Review: Spirit (Elemental #3) by Brigid Kemmerer

Spirit (Elemental #3) by Brigid Kemmerer
Publisher: K Teen
Publication date: May 28th 2013.
My rating: 3 stars

With power comes enemies. Lots of them. Hunter Garrity just wants to be left alone. He’s learned the hard way that his unusual abilities come at a price. And he can’t seem to afford any allies. He’s up to his neck in hostiles. His grandfather, spoiling for a fight. The Merrick brothers, who think he ratted them out. Calla, the scheming psycho who wants to use him as bait. Then there’s Kate Sullivan, the new girl at school. She’s not hostile. She’s bold. Funny. Hot. But she’s got an agenda, too. With supposedly secret powers rippling to the surface everywhere around him, Hunter knows something ugly is about to go down. But finding out what means he’ll have to find someone he can trust…

Trust is a big issue for me when it comes to Hunter’s character. Hunter hasn’t been too great in showing that he is a trustworthy character. There have been points where I’ve thought I’d seen a glimpse into his real character, but then he goes and does something which makes me all wary again. So I was really eager to pick up Spirit and discover the real Hunter who had been hiding for way too long.

The trust issues I had with Hunter, it was easy to see that he also had the same issues with everyone else, it took him a lot to extend his trust to others, but when he did it always seemed to be snatched away from him. After everything that had happened, I understood why the Merricks had a hard time trusting Hunter. But seriously the Merricks are the best around, if a person who I thought was a friend of mine screwed me over, I would have a tough time trusting them again, heck I wouldn’t want anything to do with them. But the Merricks being as awesome as they are are quick to extend an olive branch when they have a friend in need. I just wish Hunter could have felt the same way. 

Hunter was one messed up character, poor guy. The way his life had been and the direction it was going in did make me feel for him. But every time he needed help, he buried his head in the sand. And then he was quick to jump to assumptions when he didn’t know the full story. I had a feeling the Merricks would have his back, so at times I did feel like shaking a little sense into Hunter so that he could realise this too.

But Hunter was pretty much torn in Spirit, he never knew his parents really, the path his dad wanted him to follow, he kept finding himself drifting along a different one entirely and who could he really trust? I wish things could have ended differently for Hunter in some aspects, every time he saw the Merricks with their girlfriends, my heart went out to him, I wanted him to finally find his own happiness.

I’m glad Kemmerer decided to give us a story from Hunter; I had a few issues with him at the beginning of the series. But now after Spirit I think I’m finally beginning to understand his character that little bit more now. Also it was great fun being back with the Merricks once more; with their fiery outbursts and witty scenes. But once again the Merricks are left in a precarious situation, with so many different people after them. I can’t wait to find out how they will deal with it all in the next book.