I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased, honest review. 
 Actual rating 4 stars 
 I'm not going to lie, I have been looking forward to reading Michael's book since this series started, and I'm glad that this is the way the series ended. I have always have had a soft spot for his character, and honestly this book makes me want to hug him so hard it's not even funny. I thought Ms. Kemmerer did an amazing job with Michael's character throughout the book. We truly understand the struggles that he faces every single day, caring for his brothers in general while trying to keep them safe from the Guides. However, everything blows up in his face in this novel...literally. This book starts with a bang and ends with one, and while there were parts I wasn't exactly thrilled with, I still greatly enjoyed this ending to the series. I will say that there are still plenty of opportunities for Ms. Kemmerer to continue the series, even if it's not with the brothers. So if this is truly the last book, who knows? While it's not the most satisfactory of endings, at least I can hope that we'll see the Merrick brothers again. 
 We see Michael in a much different light than in any of the previous books, and I loved every single second of it. If this book was entirely in Michael's POV, I would have given this a strong 5 star rating, and would have been begging Goodreads to add more stars only so I could give this book a higher rating. Alas, this was told in alternating perspectives, Hannah being the other, but I'll get to that next. Michael has always been the strong, stoic older brother in this series. The one that nothing seems to get to. However, as we are reminded in this book, everyone is human. And the entire situation and events of the previous books have greatly put a damper on Michael's spirit. He doesn't feel as if he is enough for his brothers, and only wants what is best for them. But he also wants them near him so that he can better protect them. Nevertheless, when he is the one threatened, Michael is forced to make a decision that is so heartbreaking and devastating to both him and the readers alike, that is forever changes things. At the end of the day, we are reminded that he is a normal guy (albeit and powerful one with strong Earth elemental powers) that just wants what is best for his family. 
 Now onto Hannah's POV. In every book that has featured Hannah previously, I liked her. I had no problem with her character. So I expected to love her POV. Maybe I expected too much, or maybe I had built her character up in my mind, but I just couldn't get into her character. At the beginning, she was an adult, but toward the middle of the book, she just became very immature in my opinion. I started greatly disliking her character more and more, and by the end, I was borderline fed up. Granted, she did redeem herself in the end, but by that point, she was my least favorite of the other main characters (besides the brothers) introduced to us in this series. 
 The other thing that I was slightly disappointed with (but not enough to make me go below a 4 star rating) was the absence of the Merrick brothers in this book. In the other books, even though the novel is devoted to telling the story of one brother, all of the Merrick's were still pretty present throughout the book. In this book, the Merrick brothers are in the beginning, a tiny bit in the middle, and then pop up at the end. Granted, I loved every single scene with all the brothers together, and I love the relationship that the brothers have with each other. 
 Finally, my one biggest problem was the ending. It was very abrupt and didn't seem like much of a conclusion. Yes, it was a good ending in that all the questions were answered, and any plot holes were filled, but just be aware (and this is said in other reviews) there are several novellas included in this book. Because of this, you think that you have about another 100 or so pages left in the story, when really you've reached the end. 
 Hunter, Tyler, and Adam actually have more of a presence in this novel, and while Hunter has always been a character that I have never been that fond of, he definitely grew on me in this novel. However, I'm just saying this now (and be warned this is a major spoiler so don't read it if you don't want to spoil the story for yourself), (view spoiler)[but I knew from the very start of this book, Hunter was doomed. I was so sad when he just poofed out of existence, and I wish there was a bit more of a conclusion to his character. (hide spoiler)] I could definitely see maybe a spinoff series focusing on Tyler and Quinn, but I think everyone would love to have another series with the Merrick's! 
 Overall, the story flowed very nicely, and was written very well. I liked that this story was more focused on defeating the bad guys rather than romance (like the previous books). This is a very real story, and it was something I greatly enjoyed because it had a different feel than the other books in the series. Ms. Kemmerer integrated real-life topics with the supernatural elements very well, and shows that she has great skill as an author. I did greatly enjoy the story, and it would have been difficult to choose between 4 and 5 stars, but the ending made me go down a full star rating. I will definitely be reading more from Ms. Kemmerer, and recommend checking out this book if you're a fan of the Elemental series. Just prep yourself for the ending.