Review: Spark by Brigid Kemmerer

Spark by Brigid Kemmerer

Elemental #2

Release Date: August 28^th, 2012

Number of Pages: 432

Publisher: K-Teen

Source: NetGalley

Gabriel Merrick plays with fire. Literally. Sometimes he can even control it. And sometimes he can’t. Like the fire that killed his parents. Gabriel has always had his brothers to rely on, especially his twin, Nick. But when an arsonist starts wreaking havoc on their town, all the signs point to Gabriel. Only he’s not doing it. More than Gabriel’s pride is at stake -- this could cost him his family, maybe his life. And no one seems to hear him. Except a shy sophomore named Layne, a brainiac who dresses in turtlenecks and jeans and keeps him totally off balance. Layne understands family problems, and she understands secrets. She has a few of her own. Gabriel can’t let her guess about his brothers, about his abilities, about the danger that’s right at his heels. But there are some risks he can’t help taking. The fuse is lit…

Let me start by saying I was a little scare to start this book. After all, I absolutely LOVED Storm, was charmed by the Merricks, but mostly by Chris. Now in Spark, we are following Gabriel, who wasn’t really a character I was that interested in first. Still, once I started this book, I just couldn’t put it down. Gabriel’s story is simply as addicting as Chris’ was.

In Spark, we are following mostly Gabriel, but also Layne, who was of course a love interest for our fire boy. If you thought Becca and Chris’ story was full of drama, be prepare for a lot more in this sequel. Arsonist, fire, family drama, school drama, and of course, criminal drama. There’s a little of everything, since Gabriel is the bad boy of the family. This makes the book addicting and fast-paced, since there is a lot waiting to happen. In the book though, we get to see that Gabriel is more than the bad boy he appears to be. Things go deeper than simply wanting to do bad things. You get to see his good side, his more vulnerable side. One of the main reasons we get to see that is Layne, the nerdy girl who ends up piercing Gabriel’s shield. Layne, the girl whose life was forever changed by a fire that destroyed her home when she was a child.

Brigid Kemmerer knows pretty well how to captivate her audience, something we also saw in Storm. She created four amazing guys, four brothers so different yet so alike. She knows how to make readers fall for her characters; she knows how to makes us want more and more.  She knows how to make the emotions her characters are living come through the pages, making us feel what they are feeling. You simply can’t stop reading.

Yet, the one thing I was scared of when I first started this book happened. There simply wasn’t enough Chris and Becca. I mean, you make me fall for this water boy, and you leave me with only a few scenes with him. So cruel. That’s the only thing I was a little sad about. Other than that, I simply loved this book!