Sacrifice (Elemental, #5)

by Brigid Kemmerer

[jnikkir]

This review can also be found at my blog, There were books involved...

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I love the Elemental series. Love. It. I will hold it up as a shining example of genuinely good contemporary YA paranormal for all time. It follows the stories of four brothers, who have powers over the elements, as they fight to stay together - and stay alive - while being targeted by people who hunt down strong Elementals like themselves.

It's also really hard to explain without it sounding like it might be "just another YA paranormal series", but I assure you, it is not. Brigid Kemmerer is a master of building realistic characters, writing amazingly emotional storylines, and keeping you constantly glued to each book as you read it.

That being said... my thoughts about Sacrifice, the final book in this series, are super complicated.

While I was reading it, it was incredible. I loved everything about it. Kemmerer is an absolute genius when it comes to balancing genuine character insight and development with non-stop (and I mean non-stop) action -- and the result is a book (entire series, rather) with non-stop feels and continuous flailing on the part of the reader.

This book, Sacrifice, is Michael's story, which I've been looking forward to since before I read book 1, really - Michael is the main character in the prequel novella, Elemental. He's one of my favorite characters in this series, and this book did not disappoint when it came to his story and character arc. Michael goes through a lot in trying to take care of his brothers and be their guardian and parental figure. I loved getting some insight into his life, what he deals with, and seeing the depth of his love for his brothers, and the responsibility he feels toward them. My heart ached for Michael and his situation, and just... gah. He's an amazing character.

After finishing the book, though, I have to be honest and say: I do feel like there was a lot of stuff that I was expecting, that was left out of this final story. It might be the fact that I didn't realize it was actually ending when it ended... I was looking at the percentage, and not the page numbers, when I read my eARC, and to my immense surprise, I hit the end of the book with 35% to go (which is because the last 35% is taken up by the three novellas).

What was missing? Well, I was expecting more from each of the brothers - a little more closure to all their stories. I also really really loved Hannah, and the chemistry between Hannah and Michael was really sweet, but I would've liked a little more closure to their story, as well.

I also felt like the book-plot was wrapped up, but I don't feel like the series plot as a whole was tied up perfectly. It ends with some pretty vague "this little conflict is over but there's a long way to go" sort of thing, and while that works in a lot of cases and is totally realistic, it didn't work for me here. Again, this might be partially a result of the "I didn't realize it was over when it was over", but even so, looking back, I don't feel like it's an unjustified feeling, either.

 
In conclusion...

When you finish a really good series, you want to feel a sense of completion; and while I think this book did a great job telling us more about Michael and his story, I'm still left feeling like there's a bit missing, for some reason.

However, I still adore this series and will push it on anyone who will listen. Like I said, Kemmerer is a genius at building believable and sympathetic characters, and balancing that real character development with non-stop action. If you don't believe me, check out my Goodreads status updates:



If you're in the mood for a YA paranormal, pick up this series. You will not regret it.

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There were books involved...