Review: Storm by Brigid Kemmerer

Title: Storm (Elemental #1)
Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Pages: 353 pages
Format acquired: Paperback
Publisher: Kesington
Published on: April 24th 2012
Source: Purchased form Fully Booked
Buy the book: Amazon / Barnes and Noble



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.

(Image and summary taken from Goodreads.)

Review:

If there's one family with a better gene pool than the Cullens, it would have to be the Merricks. All four brothers are really good looking and also quite scary-looking. But seriously, every time I read the words "Chris", "intensely" and "looking" together, my ovaries flame up a little. The Merrick brothers aren't just there to look good. Yes, really. But I'm not going to reveal what they are and what they're purpose is now. Yes, I'm teasing you. Deal with it.

Aside from the obvious eye-candy present in this book, there's definitely a lot more depth in Storm than I expected it to have. I honestly thought that it would just be about a bunch of brothers with badass powers (oops, spoiled that) and one of them falls in love with a human girl but no, it's actually a lot more deep (?) than that. I was pleasantly surprised by the events that transpired in the book, especially in the latter part. While I enjoyed the whole book, the added drama gave it an extra "umph".

I was really amused with the way Storm started out (Becca saving Chris from a severe beating.) I know most people wouldn't think that something like that would be funny, but I always find the whole "girl-saving-guy" scenario very endearing. Go, girl power! Becca is a very no-nonsense kind of girl, and though that's the kind of heroine you normally see in books, she's definitely been through more than most of them have. Though she tries to put up all those walls as a protective mechanism, there are times when she does show her vulnerable side. No one wants a brick wall as a protag, you know? I honestly think that she was the one who was affected the most when stuff happened with her ___. Not just because they're "close" but because it literally just changed everything she knew and threw her life off-kilter but in the end, she managed to cope. Yay, Becca!

Throughout the first part of the book, Chris was a mystery to me. He's literally the type of guy who sends mixed signals, hot right now then cold later. You'll learn from the start that he's actually attracted to Becca but what does he do? Nothing. He lets the new kid get the first move. Dude, where's your pride?! While he had a different story from Becca altogether, their "relationship" was a pretty important too. Chris is in a word, a badass. Just like his uber hot and unber intense brothers. I think one of the reasons why he couldn't really get his freak on with Becca was because he was too busy trying to survive (a little birdy told me that someone bad was going to make an appearance.) Even though Chris was an enigma, I still really loved him. His character was a complete contradiction, and I seriously dug that. He always had this tough guy persona on but when he's with Becca, he's slightly awkward and really cute. I was glad that as the story went on, his personality and backstory was slowly revealed. His family's story broke my heart... I think that all he needed was love, love that I am SO willing to give him.

And can I just say? I love Hunter. Some people, I heard, don't really like him, but like I said, I'm an equal lover. There's lots of Louisse to go around for everyone. *winks at Gabriel*

I think that the only thing I really didn't connect with in this book was Becca's sexual assault. While I thought that it gave the book a slightly deeper backstory and I applaud Brigid Kemmerer for having the guts to write about something like this, I felt that the second time was kind of overkill. But maybe that's just me. I thought that Becca was really brave throughout all of the harassment and bullying that was thrown to her. (She even took self-defense classes at the start of the book. Eye gauging on!)

This book was really explosive! Like, nuclear bomb explosive. While there were parts that were predictable, a lot of them weren't. There were times when I was pretty suspicious about something and it doesn't happen but something else does and I end up shouting "OHMYGOD. OHMYGOD. MOMMY!!" and then I run around the house waving the book around. (This is because my mom read Storm wayyy before I did. I know, cool mom.) #Truth Don't judge me.

All in all, I loved Storm. I loved the execution of the scenes (especially the fight scenes) and the way the characters were constructed, there was an authenticity to them that made them likable (or tolerable) and sometimes relatable. And really, what's not to love about five super-hot and powerful guys and a pretty cool heroine? Nothing. I canNOT wait to read Spark! *chases after Gabriel*

Rating: