School Library Journal
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Gr 9 Up—Alexis, who was adopted from Australia and now lives in London, has been haunted by nightmares and the Shadow Man his entire life. The hallucinations of the Shadow Man stopped the day he met his best friend, Demi, who is Greek. On a school trip, Alexis and Demi take a detour to look at Stonehenge and instead meet two other teens, Blaise and Caeli, both with necklaces like theirs. The stones transport all four of them underground, where they learn more about themselves and what powers they possess, and become fast friends. The teens must go on a quest to defeat the darkness, as told by a prophecy. Each chapter in Theo's debut starts with a word that foreshadows the chapter; along with the word, readers are presented with its origin, part of speech, and definition. While most of the story is told in Alexis's third-person point of view, a surprising perspective shift near the end still flows nicely with the rest of the work. This book is fast-paced, and the characters are well-rounded people who change and grow. There are some implied steamy moments near the end. Readers will be waiting to see what unfolds in the next part. Alexis is described as having "golden-toned skin," Caeli is tall with long platinum blonde hair, and Blaise has dark skin and maroon eyes. VERDICT Good for readers who like Percy Jackson or fast-paced, action-packed fantasies.—Autumn West

Publishers Weekly
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Teens possessing the power to control the elements become entangled in an epic battle between good and evil in Theo’s propulsive debut. Alexis Michaels spends his entire childhood haunted by visions of the violent Shadow Man until the hallucinations abruptly cease. Now a teen, he tries to move on from the ordeal, attempting to live a normal high school life. With his best friend Demi, Alexis ventures out of town for the first time on a school trip. Alexis has always felt drawn to Demi, perhaps because of the green pendant she wears that seems to match his own blue amulet, a comfort object he’s possessed since he was younger. Arriving at Stonehenge following a detour, Alexis and Demi wander away from their classmates and encounter teenagers Blaise and Caeli carrying similar pendants. As if reacting to the four amulets, the ground inside Stonehenge transforms into a portal that pulls the quartet into a futuristic facility. There, the group meets a great white wolf and human Elemental-wielder Incantus, who reveals that the teens are involved in a prophecy that states they must use their Elemental powers—enhanced by their amulets—to defeat a sinister forthcoming evil. A lushly rendered third-person POV grounded in Alexis’s personal challenges anchors the narrative; lived-in character dynamics and high stakes invest readers from the jump, resulting in an inventive fantasy series launch. Ages 14–up. (Feb.)

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

In this debut, a quartet of British teens discover the usual: They have phenomenal powers and must save the universe from darkness. Seventeen-year-old Alexis Michaels is doing OK now, but when he was a 6-year-old recent adoptee, he experienced terrible psychosis, with delusions of “theShadow Man,” who ordered him to hurt people. With the help of medications (which he no longer needs), his mental health stabilized, but for a horrific recurring nightmare. During a school trip with his best friend, Demi, their bus breaks down at Stonehenge. Alexis, Demi, and two classmates are pulled by their matching necklaces through a portal beneath the monument. In an underground laboratory-like space, Alexis, Blaise, Caeli, and Demi (the alphabetical names carry no narrative weight) discover that they’re the Children of the Elements, with powers of earth, air, fire, and water. Although there’s an entire magic society that’s been trained in Elemental powers, these four random teenagers are prophesied to destroy the evil Mortem. The epic battles against monsters are described in overwrought prose. Alexis is the most important, special, and tormented of all. Theo’s author’s note references Alexis’ journey of “living with his mental illness,” but, undercutting psychological realism, instead of his being a boy with a schizophrenia-like illness that gives him delusions of darkness and grandeur, heis a boy with a magical destined darkness and grandeur. Alexis, Caeli, and Demi read white; Blaise is Black. Falters under the weight of clunky writing and the uninspired use of familiar tropes.(Fantasy. 14-18) Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.