Published by: Harcout
Released on: June 4th, 2013
Series: The Vespertine #3
4 Stars: I Enjoyed It
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Add it to Goodreads
Kate Witherspoon has lived a bohemian life with her artist parents. In 1917, the new art form of the motion picture is changing entertainment—and Kate is determined to become a director.
Meanwhile, midwestern farm boy Julian Birch has inherited the wanderlust that fueled his parents’ adventures. A childhood bout with polio has left him crippled, but he refuses to let his disability define him.
Strangers driven by a shared vision, Kate and Julian set out separately for Los Angeles, the city of dreams. There, they each struggle to find their independence. When they finally meet, the teenage runaways realize their true magical legacy: the ability to triumph over death, and over time. But as their powerful parents before them learned, all magic comes with a price.
A bittersweet ending to a captivating series. I hate saying goodbye to series I've come to love. This is one series I feel like I've gotten to personally know over the course of Saundra writing it, and I didn't want it to end just yet, though I do love the way this book wrapped up everything up. It has closure, and yet it's a little open ended due to the fact it makes me hopeful with all that happens. Not to mention all my favorite characters are back together, as this story is about their children. Well two of them, Kate and Julian.
Kate and Julian are two characters that really intrigued me. It wasn't hard for me to like them both right off the bat. Though their paths don't cross until later in the book, I loved seeing how both of them interact with their families, and how both yearn for something more. Freedom, and to go West. Despite the fact Kate and Julian both inherited gifts similar to the gifts their parents, Kate's being Amelia & Nathaniel, and Julian's being Zora & Emerson, these two have a destiny that seems much more tragic and stronger than that of their parents. They both inadvertently put things in motion that will forever change their lives, and as well as that of their parents.
I loved the romantic theme through out the book. It wasn't just with Amelia and Nathaniel, or Zora and Emerson, Julian & Kate, but with the notion of up and leaving and heading to Los Angeles to find that destiny and to fulfill that dream that both Julian and Kate separately have wanted. Saundra did an remarkable job with her descriptions of this era. The hardships of owning a farm, what it's like to have boys who head off to war, and one who leaves home, how women are to act in this area, and how life over all was. Life was simplistic and yet hard all at the same time. The way people acted, spoke, and the things they did were just different then, and I loved feeling like I was getting a glimpse back into time with the way Saundra wrote The Elementals. Kate by far was the one character who totally pushed the envelope when it came to doing things that went against the norm of society. Just look at her in the fabulous cover for this book. When most women wore dresses, Kate choose men's trousers. Oh I loved it!
What I loved most about The Elementals is seeing my favorite characters from The Vespertine and The Springsweet. Though they're much older, and this story is about their children, they still play huge roles in what happens, and the gift their children have. I LOVED the chemistry they each have with their love interests, and seeing how that love has unfolded over the years, and how they still interact and are together. It's sweet, and sigh worthy all mixed together. It was wonderful to see how Amelia and Zora's friendship has endured decades via letters they write each other.
Though there is plenty of danger with having the ability to control different elements (stopping time, life and death etc), there is another danger that comes in the form of a still grieving Caleb from The Vespertine. Seriously, as much as I wanted to not like him in this book, my heart broke for Caleb, as his anger and rage and hatred for Amelia very much controlled his action. Not being to let go of the past, he has become this totally different person, and he's on a mission for revenge.
What a great series! What great characters. I might be bias, but I loved seeing a few names of characters in here based on friends I know. I couldn't help but love the uptight Mrs Bartow in this book. haha. The Elementals is that bittersweet story you don't want to end, but when it does it makes you sigh with a slight smile on your face. It's a fascinating story set in an exciting time, and given beautiful characters to make it shine. This is definitely one book I'd recommend picking up!
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