Spirit (Elemental, #3)

by Brigid Kemmerer

"Original, funny, and romantic, this is the series that YA fans have been waiting for." --Nocturne Reads

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. . .

Praise for Brigid Kemmerer and The Elemental Series

"Magic, suspense, and enough twists to keep you reading until sunrise. An incredible start to the series!" --Award winning author Erica O'Rourke

"A refreshingly human paranormal romance. . . Read fast and keep that heart rate up." --Kirkus Reviews on Storm

• ISBN10: 1306669804
• ISBN13: 9781306669801
• Publish Date: 1 January 2013 (first published 11 July 2012)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 14 April 2015
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Kensington Publishing Corporation
• Format: eBook
• Language: English

Reviews

“If you can’t fix what’s wrong, you focus on what you can make right.”

  
It's funny that this was my least favourite book in the series when I first read it, but after a reread, I think I like Spirit a tad bit more than Storm.

Hunter is usually cool, calm and collected and he always seems to have it together, so it's interesting to see him at one of his lowest points in life, the decisions he has to make and the guilt he deals with. Hunter never seems to be on the 'right' side and no-one is sure where he stands. He can also be a frustrating character at times because as a reader, the 'right' choices are so obvious, but his actions suit his personality and backstory.  

Kate is the type of heroine that I have a soft spot for. She's bold, sassy, flawed and tough, but she also has vulnerabilities and insecurities. She's not one of my favourite characters, but I found her likable (though she's not an easy character to like). 

I also like the romance aspect, but the romance is not the main focus of Spirit. I'm sad that Hunter's story didn't end happily, romance-wise. This book is all about Hunter figuring out how to deal with the challenges in his life and how to do what's 'right'.

Michael's character development with each book in the series is downright amazing and he could possibly be the real MVP of the Elemental series. I also like Hannah. She's another cool character and I can't wait to see more of her in Michael's story, Sacrifice. Gabriel is still an epic jerk, but he's also still my favourite character, (solely) because I love his aggressive and witty comebacks. I'm also really interested in seeing more of Nick and his element, Air, because it's such a subtle, but also very powerful elemental ability.  

I love the elemental aspects of this series and I love how it's woven into the story and the plot. The idea of a fifth element, Spirit, which has ties to all other elements is really interesting, especially from the PoV of a character who is a Fifth.  

The plot takes intriguing and surprising turns. It's fast-paced and exciting and the last quarter made me so anxious for the characters. With each book in the series, the threats become more tangible. The Guides are shown as the huge danger they're made out to be and their narrow-mindedness, sense of duty and ruthlessness is terrifying.

Hunter isn't one of my favourite characters, but I still enjoyed reading his story.

“The first day you meet, you are friends. The next day, you are brothers.”

    

[Nicole Lynn]

This review previously appeared on my blog PopCrunchBoom!

If you read my reviews on Storm and Spark, you know a little bit about the Merrick brothers already. If you haven’t let me introduce you. Micheal, Nick, Gabriel, and Chris are four brothers who can control the elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. The Elemental series follows their story as each brother finds what they need and they all try to survive from the Guides–the people sent to kill full Elementals. Enter Hunter Garrity, the new kid in town who wanted to see the Merrick brothers dead. NowSpirit by Brigid Kemmerer he’s not sure if he’s friend or foe. Hunter lands on the fifth point of the star: Spirit. Not only can he control all four elements, but he draws people to him and can feed his power to any other elemental. On top of that: he’s supposed to be a Guide. But as he grows closer to the Merrick brothers, especial his on-again, off-again best friend Gabriel, Hunter’s confusion grows. Should he continue in his father’s footsteps as a Guide or should he join in friendship with the Merrick brothers? Plus, Calla is out causing more trouble trying to start a war with the Guides. When Kate Sullivan comes to town and Hunter’s grandfather starts ragging on him, Hunter’s life gets more complicated. His inner battle between siding with the Guides and siding with the Merricks consumes him. In the end which side will he be on and who really is Hunter Garrity?

Brigid Kemmerer does it again with her third installment of the Elemental series. Each book gets better and better each time. I really fell in love with her writing style and her ability to make each character’s voice so clear. Although I was reading from Hunter’s point of view, all the secondary characters were just as on point as they were with the first two novels.

I think I loved this novel the most from the first three books because of Hunter’s struggle. There was an element of romance, but it wasn’t the full focus of the novel. Hunter was torn. He was trying to find out not only what side he should be on, but also who he was as a person. He felted alienated — the outcast — and he wasn’t getting the support (or even sometimes the love) he really needed. It didn’t help that Hunter didn’t trust anyone. This lack of trust definitely spurred a lot of the tension with the Merrick brothers. It was almost like Gabriel’s story at first, but a lot worse. Gabriel story was all about not letting his brothers in, but Hunter’s is about not letting anyone in. I definitely connected with Hunter as a character and enjoyed watching him grow.

I also really enjoyed how Kemmerer used Kate Sullivan as a character. Her and Hunter’s relationship was spot on. Kate’s ability to crack Hunter’s shell and offer the support when Hunter didn’t think he had any really helped the plot along as well as Hunter’s growth as a character. Kate was a bit of kickass kind of girl, but we also saw elements of vulnerability. She was the perfect match for Hunter and as we learned more about her we were able to see her grow as well. Kate was a great supporting character and was well written.

What I really love about the Elemental series is that although each novel is telling one of the brothers (or Hunter’s story) they’re also moving the bigger plot — them trying to survive against the Guides. This novel, like the two before it, was full of action. It had the great scenes involving the use of the elements. It also introduced a continuing enemy – Calla. She was first introduced in Spark and continued through Spirit as an enemy against, not only the Merricks, but in a sense the Guides as well. Alongside Calla we saw a new Guide come to town and then Kate’s secrets also posed a threat. Kemmerer does a great job of writing each novel as individual stories, but also as a continuous series. Her writing skill is awesome and is something I don’t see in every author/series.

Overall, Spirit was another great Elemental novel. It definitely keeps making it harder to choose my favorite male lead. The Merrick brothers are just swoon worthy and so is Hunter. I’d definitely recommend getting hooked on this series!

[Jo]

Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.

I love the Elemental Series, so there was no doubt I'd be reading this book. However, as I'm always going back and forth on whether I like Hunter Garrity or not, so I wasn't sure I would enjoy this book. Thankfully, I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would!

Hunter has a lot to deal with. It's only been six months since his father died, the Merricks are weary of him, his grandfather throws him out, and Calla, the girl responsible for his father and uncle's deaths, as well as the fires that were blamed on Gabriel, is still out there. As a Fifth, he knows he should be trying to sort things out, but he just doesn't know what to do for the best. When he's trying so hard to focus, along come Kate Sullivan, and Hunter can't keep his mind off her. But Kate is a trainee Guide, and she's come for the Merricks. She has no scruples using guile and charm to get the information she needs as well as falling back on her Guide training. Since her mother's death, she feels she has a lot to prove. This is her job, and she will do it right.

This book is so emotional! Oh, Hunter really has it tough in this book. I dislike his grandfather immensely. I don't give a crap what he thought, treating a kid that way is absolutely disgusting. And Hunter is still a kid, and something I had forgotten. Reading these books, Hunter always seemed to come across quite tough and strong, and despite the fact that he's still at school, I did think of him as being as a lot older than he actually is. Being inside his head as much as we are in this book, you realise just how young he is. He has such guilt and self-esteem issues. Everything is his fault. He's a failure. How can he trust anyone, when no-one ever seems to give him a break. When Kate comes along, it seems like there's finally someone who gets him, someone who doesn't have it in for him. He just doesn't realise she's using him.

Kate... I had issues with Kate, even though she narrates half the story. Despite knowing how she thinks, and slowly getting to know her, I just couldn't warm up to her until three quarters of the way through. When you finally find out what's going on with her, things make more sense, but still, I just didn't really like her. She's bold and confident, I'll give her that, and when it really comes to the crunch, she steps up, but she just did too much early on that I couldn't get past. I know she didn't know the Merricks and Hunter like I do, and this is her job, but I love those guys. The fact that she was after them... I just really couldn't make myself like her.

As I said, this is an emotional book. Kemmerer will wrench your heart with this book. Isn't Hunter dealing with enough?! I didn't believe some of the things that happened. I just couldn't. I thought there must be a twist, something would happen, and things would be sorted. But no. When the Guides are about, there is real danger. And Silver, Kate's mentor, is a sadistic... fill-in-the-blank! Oh my god. He's just so wrong! It's like he has no feeling at all. He's inhuman. This book is absolutely unbelievable.

Spirit is also the steamiest of the books so far. Remember I said Kate was bold? Too right she is. And Hunter just doesn't know what to do, except go with it. It's quite amusing really - normally in YA, it's the guy making all the moves on the girl, with all the innuendo and flirting. Not this time. When Hunter falters, Kate will move his hands for him. That I did not see coming. Actually pretty awesome to see a girl who's confident and comfortable in her own skin and with going for what she wants, and not made to look like someone we should hate for it. Kudos to Kemmerer for showing girls are allowed to be sexual too!

I really loved Spirit, and further proof of what a brilliant writer Kemmerer is. It wasn't my favourite out of the first three, but it's still pretty awesome! And after the events of Spirit, I'm excited to see where things go for Merricks and Hunter. Life is most definitely not going to be easy!

Weirdly enough I just really did not love this book like I loved Storm. Or Spark even. Spirit left me feeling sad and less than stellar, it didn't move be like it's predecessors did.

I was glad I got to read it but it just didn't seem to be as amazing as I found the first two to be.

Miss Book Reviews

[Amber]

I discovered this series last year when everyone was riled up about Spark being released. I wanted to find out what everyone was shouting about, so I bought both Storm and Spark and read them in a couple of days. Brigid Kemmerer has a way of captivating you with both the excellent story and the great characters. So after nine months of excruciating waiting, I finally got my hands on Spirit. And I loved it!

Full review at Books of Amber

[jnikkir]

I'll be totally honest - I was not super excited about Spirit. Well, I mean, I was, but not nearly as excited as I am for Nick's and Michael's books. Hunter was not a character I was looking forward to spending an entire book with. I didn't have much sympathy for him, I didn't understand his issues from the previous books, and I felt like he was more of an antagonist than anything else - and not the kind that I loved to hate or hated to love, just the kind that I really didn't like. The reason I was looking forward to this book was that I knew we'd get to spend some time with the Merrick brothers, and I was hoping that they'd be present enough to keep me engaged.

I was not counting on the fact that, not once in the entire book, would I end up wanting the Merrick brothers to show up and give me a break from all the Hunter-time.

Why did I ever doubt? Brigid pulled the same stunt with Spark - I didn't like Gabriel, but she totally turned the tables once he got his say. Though with Spark, I expected to grow to like Gabriel, and was looking forward to getting to know him. Hunter, after two books, had somehow cemented himself in my mind as someone I Did Not - and Would Not - Like. How very wrong I was.

There is plenty of action and excitement in Spirit - par for the course, the Elemental series always delivers on that front. Calla is back stirring up more trouble, and there's a new Guide in town, neither of which spell sunshine and daisies for Hunter and the Merricks. The plot never lacks in suspense, and there's one or two huge twists at the end that I really did not see coming.

But I think the Elemental series's real strength lies in the characters, and in Brigid's talent for getting into their heads and forcing you to sympathize with them, feel for them. The action and excitement are great, but I am always a character-driven reader, so when a character who I didn't like finally draws me in and makes me feel for him... I love that. In Spirit, we finally get to see what makes Hunter tick, why he doesn't trust people, and what leads him to make "stupid" decisions, like the ones that made me dislike him in the first two books.

The best moments were still, for me, the ones with the Merricks, like Gabriel, and especially Michael. Gah, Michael is just an incredible character, and watching him help Hunter open up to him and his brothers was really great. The Merricks, for me, are what make up the real heart of this series. But like I said, Hunter still holds this book on his own. I never felt disconnected from Hunter's story enough to hope that the Merricks would pop back in just for the sake of it.

One thing that annoyed me a little bit was Kate, Hunter's love-interest. I know all the books definitely have some insta-love going on, and I don't normally mind it all that much. With this one, though, it felt markedly instant, and I was never able to shake it off. And Kate herself, while being a totally kick-butt and confident character, felt much less well-developed than Hunter. There were a lot of secrets that we don't find out until the end about Kate, which, if revealed earlier, would have made her attitude earlier in the book a lot more impactful, I think. She comes across as overly cocky most of the time, and there's a reason for it; but it's only revealed at the end, which in my opinion was way too late. The plot demanded that those secrets be kept until later, but I think Kate's character suffered as a result.

But, Brigid said herself that this isn't really a story about Hunter finding love, so I'll let the Kate-stuff slide. It's really about Hunter finding himself, and in that, it definitely shines.

In conclusion...
I do think that Storm and Spark have stronger plotlines and I do still like the Merrick brothers best. ;) But, I still have to give this one 4 stars, because I think it accomplished exactly what it should have. It fully fleshes out Hunter as a flawed but sympathetic character, and I don't think I'll ever go back to feeling the way I did about him in Storm/Spark. And Brigid was able to pull off what I thought was impossible - though I started the book with the hope that the Merrick brothers would let me enjoy this book despite it focusing on Hunter, once I really got into it, I was loving the book because it focused on Hunter. And that, I think, is a sure mark of success.

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