Earth (Elemental Series) / Shauna Granger

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Genre: Fantasy/YA

Approximate word count: 90,000-95,000 words

Availability  

Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: YES Smashwords: YES Paper: YES

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Author:

Shauna Granger lives in a sleepy little beach town in Southern California with her husband, John, and their goofy dog, Brody. She has always been fascinated by Magic, and spent most of her teen years buried in books about fairies, elves, gnomes, spells, witchcraft, wizards and sorcery. She has been working on the Elemental Series for the last four years and plans for it to be a five book series. Granger says it was a hard decision to self-publish but it's been an exciting and terrifying ride. You can find her on Goodreads, FaceBook and her Blog.

Description:

In a small southern California coastal town, evidence is found that someone is working blood magic, and it is upsetting the balance of nature. The local coven can’t figure out who is behind it and has warned Shayna, Jodie, and Steven to stay away from the scene for their own protection. But the coven does not realize that these three high school friends are fledgling elementals, not just witches.

When Shayna starts waking up bloody and bruised from nightmares, she feels her magical blood is the ultimate target for the final blood rite. When an innocent girl is kidnapped, Shayna knows it’s a ploy to draw her out, the caster wants her.

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Appraisal:

Shayna is the earth elemental, with empathic abilities, so naturally this book mainly focuses on her. Since it is her blood the caster wants she carries the story and is more fully developed than Jodi or Steven. I assume they will be more fully fleshed out in their own stories and I look forward to that. Shayna’s magic speaks to the dirt, plants, and animals, although she can tap into the three other elements. She also seems to be more familiar with her skills than her friends, although her powers are growing fast. Jodi is the air elemental and is taking advanced classes at their high school. I found Steven, who is the fire elemental, to be the most interesting. Not only is he a confident and secure gay teen, he is a practicing Catholic. Because of this, the three of them incorporate religious beliefs and icons into their magic.

I liked the relationship and dialogue between these three friends and the way they dealt with their other classmates; with as much power as Shayna has she could have been an insufferable teenager. The author did an excellent job laying out the details of the magic and research of the occult the teens had to do to find a way to stop the caster and set things right. One thing I thought the author did an excellent job with was the descriptions of the way the magic felt and even tasted while being cast or practiced. It really put me in the moment along with the characters. I thought the plot had a good flow while the teens had to also deal with the mundane of going to school and preparations for parties that had to be attended. Teenagers are very busy people. :)

These characters are not your typical witches and I found the story unique in that respect. I also found the potential friendship and possible romantic interest at the end of the book intriguing. I think this could be a very entertaining series to follow.

FYI:

There is some strong teenage language; a few F-bombs are dropped. This may not be suitable for younger teens.

Format/Typo Issues:

A small number of editing errors.

Rating: **** Four Stars