would in any series, we’re seeing it through the perspective of a different character.  While Storm focuses on Chris and Becca, Elemental focuses on Michael, giving the reader his back-story. Fearless focuses on Hunter’s back-story, and Spark focuses on Gabe (who I’m totally enamored with, btw).  I think it’s so cool that we get to know each character on a deeper level and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series!!  Five stars.

I purchased this novel from Amazon.