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Sunday 2 April 2017

BOOK REVIEW - Elementals: The Prophecy of Shadows by Michelle Madow

Elementals: The Prophecy of Shadows
Author: Michelle Madow
Genre: YA Fantasy

Book Description:
Witches are real. They're descendants of the Greek gods. Now, five witches with elemental powers must fight to stop a war against the Titans.

Nicole Cassidy is the new girl in town with a new problem -- she's a witch descended from gods. Despite doubts about her newfound abilities, she's welcomed into this ancient circle of witches and is bedazzled by their powers -- and by Blake, the town's notorious bad-boy.

When the Olympian Comet shoots through the sky for the first time in three thousand years, Nicole, Blake, and three of their classmates are gifted with mysterious powers. But the comet has another effect -- it opens the portal to another dimension that has imprisoned the Titans for centuries. After an ancient monster escapes, they're forced to follow a cryptic prophecy, while learning to work together to stop the spread of evil. If only they can succeed in time to save their town... and possibly the world.

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MY REVIEW

Whenever I hear the mention of mythology and the supernatural, I go a little nuts. Elementals sounded as though it was right up my street, so I was more than happy to grab a review copy. Nicole Cassidy and her family just relocated from Georgia to Massachusetts due to her dad's job promotion. It's tough enough having to move to a new town, knowing that you have to start all over and put in the effort to make new friends, but things become a little more complicated for Nicole when she discovers she's a descendant of Greek gods, a witch to be precise. Talk about a surprise. Having said that, the real surprise for me was that the story wasn't as exciting as I had expected it to be. It lacked logic at times, the quest didn't feel as if it was of paramount significance and the emotional core of the story was missing.

I really wanted to love this book, but no matter how hard I tried to push aside the relevant elements that were missing in the story, I still couldn't find a connection nor did I feel any form of exhiliration while reading. Nicole just arrived in town, and on her first day at Kinsley High, she learns that she's a witch. I didn't mind the immediate revelation, but there was no explanation as to how these strangers knew so much about her. Nicole had no clue nor did her family. I suspect the Elders have a method for detecting witches, but that was never addressed, so I'm left having to assume many things. I just wasn't convinced by the unveiling.

This story is about five teenagers from all walks of life, coming together to prevent a cataclysmic destruction of their world. The problem: we don't get to know much about the other four characters involved. There wasn't much depth to them, so I formed no bond with any of them. I wasn't intrigued by the chemistry between Blake and Nicole as I couldn't figure out what was particularly profound about him, perhaps because I knew nothing about him. There were some interesting moments with the gang finding themselves in some danger situations. There were times when the story reminded me of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, particularly the scene where Nicole and the gang are trying to retrieve the eagle from Zeus's statue. I had a flashback of the scene where Percy, Grover and Annabeth were trying to get the second pearl from the statue of Athena. Like I said, there were some fun moments. Unfortunately, these moments were far and few.

I think the biggest problem I had with the story was that I didn't believe in the quest, and I have to believe in something in order to fully invest my time in it. The story was okay enough to read to the end, it just wasn't an exciting experience. I wanted to finish it feeling somewhat satisfied, but I didn't feel much of anything, which was a disappointment because it has so much potential. It was an okay read.

VERDICT:


Award: Bronze
Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars
Source: Author

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