[Review] Storm by Brigid Kemmerer

 StormElemental #1
Brigid Kemmerer
April 24th
Kensington
353 pages

Amazon/Book Depository/B&N

 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.

I do enjoy Brigid Kemmerer's writing. The voice she gives her characters, the way the action moves, the handling of big reveals are all done exceptionally well. There are plenty of problems I had with the book that seemed minor in the light of her writing. She kept things fun and interesting.

The Merrik brothers are the equivalent of an anime harem. They all have different personalities, control different elements and they all seem to give a crap about the main character. Adding Hunter into the mix, as the mysterious new kid just completed the trifecta of boy toys. Granted, there is only a love triangle, not a tetrahedron, but even calling it a triangle is tenuous at best. None of the characters seemed that romantically inclined. What possible romance there was ended up dry and tasteless.

We do find out what happened at the end of Elemental. It's not pleasant, that is for sure.

Becca's Mary Sue reveal at the end was a little over the top. The way her family was involved even stranger. Why paint marks on the door to begin with if you have to clean it off? I just don't get it.

Then there is Becca's best friend, who waffled around in ever scene and didn't actually add anything to the overarching story. She got in the way a few times, created some unneeded drama, but overall I felt the character to be there just for the sake of halting the plot.

All and all, the book was fun. It was cliche and full of tropes, but I enjoyed it the way I do bad supernatural teen television shows.