Spark by Brigid Kemmerer Review

Spark by Brigid Kemmerer
(Elemental, #2)
Release Date: August 28, 2012
Publisher: K-Teen; 432 pages

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…

If you have NOT read Storm please read with caution. There are some spoilers that were unavoidable. Proceed with caution . . .

Where do I begin? How do I begin to describe Spark? I’ll start by saying Spark is an understatement. Gabriel spark-ed my interest in Storm so by time we got to this book, it was a full on forest fire not ready to give up yet.

Actually, I will be honest. Gabriel was hot and cold during Storm. Obviously, our main focus was on his younger brother, Chris Merrick. Sure, we saw plenty of Gabriel and yes, he’s certainly a hot head (which makes sense and all…). However, out of the twins, I leaned more toward Nick. Nope. 

However, the story isn’t really about ‘which Merrick brother do I lust after most’ – though, let’s be frank, I’d select all of the above. Gabriel’s element is fire and his temper is as fickle as his element, which is extremely dangerous. He wants to learn to control it so he won’t cause harm on anyone since he does blame himself for his parents’ death five years ago. His guilt has really taken his toll on him. His twin, Nick, doesn’t tell him he likes Becca’s best friend, Quinn, and that sets him off. He throws insult after insult at Quinn and even he doesn’t know why. It causes a huge fight between the brothers, one that leaves Gabriel breathless (quite literally) which causes a huge rift in their relationship. Anyone who noticed in Storm, knows these two are as close as two brothers could possibly be. It’s heartbreaking to see their relationship shatter – especially over a girl.

Tack on to that, he’s told to lay low and not use his element but he can’t. Fire calls to him and he uses that as an outlet during difficult times. Did I mention he’s in danger of not graduating because he’s caught ‘cheating’ in math? No. Well, a new sub comes in for long term and notices he’s got this great grade in the class but yet he struggles when called on in class. How is that possible? Have we mentioned he has a twin brother? ;-)

He starts to fall for a girl whose a sophomore, a bit of a nerd and dresses conservatively. Definitely not the type of girl you’d imagine joke Gabriel to be interested in, right? Shockingly, these two are a lot more alike than originally suspected. I absolutely adore Layne. She’s been through so much, she’s still going through so much and yet she can have the personality that she does absolutely blows me away.

You want to know what my absolute favorite thing about this book was? It’s going to shock you because it wasn’t the romance (which, there is plenty, believe me) – it’s the bromance. Oh yes, you heard me correctly. Hunter and Gabriel become friends and do a lot of hanging out. Something I would’ve never expected but there it is – and it’s amazing. They work so well together, they play off of each other and they just get each other so well. I absolutely loved this relationship probably over every other relationship in this book. Every person loves a good bromance and Brigid certainly delivered one!

This book is action packed, filled with drama (especially between eldest brother, Michael, and Gabriel – but then again, what’s new?), filled with romance for all the brothers and just an absolute great read. I recommend this to any YA fan – but please, read the first book (and novella Elemental, as well). You won’t be disappointed with Storm and you certainly won’t be let down with Spark. Oh, did I mention there’s a novella coming out in a few days? It’s called Fearless and I know I can’t wait to read it. So after you read all those, read Fearless and prepare for June of 2013 for Hunter’s story with Spirit!