A review by ladylit
Elementals Academy: The Discovery of Magic by Michelle Madow

1.0

DNF'd this book because somehow, the writer managed to hit all my pet peeves.

1. Classic mean girls. The whole plot kicks off because of some mean, mean girls. I mean, do people actually act like that in real life?? I don't think so???

2. The names. Literally, the love interest's name is Zane Caldwell. Not really a huge factor for me, but just a minor annoyance that broke the camel's back.

3. The pacing. It may just be me, but it feels like the book went from 0 to 100 real fast...like whiplash-level, break-neck speed. I don't like how quickly everything happened, and how...anticlimactic that whole discovery was. It just felt passive and flat to me.

4. The party scene.

Spoiler

There's a scene where some creep is forcibly kissing the main character, and guess who shows up to save the day with a growly "She said no!" and a yeet across the room? That's right—the love interest. Why is this a plot device? If the only way to show that the love interest is not an asshole is by having him "rescue" the main character from being sexually harassed...well. Maybe the character needs work.

Anyway, I stopped reading at this point. Should I have anticipated this from the blurb? Probably. The love interest's description in the blurb should've been enough. But the concept seemed super interesting and I was excited to see where it was going to go :(