Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Review: Spark by Brigid Kemmerer


Title: Spark (Elemental, #2) 

Author: Brigid Kemmerer 

Rating: 3.5 Stars 

When I went into Spark, I was 100% sure I would love it. Yes, 100%. Not even 99.9%. I devoured Storm in a matter of hours and after seeing such a huge string of glowing reviews for this book, I was confident that for once I wouldn't be the Black Sheep. Well, I was (unfortunately) quite wrong. I loved Spark, but ultimately, there was just something missing from it to make it a truly phenomenal novel. 

First and foremost, I have to admit that I thought Gabriel was an extremely well-written character. I could feel his loneliness, his desperation, and his confusion seeping through every page and once again, Brigid Kemmerer proves her talent in writing impeccable male POVs and realistic family dynamics. While I had already fallen in love with the Merrick brothers in Storm, I truly grew to appreciate Michael, Nick, and, of course, Gabriel. Plus, while I hated Hunter after Storm, I was glad that we were able to see a different side of him in this one which I really liked. Even Chris made his small appearances with Becca which were great, so once again, this is a family I am head-over-heels in love with. 

Layne, our female protagonist of Spark, is also an incredible heroine. She is intelligent, strong, and beautiful without trying to be. I think overall, Layne is much more likable character than Becca is, simply because she's the goody-two-shoes while Becca is feistier. Still, I really liked both girls and I could understand Layne's tortured past and home life just as well as I could Gabriel's. Yet, their romance never won me over. For one, it was the extremely overdone and typically clichéd bad-boy-falls-for-geek-math-tutor story line. While I didn't mind this too much, what I did mind was that I couldn't really feel for these two. I loved them as individual characters and I think their interactions together were sweet and they obviously understand one another very well, but I wasn't invested in their relationship at all. Plus, Layne isn't the type of girl I think anyone would expect Gabriel to fall for and unfortunately, Kemmerer was unable to really make me hop on their boat. I think compared to the sweet romance between Chris and Becca, I have to admit I was a tiny bit disappointed with the love story in this one. 

Yet another aspect of this novel that disappointed me was the lack of action in it. While the plot line of Storm revolves around the Guides, Spark is a much more mellow tale focusing on Gabriel’s character development and only hinting at a future clash with the Guides in the next installment. Thus, this unfortunately read like one of the many in-between novels which only serves to set up the plot of the next novel. In addition to that, I found the characterization of Layne’s parents, amongst a few other qualities of this story, to be extremely unrealistic. In my opinion, they were simply too evil and cartoon-ish to be real.

What really made me dislike Spark though, was the lack of character development. Gabriel is hot-headed and he's constantly just a giant, raging mess of angst. Seriously, he slams doors, he runs ten miles, he yells, he punches people, and he fights back. It's always constant angst, and while I understood it, after awhile it began to become annoying. Gabriel goes through a lot of experiences in this novel, especially with his brothers, and I wanted him to learn from them and become a better person who wasn't constantly fueled by his emotions, but even at the end, I just don't think he was. Yes, he gained mastery over his powers, but what about over himself? I still feel as if Gabriel could have grown and developed a little more in this one and the fact that I didn't see that as much as I would have liked was upsetting.

Overall though, Spark is a great novel - I'm not refuting that. It has so much depth and the Merrick Brothers are truly phenomenal. While it lacked a lot of action, which I missed from Storm, and I wasn't totally invested in every aspect of it, I think most readers will love this. I, however, think I preferred Storm, but I can't wait for the next installment in this series either! :)

31 comments:

  1. Oh it's a shame that this didn't work out for you as much as you'd hoped Keertana! I agree that Spark was missing out on a lot of the action that was in Storm, but I really liked the changes I saw in Gabriel, I also loved the swoony scenes between Layne and Gabriel. But at least you didn't find this book to be a complete letdown. Lets hope the next book will be a lot more satisfying for you! :)

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  2. Ooooh, Keertana, I'm so sorry this didn't work out for you! I *DO* love Spark, but I can totally understand what you mean.

    I think Storm's still my favorite of the two as well ;D

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  3. At least it wasn't THAT bad. I couldn't finish Storm but I loved Gabriel so much in the first book that I'm willing to give it another try just so I could read Spark. Or maybe I'll just read Spark...and I hope I'd find this better than Storm.

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  4. I am just annoyed that I haven't gotten to this series yet, I keep hearing about these brothers. I am okay with lack of action as long as there are good characters and a solid story. It seems that YA more often than not has unreleastic parents, right? I am sorry I am not as good about getting round to blogs right now, but Something Wicked is keeping me extraordianryly busy. Thanks for stopping by!

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  5. Aw, I'm sorry this was lacking for you! I get where you're coming from and the romance wasn't on ~fire~ for me but it was cute enough. Also lol I feel you on being the black sheep, I feel like I am hatin' on everyone's favourite books lately eesh.

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  6. Aw, I'm sorry this was lacking for you! I get where you're coming from and the romance wasn't on ~fire~ for me but it was cute enough. Also lol I feel you on being the black sheep, I feel like I am hatin' on everyone's favourite books lately eesh.

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  7. Awwww, I'm sorry you didn't love Spark as much as Storm, Keertana! While I loved Storm, I actually loved Spark even more than the first book. However, I do agree that reading Spark made me miss Storm too!

    Thank you for the awesome and honest review, Keertana ♥ Hopefully you will love Spirit as much as Storm :)

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  8. I have heard good things about this series. I think all the drama and angst that Gabriel exudes would get to me a bit. But I'm definitely eager to give the first book a read!

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  9. EEEEK, so sad that this wasn't an awesome sauce read for you! D: Action always makes things more exciiiiting, but this book having the dreaded middle book syndrome? UURGHH. I'm still really curious to see what the inside of Gabriel's head is like and how he interacts with his newfound lady friend so I'm defiiinitely still going to read this. :) Great review! :D

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  10. I feel like I'm the only person in Earth who hasn't read Storm! I wasn't really in love with the novella, Elemental, and I just think that the Elemental series isn't the one for me. Talking about being black sheep! Ah, I always feel terrible when I'm the only person who don't like the book, so you have a friend here, Keertana! ;)

    Anyway, thanks for the honest, thoughtful review! <3 I always love your honesty. <3

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  11. I'm so surprised after everything I've heard about these novels that it had a lack of action! I kept thinking it was almost nothing but action. I'm also sorry to hear about the lack of character development. Still, you liked it and want to read the next. Okay, got me curious! I need to start reading this series.

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  12. Awwww I'm sorry you weren't feeling Gabriel and Layne Keertana! I absolutely fell in love with Gabriel, but he's definitely not for everyone. Definitely looking forward to Spirit though, this is such a fun series!

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  13. Sorry to see the lower rating on this, Keertana. I'm going to come back to this because I'm writing my review tonight. :)

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  14. It's interesting to hear you preferred Storm! I liked Spark slightly better, as you know, but I can understand some of your points. Hopefully things will be better again with Spirit. I wasn't a huge Hunter fan to start off with, but this book really convinced me he was worth getting to know. :)

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  15. Great review, K! This is why I have put off reading this, despite all the gushy 5 star reviews. I thought Storm was good, but I strongly disliked Gabriel and I really don't think Spark will make me feel any different. I can't get behind a mean, angry, idiot as a main character :/

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  16. I was disappointed with this one too!

    It just wasn't as good as Storm. I can't wait for Spirit though.


    Krazyyme @ Young Readers

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  17. Thanks Jasprit - I hope so too! I really liked Gabriel's relationship with the brothers in this one, so that felt much more realistic to me than even the last book, but it did lack something that Storm had. Still, I can't WAIT for Spirit! :)

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  18. Yayy, I'm not the only one who liked Storm better! I feel as if, for me at least, the first book in a series always works out best somehow. Still, I can't wait for Spirit! :D

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  19. I hope you have better luck with this series, Chel! I loved Storm, but I can see why you didn't, so maybe Spark will work out better for you! :D

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  20. Heidi, you NEED to get to this series for sure! It's incredible and veryyy unique, so I think you'll love it! :)

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  21. Samee! I'm nearly always the black sheep, so I hate being that "hater" but what can you do, right?

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  22. I'm hoping I love Spirit too, Celine! I still adore this series, so I can't wait to see where Kemmerer takes this in the next book! :D

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  23. Yes, you definitely have to try it out, Candace! I loved the first book, so I think you'll really like it too! I can't wait to see what you think! :D

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  24. Thanks Gianne! I was so disappointed I didn't love this book more to, but I can't wait to see what you think! I hope you enjoy it! :D

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  25. I didn't read Elemental, but I totally understand why this wouldn't work out for everyone. I'm glad we're not the only black sheep out there though!(:

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  26. Melissa, you definitely need to pick this one up! I loved Storm, but this one wasn't as great for me, but I still can't wait to see what you make of it! :)

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  27. It is, isn't it, Jenny? I love this series, so I can't WAIT for Spirit! I'll definitely be requesting that one from NG! ;)

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  28. I'm so glad you enjoyed this one more than I did, Rachel! I can't wait for Spirit though, so I'm very excited to see where the plot goes! :D

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  29. I agree - I neeed to know Hunter now! I didn't like him in Storm too much, but this book definitely changed my mind about him which was great! :)

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  30. I knowww! I really thought I'd enjoy this one more, but I didn't. :/ Still, I hope that when you get to this one, you love it Mandee! :D

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  31. I agree - I can't wait for Spirit! I'm glad I wasn't the only one disappointed with this one though!(:

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