Aimee

What do you get when you combine two horny rabbits, a terribly selfish sidekick, experimental vitamins and a story that seems to make no progress? You get this book. There were times I was more than ready to quit this book, but I thought the story would pick up and go somewhere.

It seems like those ebook freebies are hit or miss. Usually miss. It seems there are very few that can impress me just as much as one of my favorite series. Element was not one of those books. Every so often I find a book where I have notes seemingly on every page. When I was done with Element, the notes piled up. None of them are positive things about the book.

First thing that I didn't like about this was the writing. It was very basic. We didn't really get to see "inside" Natalie's head and get to live through her. The reader is simply told everything without much in the book to actually show the reader anything. While it makes the book an easy read, it also doesn't give the reader any reason to get attached to the story or characters. There was very little character development and back story and very little in way of building up the story. We get dropped into the story with a nightmare that maybe gets explained in further books, but not in this one.

In the description, it says that Natalie offers to take these vitamins. We don't see anything from this. The lab, or her talking to anyone (don't they check up on you if you are doing trials like this?) about her time taking the pills. We just get a brief few lines through the novel that she's taking vitamins along with some protien supplements. I was very disappoint with the lack of story development as this was what made me interested in reading it in the first place. The vitamins are glossed over, almost as if it were a second thought.

Natalie somehow manages to land an internship, along with her friend Lise, after their freshman year in college. For the same people that make these little vitamins that Nat (such an appropriate nickname since these pills seem to be turning her into a very masculine character) is taking. Apparently Nat is very honored and very scientific minded. Who would have thought? Not the reader. No, why would we want to know her life goals, her aspirations for her future. It makes the story very disjointed, since there is obviously very little planning when it came to writing both plot and character.

I don't know if this book had an editor, but I'm guessing not. There is actually one line I wanted to share, as it had me laughing, and not in a good way. The line read:

"She heard him smirk but didn't turn around to acknowledge his high school behavoir."

She heard him smirk. She heard him smirk. That girl got some mad skillz. Maybe the author and I have a different idea of what a smirk is. To me, this is a smirk: verb: 1. smile in an irritatingly smug, conceited, or silly way. Now if she had mentioned she heard him chuckling or chortling to himself, that would have been different. Also, the spanish. We, those of us readers who don't speak spanish, are expected to read between the lines or google a translation. There should have been a non-spoken translation added. It's fine for the spanish family to speak spanish. Just don't make me guess at what is being said. Mostly, this book is full of grammatical errors and these are the top ones that stand out.

I felt bad for Natalie. She had a shitty best friend. Lise was a miserable and selfish child who failed to grow up past 5th grade. Not only does she whine and cry until she gets her way. Such as, let me whine and cry until Natalie goes out to the club because I don't like the other people I could hang out with. Let me whine and cry until Natalie goes out with a boy I want her to so we can double date and have sex and talk about it. Let me whine and cry when the guy I kinda like won't sleep with me but wants to still see me, that bastard, he must be gay. No guy self respecting guy says no to a hot piece of tail who just wants to sleep around. Let me be a bitch and snap when my friend shows concern and tries to get me to respect my body. In truth, I found I had no idea why Natalie liked Lise.

Now, the part that really rubbed me the wrong way. The "couple". Very insta-love. Natalie and Ryan seemed to be going crazy with the hormones. Couldn't be close together without wanting to start ripping off clothes. Which most times, doesn't bother me too much. I understand lust. It can be a powerful thing, especially for two kids who are just this side of their teenage years. But it got old when the story coudln't advance because these two were going at it with their cheesy porn star lines, sans sex. I was very interested, at first, at the idea of this story. Of something going on with Natalie. But her constant refusal to tell the truth or to have a considerate bone in her body (for example, to tell people when she leaves a venue and doesn't call them until the next day or two) made her a hard character to like or to connect to. Natalie was a character that I wanted to slap upside the head and tell her to grow up a bit. I realize she is still a teen, but come on! No need for the drama llama to rear it's ugly head every other page!

Unfortunately, I found nothing redeemable about this book. Oh wait, it was free. I didn't waste my money. But really, I took a chance and this time I got a dud. Hopefully the next freebie will be better.