Book Review and Giveaway: Earth by Shauna Granger

Title: Earth (Elemental #1)
Author: Shauna Granger
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: 1st May 2011
Read In: October 2012

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*I received this book from the author in exchange for this review*

Shayna and her two best friends have the abilities to manipulate and control the four elements, earth, air, water and fire. While learning to hone their growing powers, they discover a new and malicious presence in their sleepy beach town. Someone is performing blood magic and threatens to expose their small magical community. So far only small animals have been slaughtered, but then the nightmares start.
Shayna suffers nightmares of being chased and sacrificed only to wake up bloodied and bruised. She thinks her magical blood is the ultimate target for the final blood rite. When an innocent girl, Tracy, is kidnapped Shayna knows it's only a ploy to draw her out; she can't let someone die because of her.

*This review is part of the Elemental series blog tour hosted by YA Bound. Check out the other blogs on the tour: http://yabound.blogspot.com/2012/09/blog-tour-elemental-series-by-shauna.html *

If you are looking for a light hearted quick read with a decent story line why don’t you give the Elemental series a try? 

‘I am an Earth Elemental; my magic speaks to the dirt, plants and animals.’

The best thing about this book was the plot. There was a mystery. I wanted to know what was going on. Even though it was a little bit shallow I was still gripped. There were many questions running through my head from the slaughtered animals to Shayna’s nightmares to the two mysterious twins that have arrived at the school. The relationship between Jensen and Ian definitely intrigued me. I just had to read through to find out what it all means.

This is a quick read. Not just due to number of pages but also just the style of the writing. There are some books where if you read too quickly you keep missing details. I found myself being able to breeze through Earth and still understand what was going on. This was a good thing and also a bit of a bad thing. The writing at first was very direct. The narrator, Shayna, was telling us stuff; about the magic, about her friends nicknames, about their abilities. I prefer it when I find out for myself. Just do what you do and I will work it out. That is just what I personally enjoy. The book was easy to read because I didn’t have to work things out. For me it doesn’t make it more enjoyable. 

Unfortunately the style of writing was making it difficult for me to connect with any of the characters. While I was interested to find out what was going on, the way the story was presented was very ‘I did this and they did that’. I didn’t understand their reasoning or get a sense of their emotions. There were a couple of scenes where we were taken away from the story, moments where Shayna sat down to think. Unfortunately these scenes were rushed through with no depth to them. Personally I didn’t see their purpose. 

The magic system wasn’t obvious. Even though I was being told things direct I still wasn’t so sure what restrictions there were or what type of magic it was. It is a bit more than just controlling the elements. There were amulets, circles, empathy. It was complex and that could have been a good thing if it was explained a bit more clearly.

Jeez, I know. I sound like an editor. I did like this book. It was a breeze to read and it didn’t take me long to get through. I liked the plot and I constantly wanted to know what was going to happen next and how everything was connected. It was just the other aspects, such as writing and characters, I had a few niggles with. If you have some time on your hands I would say dive into the story but this book has the potential to be better. 

 Author Info

I don't do well talking about myself. So as basics go, I have recently self-published the first two books in my Elemental Series, Earth and Air, Young Adult Urban Fantasy novels. Look for the third installment, Water, coming in 2012!
I have been working on the Elemental Series for the last four years and plan for it to be a 5 book series. It was a hard decision to self-publish but it's been an exciting and terrifying ride.
You can find me on Facebook
And to my readers (or fans of my covers), I have beautiful bookmarks that I would love to share with you. If you'd like one, drop me a note with your contact info and I'd be happy to send you one.

Blog: http://shaunasspot.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dyingechoes
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4828875.Shauna_Granger
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shauna-Granger/268859386472141

Giveaway

Are you interested in the chance of checking out the story for yourself? Well here is a chance to win all three books in the series along with some extra goodies.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Becky