REVIEW; Element Girls

Title: Element Girls: The Lost Goddess
Series: The Element Girls Series
Author: Giulietta Maria Spudich
Genre: Middle Grade, fantasy
Type: E-book
Publisher: Handersen Publishing
Susie, Elizabeth, Tess, and Amelia have been together for as long as they can remember. But things are changing this year, and their friendships are being tested like never before. When Amelia suddenly vanishes, the friends find themselves jetting to Hawaii. They also discover that the amulets they wear as a symbol of their friendship give them elemental powers.Will their new powers be enough to save Amelia from dangers they didn’t even know existed outside of books?

Thank you Booktasters and Giulietta Maria Spudich for the copy of the book!

Real life happenings kept me from absorbing the full effect of the story during my first read around. Now that things have settled, I had the chance to sit down and read the book again – and boy, am I glad that I did!

Element Girls: The Lost Goddess is at it’s heart, a tale about friendship and finding strength in oneself and in the friends we have. It is about belief and trust, and about growing up. I am far from the target audience of this novel, but I could relate to the characters nonetheless. The themes present in the story are universal and done in a simple and straight-forward manner, making for an engaging read.

I flew through my read.

The characters of Tess, Amelia, Elizabeth and Susie are very different, and it is in these differences that they empower one another. The message that comes across to readers is that – it is okay to be yourself. You do not have to enjoy everything your friends enjoy, but you may grow to find your middle ground. And that middle ground may evolve over the years.

We start the story with Tess, who at the beginning feels lost and confused at the distance Amelia has created in their friendship. This does not stop her from doing anything and everything she can when she finds out Amelia is in trouble. The lengths these friends are willing to go to for one another is admirable.

I believe this story will fully grip the target audience. It is not unnecessarily long or full of flower-y prose. Instead, it keeps the plot going easily, the characters are likeable and real. The friendship being one where each girl has their own likes and dislikes shows the realities of friendship. They argue, but they make up as well. It is not just a story, but it imparts something to the reader.

This is a book I look forward to sharing with my daughters once they are older. It tells them that you can find your strength even when things look bleak. That it is okay to like different things than your friends. It is – at it’s core – a story about doing the right thing, and trusting in the people you love.

I look forward to reading more of these characters.