Review: Spirit by Brigid Kemmerer (Elemental, #4)

Summary from Goodreads:
Hunter Garrity just wants to be left alone. He's learned the hard way that his unusual abilities come at a price. And he can't seem to afford any allies. He's up to his neck in hostiles. His grandfather, spoiling for a fight. The Merrick brothers, who think he ratted them out. Calla, the scheming psycho who wants to use him as bait. Then there's Kate Sullivan, the new girl at school. She's not hostile. She's bold. Funny. Hot. But she's got an agenda, too.

With supposedly secret powers rippling to the surface everywhere around him, Hunter knows something ugly is about to go down. But finding out what means he'll have to find someone he can trust. . .

In this book we revisit a main character from the first book, Hunter Garrity. I didn't expect Hunter to have so much anger and trust issues bottled up inside of him. I'm glad this book gave us an insight into his life but I couldn't help but feel that his character wasn't the same one I first met in Storm. Did he always swear this much? Because I had this perception that he was calm and collected.

That aside, the plot thickens with an introduction of Silver and Kate who are Guides with the power of the fifth. Kate goes undercover as a high school student where she gathers information about the Merrick Brothers. I have mixed feelings towards Kate. She was definitely a unique character; very confident and sure of herself. I never knew Hunter had a funny side to him, which could be seen through the notes and text messages he exchanged with Kate in their first few meetings. Their relationship was quite physical and I felt that they were moving too fast (aka insta-love) given that they only knew each other for a week. This book was more violent than the previous two installments which I found jarring.

On a happier note, I couldn't get enough of the Merrick brothers. The frequent appearance of Hannah and Michael were sweet as. I'm really excited to find out more about their story. I didn't really like Michael prior to reading this book but now I find him really likeable. I liked seeing that Becca still cared for Hunter and I liked the chats Hunter had with Nick. Most importantly, I loved Gabriel and Hunter's camaraderie!