Elements of Power by Kate Stoessel Pages: 332
Published by Rhodes & Co on April 5, 2021
Series: Council of the Harvest Moon #1
Genres: Romance, supernatural, Young Adult
Source: Paperback from Author
As the descendant of two prominent New England witching families, Khlorie Lethestone’s life was destined to fit into the neat, color-coded boxes established by the American Continental Coven (ACC).
When it is discovered that Khlorie has “extra elemental powers” beyond that of a typical witch, she is sent to Spindlewick College, a secret institution designed to help witches develop non-conforming gifts into tools for the greater good of witching society.
Once there, she meets the attractive, but distant Perry Prentice, who is assigned to help her understand her gifts.
But becoming one of the most powerful witches in the world means that you are watched closely, and Khlorie learns that there are secrets she must keep hidden to survive.
Elements of Power by Kate Stoessel is the first book in the Council of the Harvest Moon series. The Council of the Harvest Moon series is a young adult supernatural witch story set at Spindlewick College. By now I think everyone knows how much I love a magical school setting, and Spindlewick College was particularly interesting because students that have “non-conforming powers” are sent there to learn how they can use their special powers to help benefit witch-kind and the world. Elements of Power was a good introductory novel to this world, characters and story. I can’t wait to continue on with the series, because I think the action and intrigue is really going to amp up in the coming novels.
In Elements of Power we meet our main character, Khlorie. In this world, witches all manifest an elemental specialty by the time they graduate from their high school equivalent. When Khlorie fails to manifest a single specialty we learn it’s because she is too powerful to be limited to just one elemental specialty, which is where Spindlewick comes in. Khlorie is sent to Spindlewick to learn how to control and world with her extra abilities, but also to be watched. Once at Spindlewick we really get to see Khlorie come into her own. She also meets some interesting characters and friends while at school, and together they discover some interesting secrets.
I did enjoy the romance present in Elements of Power and I think it is a romance that I will come to appreciate more later on in the series as it develops more. It felt a little fast to me in this book. What I loved most of all in this book were the politics and the promise of secrets to be uncovered. I was the most interested in the bitter divide between witches and fairies. There are other supernatural/magical creatures present in the book, but the power struggle between witches and fairies really grabbed my attention. I am eager to see what other secrets Kate Stoessel has up her sleeve because the cliffhanger she left us on was pretty brutal.
Overall, this was a good read, and the series has a lot of potential. If you are a fan of witchy reads featuring elemental magic, and you love a magical school setting, then you might really enjoy Elements of Power and the Council of the Harvest Moon series. I think this book will appeal to younger readers of YA because the characters did feel pretty young to me, but I think as they get older they will mature and the content of the books may as well. I can’t wait for book 2.
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