Reivew: Elemental by Alexandra May

I was lucky to get my hands on Elemental: The First by Alexandra May through NetGalley.

P.S., the emo image of the guy
in the background
is pretty hilarious to me...

Just who is Halika Dacome? To Rose Frost, moving house every six months is normal. Another new town here, another new school there, her ability to adapt is as easy as breathing. But everything changes when her parents go overseas and Rose moves in with her grandmother. She enjoys meeting new friends and catching up with old ones from her childhood holidays — except now she must hide a precious secret from everyone, a gift from birth that defies modern day science.

Her dreams become riddled with a warrior woman called Halika Dacome, but are they visions or messages from the future? She starts her own investigation but encounters more questions than answers. Living right on the edge of Warminster in Wiltshire, England, doesn’t help with its folklore and myths about strange lights in the sky and ghost stories of the Salisbury Plain and Stonehenge.

Not only that, her troubles really take hold one night when the mysterious Aiden Deverill with his alluring smile, his gorgeous dark looks and hypnotising blue eyes, saves her from a freak fire. Or did he?

For Rose, her new life is beginning but she soon realises that despite assurances people are not always what they seem. What she always believed to be a happy family and a friendly town soon turns on its head when she discovers that her family secret, Aiden Deverill and the truth behind Halika Dacome is at the heart of the whole conspiracy.

I was VERY excited to read this.

• Originality:  8.  The whole Halika Dacome mythic element is brand new territory, with cool Stonehenge lore.   On the other hand, teenage girl who doesn't know how beautiful or powerful she truly is and is  kind to everyone she meets?  About a 2.   (Where are Dru from Strange Angels and Rose from Vampire Academy, with  their sassy abruptness and butt kicking styles?!)
• Absurdity:  6.  I have two clear reasons for this.  1- when mythology morphed into ancient alien legends... say what?  I felt like I slipped into part of Prometheus for a second there.  2- Rose Frost, why the HECK are you so trusting of all these people you have played whit as a child and now have known for 2 weeks.  She keeps spouting things like "Mira and Hannah, who I could trust with anything".... and I just had no clue why.
• Level of Paranormal Romance- 7.  LOVE TRIANGLE.  Ok, hope I didn't spoil anything.  I sorta felt like insta-love flopped back and forth between the two boys, our golden child and our dark haired former bad boy.  And while i could get swept away in hopping onto the backs of boys' mopeds and speeding through the countryside, I really only ever fell for one of the boys.
• Harry Potterness- 6.  I enjoyed this book, but it resolved NOTHING AT ALL. ZERO.  I am all one for series, but there needs to be some level of resolution, and Rose suddenly feeling at peace with her previously reincarnated self and incredibly powerful destiny at the drop of a hat?  Not what I would call a reasonable ending!  

Damn it Book 2 (it is actually Book 1.5....), you hooked us, but in a sneaky unfair way since this book isn't even out in the U.S. yet!  Book two's expected publication is May 28th, 2013, so I have some searching to do....

FTC Full Disclosure: I received a review copy from Puama Publishing. Happy reading followed. (We do not accept or receive compensation for reviews at YAF and WS.)