Review: Sacrifice

Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Series: Elemental
Release: September 30th 2014
Publisher: K-Teen
Lenght: 432 pages
Source: Publisher for review
Buy: Amazon

One misstep and they lose it all. For the last time.

Michael Merrick is used to pressure.

He’s the only parent his three brothers have had for years. His power to control Earth could kill someone if he miscalculates. Now an Elemental Guide has it out for his family, and he’s all that stands in the way.

His girlfriend, Hannah, gets that. She’s got a kid of her own, and a job as a firefighter that could end her life without a moment’s notice.

But there are people who have had enough of Michael’s defiance, his family’s “bad luck.” Before he knows it, Michael’s enemies have turned into the Merricks’ enemies, and they’re armed for war.

They’re not interested in surrender. But Michael isn’t the white flag type anyway. There will be blood on the ground tonight…

It’s a sad, sad day when I have to consider the possibility that I care about the characters more than the author does. I could be wrong, of course, but I found Sacrifice to be far below the standard of this series, almost as if Brigid Kemmerer lost interest and gave up. It pains me to say this about a series (and author) I love dearly, but Sacrifice was simply not what it should have been.


Michael has always been my favorite Merrick, perhaps because he’s a bit older, perhaps because of his strong sense of responsibility. I loved his quiet strength, his willingness to sacrifice anything and everything for his younger brothers. There was always something about him that made him irresistible, no matter how rarely he showed up on the pages. Michael is terrified in Sacrifice, wounded and burdened with guilt. His internal turmoil, the fear, insecurity and all the other previously undiscovered parts of his character were done extremely well.

The plot, however, left a lot to be desired. Kemmerer borrowed from old school thrillers, the ones in which a killer stalks and mocks the protagonist trying to provoke a reckless reaction. She neatly removed the younger Merricks (which I resented) and left Michael all alone to deal with the threats and multiple terrorist attacks. And that’s a whole other thing – the body count in this book is staggering, but the bloody scenes didn’t touch me at all. There simply was no emotion behind them, nothing to make me really feel the loss.

Sadly, that lack of emotion spread onto the romance as well. I liked Hannah a lot in previous installments; she’s a firefighter and a single mom, what’s not to like?! But in Sacrifice, she struck me as terribly immature and even childish and in the end, I thought they’d both be better off with someone else.

In conclusion, aside from the impressive development of Michael’s character, Sacrifice was quite a disappointment in all regards. Senseless, emotionally empty tragedy, unconvincing romance, a two-dimensional villain and a less than satisfying conclusion weren’t what I expected from one of my favorite series.

Also, don't be fooled by the number of pages displayed. A third of that are previously published novellas. In the e-arc, this book ends at about 65%.

A copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher for review purposes. No considerations, monetary or otherwise, have influenced the opinions expressed in this review.