So far I am enjoying this series. Reading about the angst that teenage Elemental Valerie and all her friends brings me back to my years in High School. Looking forward to reading book 2.
I recommend that anyone that enjoys this type of book to read it. I promise you will love it! ( )

Exciting

In one instant imagine learning your entire being was a lie. Your beloved father might not be your biological father. There's a race of beings more powerful than humans, and shocker you may be one! All kinds of secrets, intrigue, politics, family intrigue, and a little romance here and there. Great start to an exciting series! ( )

Round two - thanks GR for deleting the first review!

ARC provided

With her mother gone and her father overseas, Valerie is once again living with her rather strange Aunt Marge. She's been the new girl in this town and at this school too many times to count and it never gets easier. She's socially awkward, jumps to conclusions, and doesn't see a reason to try to fit in. Until she does. Quiet and attractive Cade might have somethign to do with it, or maybe its the handsome Holden. After several strange occurences Valerie begins to think there is somehting strange about the time. She soon finds out it isnt the town though, it's her, and several others. Secrets unfold as she discovers she has Elemental powers.

Valerie is a character I really liked at first, I love that she decides to finally get out and participate in high school. She's got extremely interesting family history and the dynamics at her school are not that of a normal high school. Combined with the strange things happening, I could see why she has so much anxiety. As she makes friends I definitely started guessing with the elemental storyline and couldn't want to figure out why there was so much uproar between teens with the power. Elle Middaugh made the elements come to life with her writing, both within the characters actions and how the world worked, from insane weather and earthquakes to battles involving the elements. I could easily picture each character with their unique abilities. As the book continues on we discover there is tension in the world, between Elementals only, but involving humankind as well. I wanted to know more, to understand better the world of Elementals.

Despite how much I enjoyed the idea of Elementals mixed in with real life, as well as appreciated the extensive world building, Elemental Secrets fell short for me. The sequence of events and how quickly Valerie adapted to the strange ongoings of her brand new friends really took away from the believability of the story line. She went from shy to IT girl in no time, she was suddenly a party girl who took to a group of friends so easily. On top of that, some of the actions are things I couldn't picture the character condoning or feeling comfortable around. It was too much of a character shift. Incidently, just as the shift in her character happens, so does the shift in the elements being a much larger part of the story. I wasn't prepared for the story shifting from school life to a focus on just the elementals, it felt drastic. Plus, there are a few questions unanswered regarding the elementals and Valerie's strength. I generally liked the story, but I wish it had flowed better.

I think Elemental Secrets is a unique young adult fantasy novel, the elemental portion of the story was really intriguing for me. Unfortunately, I just felt like it missed the mark for me. I think the development of the characters could be drawn out and the storyline really fleshed out. I think YA readers will enjoy the unique story, especially with elementals living amongst humans. ( )