Leonie Woodville is a 17-year-old college student who had a rather reclusive life with her father, she is deemed anti-social from the start and as such is awkward as well as abrasive. Unbeknownst to her she is a CHOSEN, an individual with abilities of the elements. Except she’s special she is the last PULSAR – a fire elemental. While Leonie didn’t have a fantastic upbringing or an ideal life – as a rather horrible incident occurs – she is a rather unlikable character from the get go. Snappy, abrasive, overly snarky and fairly mean. We’re not meant to forget that she is anti-social, however when KORREN comes onto the seen it seems that isn’t so…

Korren is an immortal being, a Kytaen which is essentially a creature that is able to take on a humanoid form, they are the protectors of their chosen or what is known as their Keeper to them. Korren has witnessed a lot in his years and has waited 200 years to be uncaged. He is angsty, bitter and distrustful of everyone for just reason. He’s a brooding sort who glares from across the way and doesn’t seem likable either, but when you compare him to Leonie he’s a ray of sunshine.

As far as the plot goes, it’s fairly interesting. The last Pulsar is brought back to her “home” and is revered, but her return brings a fair amount of trouble as well, as rebels congregate and plot to take her down or rather unleash her and use her for their own devices. Meanwhile, Korren, Leonie’s protector finds himself battling with whether or not he wants to protect her – he really is just looking out for himself. Sounds great, right? Well, it had oodles of potential, but the writing quality just wasn’t there. A lot of the times it read like an angsty teen girls diary.

I almost DNF @ 30%, but I held out because there were times it seemed promising. However, there were then moments that read like this.

“Light Magic?”
“The essence of magic.”
“Oh”
“Do you mind?”
“No.”

There are pages where this is all that it consists of. A lot of dialogue that is short, or it will go to the next extreme and be overly informative. There has to be a balance and because of this, the reader doesn’t get to witness a lot of what actually happens in the world the author is trying to create.

What I would ask Simlett is, “What do you want us to feel and what would you like us to walk away with after reading?” because after reading this I’m no wiser than what I was when I began reading, I’m definitely frustrated because I felt like it was just drawn out for the second book – yes it does make you want to read it, if you can look past the imperfections and the room for improvement.

So, while I give this book a 1, it had a grand amount of potential and I see that. I see that in the writer, too.

★☆☆☆☆