Book Review: Elemental by Emily White

Synopsis (from Goodreads):  Just because Ella can burn someone to the ground with her mind doesn't mean she should.

But she wants to.

For ten years—ever since she was a small child—Ella has been held prisoner on an interstellar starship. Now that she has escaped, she needs answers.

Who is she? Why was she taken? And who is the boy with the beautiful green eyes who haunts her memories?

Is Ella the prophesied Destructor… or will she be the one who's destroyed?

My Thoughts: This was such a fun book to read!  I couldn't put it down and easily finished it in one day.  It was refreshingly different from most YA novels and for that it get extra points right away!

Ella is a prisoner on a ship. She has been living in her cage for the last 10 years but suddenly she is freed.  Ella hesitates to escape just in case it's a trick but in the end she does it.  She just escapes.

Ella is taken in by Meir.  Meir is very protective and helps Ella along the way.  Ella connects quickly with Meir but after 10 years on a brutal prison ship, I would think Ella would connect to any kind person quickly.  

I loved how the reader found out answers along Ella.  Ella doesn't remember anything of her past (except the boy with the green eyes) and so we are finding out about her just as she is finding out about herself.  I actually enjoyed how nothing (and I mean nothing) came easily to Ella.  It made her a stronger character.

This book was a little hard to understand in the first couple chapters because you are literally just thrown into Ella's life.  And, remember, Ella remembers nothing and knows nothing about her world, other than the prison ship she is on.  You learn all this with Ella and it gets easier to understand.  The questions are answered and things start to make sense so keep with it if you find yourself saying "huh?" after the first chapter.  I really liked that you found out these things with the main character.  

Aside from having a little issue in the first two chapters with understanding what is going on and how things were in Ella's world, I enjoyed this book immensely and most of my questions were answered.  The ones that weren't answered make me want to read the next book to see if they are answered there!  It was a fast read that held your attention the whole time.  

A huge thanks to Kate at Spencer Hill Press for sending me an ARC copy for review!