A review by talknerdybookblog
The Lost Elemental by Tessa Hale

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Representation: Polyamorous Heroine

Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions/Not Safe*

• No cheating*
- Alludes to emotional cheating. Riven has a girlfriend (see below) yet acts in a proprietary way with the Heroine. 
• Does have OW drama*
- Riven has a girlfriend to whom he is betrothed. This whole book, the Heroine witnesses how Riven and his gf seem to be perfect together and she feels bad for messing up their relationship by being his fated mate. 
- SPOILER FOR BOOK 2:
Turns out that Riven and his gf never had a romantic relationship - they were essentially fake dating. But, to the surprise of ONLY Riven, the fake gf actually does have feelings for him. Also, Riven continues to consider the fake gf his best friend and refuses to choose between the Heroine and her, even though it's the fake gf who is treating the Heroine like shit. Eventually, the Heroine feels so guilty for "causing" the strife between Riven and his bff that she decides to be the bigger person and encourages Riven to hang out with her separately (i.e., to ensure his bff doesn't feel like she's being ditched). What pissed me off here was that there would be a lot of distrust from the Heroine concerning Riven and his bff since they both went out of their way to convince the HEROINE that they were dating. Riven never acknowledges that. Also, after the Heroine decides to trust Riven, he further doesn't acknowledge that being bffs with someone who is actively trying to undermine your romantic relationship is unhealthy for everyone involved. At some point, you need to set boundaries, and he never did. Instead, the HEROINE is the women are the ones who randomly come to a truce - it's a complete 180, and I'm assuming the author had written herself into a corner and didn't know how to make the readers believe that they could actually ever be friends after all that water under the bridge so just decided to tell us rather than show us.
 
- Essentially, this makes the Heroine the OW.
- There's also another OW who is 
• No OM drama
• Does have Riven pushing the Heroine away
• No separation


Possible Triggers: Yes

• Bullying
• Panic attacks (on-page)
• Injury from house fire recounted
• Gun violence
• Classism
• Violence
• Grief
• Kidnapping
• Death of parents


Ending:
Cliffhanger