Thursday, October 20, 2016

Review: Elemental Secrets (The Essential Elements Book 1) by Elle Middaugh

Book Blurb:

Valerie Moore was a beautiful, headstrong girl with below-average social skills and above-average anxiety (including a flair for over-analyzing).

With her mother long deceased, and her father recently deployed, she ends up being sent to live with her eccentric aunt in a tiny town nestled in the mountains of Pennsylvania. But, being a Navy brat had made her into a bit of a loner, and making friends certainly wasn’t her strongest suit. As if the life of a typical teen wasn’t hard enough.

But Valerie soon discovers she’s not a typical teenager. Not by a long shot.

SECRETS are revealed…

…About her family, about her newfound friends and relationships, and about her whole world… Things that have been kept from her for her entire life…

But the biggest secret of all is revealed when Valerie discovers that she has Elemental powers, and a chain of inexplicable and irrevocable events unleashes throughout the little town…

My Review:

3 Out Of 5 Stars

Valerie is once again staying with her aunt while her father is away on deployment since her mother's death. She has not been back since her freshman year of high school, and has low expectations about making friends and fitting in. But much to her surprise, her secret crush Cade as well as another boy, Holden, shows her attention, making her confused as to where her feelings lie. And while trying to get inspiration for a creative writing assignment, Valerie discovers a book her aunt has that talks about controlling the elements. Valerie has no idea what is going on in her small town, but it seems the dangerous mystery is all around her.

I went into this book with no expectations and a very limited idea as to what the story was actually about. That being said, I found it to be only ok. This book was very much so a paranormal romance, heavy on the romance. I think most of the story dealt with Valerie getting to know her potential date(s) and a dash here and there of some supernatural elements, danger and mystery to spice it up.

What I can tell you about Valerie is that she drinks like a fish, cusses like a sailor, knows almost nothing about her family, and has a hard time saying no. I did not really connect to her, and I am not sure why. I was intrigued by her, but for the most part I felt that she did some stupid things and I wanted to shake some sense into her. I knew there was more to her than everyone thought and I was incredibly curious to find out if my suspicions were correct, but I was not super invested in her as a character.

I guess I was not surprised to find myself encountering a love triangle, as per most teen books, but I was taken off guard by the love square that Valerie ends up in. Yes, that's right, she has three guys she is romantically interested in, and all three guys are into her. Yeah, so there was that. I can honestly say that I had no idea what was going on here or what would happen. The things that all the boy/men had in common was that they were supernatural, incredibly attractive, at times terrible people and caused Valerie to make poor choices. I will admit that I kept on reading the book not because of the plot, or the characters, but because I wanted to see who Valerie would pick (if anyone, maybe she would just collect men and have a harem for all I know).

There were parts of the book that I found really interesting and others that baffled me. I feel conflicted about the story yet I would like the chance to read the next book to see what conundrum Valerie will find herself in next.

I received this title in return for my honest review.

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