I recently had the pleasure of reading the book Elemental by Liane Mahugh. Science fiction isn’t the first genre I tend to pick up at the bookstore, but this one caught my eye. I love reading about a strong female lead with some badass powers. Here’s my review of this thrilling story.
What an amazing story! It’s very rare that I read a book that comes together so cohesively with the plotline. The author must’ve had some great beta readers because every question that I had was answered. And trust me, I had a lot of questions considering it’s a story that follows a girl from a distant planet.
Raya is a strong-willed teenager who advances at an early age in her studies and her abilities to manipulate different elements. She’s intelligent, witty, and seems to have most everything under control. Of course, she has her flaws like any other. When she’s tasked with a secret mission to Earth, she’s riddled with anxiety and fear. When she meets humans for the first time, she’s a little egotistical when speaking of their primitive ways. And, well, she’s got a lot to learn.
The story is separated into 3 parts: the first being Raya’s time on Solara her home planet, the second being her study of Earth, and the third with her completing her mission. I will say that you do have to suspend your belief with this one. It’s a little unrealistic that a 16-year-old would be sent on a very important mission completely by herself on her first outing. While it’s explained in the book why this is, it still seems a little far-fetched, even for someone who is as powerful as her. But hey, it’s fiction.
Her boyfriend Dev is also an endearing character who is completely in love with Raya. He has his strengths as well and is a good protector of her. With a terrorist organization running around Solara and sabotaging plans, Raya needed someone who knew the technical aspects of things and his studies in communication engineering definitely come through.
I thought the meeting between Raya and those of Earth was interesting. Her interactions with humans were great and I loved the fact that she didn’t just know how to speak English. I will say that the crush one of the humans has on Raya seems a little forced, but other than that, it was cute.
This book is dialogue driven which I liked because I can fill in the details of the scenery and background myself. That may not appeal to others, but I tend to like to learn things through the voices of the characters rather than all the background noise. Overall, I liked the book more than I thought I would and found it hard to put down. I might even pick up the sequel.
If you’re wanting an interesting summer read and want to explore a new galaxy, this might be the book for you. Check it out, and don’t forget to leave the author a review. Happy reading!
Author Lauren Eason 