Secret: Review

Synopsis:

Nowhere is safe. Not even home…

Nick Merrick is stretched to the breaking point.

Keep his grades sky-high or he’ll never escape his hometown.
Keep his brother’s business going or the Merricks will be out on the street.
Keep the secret of where he’s going in the evenings from his own twin—-or he’ll lose his family.

Keep his mind off the hot, self-assured dancer who’s supposed to be his “girlfriend’s” partner.

Of course there’s also the homicidal freak Quinn has taken to hanging around, and the Elemental Guide counting the hours until he can try again to kill the Merrick brothers.

There’s a storm coming. From all sides. And then some.

Nick Merrick, can you keep it together?

***

I'm always curious about Nick Merrick. Sure, I've read about him in Breathless but it's far from enough. Now there's a whole book about him sitting there and of course I'm going to dive for it. I kinda like that guy. It's nice to see that he's far from perfect. In the previous three Elemental books he's the dependable one. The good twin and the best brother. A ton of problems emerging in the book just show how imperfect he is, which makes him more realistic than ever. There's no need to say how much better a realistic character than an unrealistic one. Oh, and it's pretty funny to see he's really a drama queen (*whisper* sometimes even more so than Quinn *giggles)

Speaking of Quinn, well... at the very least I have a hard time understanding why Brigid Kemmerer put her in a position as one of the narrators (the other being Nick, of course). I completely understand her significance in Nick's story. What I want to say it... she's not that important. The situation Nick is being in is messed-up enough without Quinn hanging out with a certain Fire Elemental "homicidal" freak (not Gabriel, of course). And I don't really think she needs to know the big secret of the Merricks. These are the logical part. The illogical part? I really don't like Quinn. I can't say I hate her because I kind of understand her problems with her family. But I really hate that she's such a freaking drama queen and just wouldn't understand the core of those Elemental problems and Nick's problems until it's way too late. I really need that girl to grow up and be mature. Things are already messed up enough for Nick without her being such a bitch all the time. The worst part? She's one of the narrators of Secret, and that means she's gonna be present for half of the story (actually it's almost more than half of the story, which makes me even angrier). It's torturous. And to be honest, she doesn't even make much of a contribution to Nick's story. (Spoiler) Most of the time they're apart (End of spoiler). So yeah, I really don't like Quinn's part of the story.

The plot is a little problematic as well. Nowhere as severe as the whole Quinn-is-a-main-narrator thing. But still, it's a problem. The first part of the book is mainly about Nick's problems. Not that it's problematic, because the first three books are kinda like that. But for some reason his problems bores me out. It seems like there are no new big bad problems in the first half of the book other than that Nick is torn between multiple stuff and he's frustrated and he starts being an ass. No real threats, no life-and-death situations. While I still enjoy this part, it's nowhere as good as the second half of the book and to be honest, it's a little boring. The second half is so much better. Finally the big bad reveals his identity, and he's making a really drastic move. And then... all hell breaks loose, and the level excitement is nearly off the charts. Geez, Brigid Kemmerer really knows how to make explosive twists. Secret kind of sets the stage for the events in Sacrifice (at least that's my theory). And I'm really curious to know how it will turn out. (Because the name of the book is Sacrifice and it features Michael... I have a really bad feeling about this.)

But despite the Quinn problem and the problem about the prioritizing of the plot, Nick's presence, Adam's presence, the second half of the story, and the humor of the book salvages most of my frustration. Especially the humor part. I'm not going to reveal too much because that will kill the fun of it. Let's just say Nick's awkwardness, nerdiness, and Chris's relationship with Becca is really funny and I can't help but giggle (I'm a loser like that XD).

Secret is still pretty good, and I really admire Brigid Kemmerer's writing skills. But it's just not as captivating as Storm and Spark. (Especially Storm, where the characters are a little awkward in a really cute way)

Rating: 7/10