Synopsis
A secret camp in the woods. A revolution in the making. And a fighter that will change what it means to be human.
Maia is hell-bent on revenge until a tattooed menace literally stands in her way.
Gabe is a legendary fighter with a soft heart that snags on the wounded woman before him.
Together, they discover much more than they bargained for. When the world is ending, someone’s gotta step up and do the saving, and two MMA fighters might just fit the bill.
The Wood Element is being activated, and with it, a war.
Review
“Each moment is a choice. Don’t look any further than that, forward or backward.”
That image basically sums up my opinion of this book ?. Turns out I swore this was the last book in the series and nope…
Maia is broken. Her twin sister’s life was shattered, and with it Maia’s too.
Determined to get revenge, she leaves her home and begins to engage in fights to get closer to her target.
“Coffee,” I sigh out, not making eye contact. “Black.” I like the bitter taste. I like to keep things real. Don’t put a Band-Aid on it when you’ll just have to rip the sucker off later. Just give me the scar.
Gabe (his real name) wants to help her not get lost in fights like her other students. And with that he hopes to redeem himself.
In truth, she was never mine to protect. She’s a fighter, and my job isn’t to hold her back. I’ts to have her back, like partners. Even when I can’t be beside her to conquer the enemy with her.
But the attraction between the two is inescapable and, when Raimo appears to explain that he saw Maia teleport in a vision… Their initial intentions are overshadowed by the responsibility of saving the world from aliens ?.
“I’ll follow you, Maia, if only to save you from yourself.”
The Ancestors are water elemental aliens. They decided to adopt the Earth as their home a long time ago, but humans have taken it upon themselves to destroy it.
Now the earth has reached its limit and natural disasters are occurring across the planet as the Ancestors prepare to eradicate human beings. Only the 5 elements united can face them, so they are gathering to train in a camp for a war in which they do not have good opportunities.
War had crippled me emotionally, cursing my days and nights into a living nightmare, and I wouldn’t wish the fight on my worst enemy, but I’d be on the frontlines for her.
Maia is everyone’s hope, but her selfishness can doom them.
I love that I was right about the style of this serie, this book is a thousand times better than the first (for me, not that the first was bad) and full fantasy! Mainly it is because the first book introduces you to the story, but in a very subtle way, which does not fit toghether until you read this one.
It’s a little like Mistborn’s style, in terms of a new element-based magic system. The 5 elements correspond to Fire, Water, Metal, Wood and Earth, and each one grants different abilities to the person who has it activated.
I loved that Enya (the protagonist of the first book) and Maia are not alike at all. It is interesting to be in the minds of both and that you can tell the difference.
Like the first, the book relies heavily on love and the ability to forgive, including yourself, in order to move forward. But now we see that this acceptance also comes with improvements in your superhuman abilities ?♀️.
I want to tell Maia that this is what broken but alive looks like. It doesn’t heal right—it can’t. You can’t ever make it so that things didn’t happen, no matter what you wish. If you play your cards right, though, you transcend your broken body. You are more than the cracks in the dirt. You go from being alive to being a survivor.
Book 1 was a beautiful love story, but it was only after reading this book that I understood everything. What a way to fit the pieces!
By the way, I was sure this was the last book in the series and nope, so I almost died with the end ?.
I highly recommend it, both as fantasy and as a wonderful romance. There are more than one couple and they are all too cute. And also because it is always important to remember the importance of love, especially self-love, even in the middle of an interstellar warfare.
I remember my mom and dad always joking about how they were each other’s first loves. “Twin flames,” they called each other, a connection so intense, it’s like one soul mirror the other.
Bye bye ?
