Brainstorm

Elements of Mind #1

by Nissa Harlow

What's worse than nearly puking in front of a cute guy? Zombies. Definitely zombies.

I’m not feeling so great. I don’t know if it’s something I ate, or if it’s from flipping through one too many teen paranormal romances, trying to find inspiration for an obnoxiously backward creative writing assignment. (Seriously. What kind of teacher asks their students to write a story in their least favourite genre?) But I’m determined not to barf in this stupid vampire book I’m holding, especially not in front of the cute guy who’s checking out the library’s pitiful selection of DVDs. So I make a run for the bathroom… only to have the guy follow me in there. Can you believe it?

But that’s just the first unbelievable thing that happens. When we come out of the bathroom, the library appears to be closed. Weirder still, it’s surrounded by a strange, supernatural storm that definitely wasn’t there a few minutes ago.

Being trapped in a library with a new friend (or enemy—I haven’t decided yet) might not be the worst thing in the world. But it might not be the best thing, either… especially once that weird storm starts spitting out characters that are only supposed to exist in stories, and we find ourselves trying to figure out how to take on a horde of zombies with nothing but our wits, the Dewey Decimal System, and some very strange bookish magic.

Elements of Mind is a metaphysical fantasy quartet that celebrates the power of stories… and the people who create them. Join Sadie on her elemental adventure today!

Genres: Fantasy

66 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 2, 2023

About the author

Nissa Harlow wanted to be a writer from the time she was a small child, but it took a while before she finally did anything about it. In the meantime, she worked as a volunteer day-camp counsellor, a movie extra, and a digital-photo editor. She even once worked on a conveyor belt in a chocolate factory (which was as stressful—and delicious—as it sounds).

These days, she lives in British Columbia, Canada and writes stories about friendship, love, and healing, all embellished with a touch of the fantastic.

Reviews

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brainstorm is the first in a series that promises to be amazing. Sadie is not having the best day, and it’s about to get a great deal weirder.
I was engrossed by this fun little novella, right from the first word. Sadie and Lincoln have an amazing chemistry, and the chaos that unravels around them is fun and completely unpredictable. I absolutely loved it, and very much intend to read the rest of what promises to be an incredible ride.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Escape Into Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sadie is not having a good day. First, she has to do a writing assignment on teenage paranormal romances (which disgusts her); secondly, she’s feeling sick to her stomach (which might be partly due to what she has had to read). There is a super cute guy the next aisle over that Sadie keeps checking out. But her stomach gets the better of her, and she barely reaches the bathroom before she throws up on the toilet, her shoes, the floor, and the wall. Sadie wasn’t expecting the super cute guy to follow her into the bathroom to ensure she was OK. And she wasn’t expecting the library to be surrounded by a strange storm that trapped her in the library with the cute guy or fictional characters to appear when the wind ripped out pages of books. When one of the characters throws a zombie manga’s pages into the wind, Sadie and Lincoln know they need to find a way to beat them. But Sadie has so many questions that she doesn’t have the time to get answers for (because of zombies). Will Sadie get her answers? Will they outwit the zombie horde and save the other book characters? Or will they be stuck in the library forever?

Generally, I try not to review short stories or novellas when reviewing books. I always feel that the books are too fast, and some don’t have enough plotlines for me to whip up a good review. But, I was intrigued by Brainstorm. I loved how the author wrote the blurb, and oddly enough, I wanted to see how Sadie and Lincoln ended up in a weird storm that spits out book characters.

Brainstorm is a fast-paced book set in an unknown town in the United States. The entirety of the book is set in the town’s library. Brainstorm is also a short book, more like a novella, with only 66 pages. But it is worth the read.

There are trigger warnings in Brainstorm. There is one, and I went back and forth on putting it here. The trigger warning is:

Vomit: Sadie starts off the book puking in the library bathroom. It was a tad graphic, and if you have a sympathetic stomach like me, you would want to puke too. And guess what? I almost did. I had to put the book down and take a Tums to settle my stomach.
If this trigger warning triggers you, I suggest not reading this book (even though you would miss out!!)

The main storyline in Brainstorm centers around Sadie, Lincoln, the storm, the characters, and them trying to outwit the zombies. I loved it and couldn’t get enough of it. The author puts a different spin on the story by having Jane Eyre, Adele, Gage the vampire, and the zombies appear. It made the book more exciting. I got a giggle from Sadie and Lincoln’s interactions with the characters (minus the zombies).

I loved Sadie. She wasn’t happy about doing her writing assignment and wasn’t afraid to let people know about it. I also liked how she was not so secretly checking out Lincoln (before she got sick). Once she exited the bathroom, she tried to take charge and discover what was happening. And when Jane and Adele showed up, she was determined to protect them. The best lines in the book were when Gage the vampire turned up and started doing his broody thing (think Edward from Twilight), and Sadie was like, “Just get away from me.” I cracked up laughing at that. I also liked that she forgot to tell Lincoln something significant at the end of the book. She, again, made me laugh.

The end of Brainstorm had me wondering what happened. The author added a neat twist to the storyline, and of course, it made me wonder what exactly happened!! She did leave the storyline wide open with the ending. And because of that, I can’t wait to read book 2.

I recommend Brainstorm to anyone over 13. There is mild language, violence, and no sexual situations. Also, see my one trigger warning above.

Many thanks to Nissa Harlow for allowing me to read and review Brainstorm. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

[Jessica (Read book. Repeat) · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can find this review and all my others over at Read Book. Repeat

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Sadie's day hasn't started out great. First she's been forced to trawl through the teen paranormal section of the library in order to write a story in her least favourite genre, what kind of teacher sets THAT assignment. Then, she's trying to not puke in front of the cute guy who's been checking out the DVD collection nearby. After barely being able to hold it in, she rushes to the bathroom and makes it just in time. However, Mr. Cute Guy has followed her in. Can you say awkward? That's not the strangest thing that will befall Sadie and Mr. Cute Guy today, however. When they vacate the bathroom, it seems as though the library has closed and they're locked in. What's weirder is when a strange storm can be seen raging outside, one with green lightning that starts spewing out characters and beings that should only exist in stories. Now Sadie and Cute Guy are trying to work out how to keep themselves safe, battle a hoard of zombies and stop a crazed storm from bringing anything else from fiction to reality. Who knew a trip to the library could turn into such a terrifying adventure?

I was keen to read this one when Harlow reached out to me about it. As I've been saying in all of my reviews of late, I've been on a huge horror kick for just over a year, so finding a story that piques my interest enough for me to step away from that for a moment isn't a bad thing. I loved the idea of this story and it didn't disappoint. It was appealing to me as well because it's a novella, I'm finding short stories and novellas are a good palette cleanser for me as I've been trying to get back into the swing of my normal reading schedule. And the fact that this one also seemed YAish was a plus too because generally speaking, YA can be easy reading, which some times is just what you need.

Harlow did a fantastic job of setting the scene and making Sadie come across as super interesting right from the get go. When we meet her, she's rushing off to the bathroom because she's about to vomit everywhere. So you can bet that I'm reading on because I want to know what that's about. Not only that though, Sadie is such an interesting character. She comes across as someone who prefers her own company and seems like a bit of an introvert. I feel like she possibly has some phobia or anxiety around germs or an overreactive self preservation complex. She doesn't like touching the doors, taps or walls of a public bathroom, and she questions whether or not she should have gotten into a potential friend's car when she doesn't know them very well. So I get the feeling that there is SO much more to her than meets the eye and I'm keen to find out what that is. I really enjoyed her character as well as Mr. Cute Guy (who's name I cannot remember), he was also an intriguing character and I'm even MORE intrigued after that ending. I'm sitting here with those suspicious squinty eyes as I reminisce about how the story left off. Colour me intrigued. I won't lie, the vampire guy's character gave me a bit of a chuckle as well. The fact that Harlow could endear characters to me basically from the get go and give them enough depth in a book that sits at 66 pages long, I feel really illustrates her ability as a writer. Some authors struggle to do that in a full length novel, and Harlow has managed to achieve this in a novella.

The story itself is very well thought out and very original too. It did give me The Pagemaster vibes - you know, that Macaulay Culkin movie from 1994? Which by the way, I absolutely LOVED. I think that the vibes I was getting was probably just because it was based in a library and the fictional became somewhat real in both circumstances. But still, I digress, it gave me nostalgic feels while still managing to be incredibly unique, which was great. The pacing was spot on for it's length and I feel like, for such a short read, a lot happened and yet at no point did any part of the story feel info-dumpy or like it glossed over things it should have expanded on. I think some people really overlook the skill that is needed to write an engaging story in so few pages, and be able to give the reader all the information that they need, without overwhelming them all at once, and also being able to endear characters to the reader when they don't have a lot of space in order to deep dive into anything. I tip my hat to any writer who is able to succeed at this because it really shows that they are incredibly skilled in their craft.

All in all, I don't want to go into too much detail because I'll risk giving too much away, even though there is a mystery surrounding how Sadie and Cute Guy ended up in the situation they find themselves, it's not a mystery perse. I do feel that it's best to read this story going into it with only really what the blurb is telling you and letting the story unfold on it's own to the reader. I found this a very engaging, quick and easy read which was a lovely palette cleanser. Great characters and a unique story make it easy to be hanging for the follow up instalments to this one. I can't wait to get more of the story and start to unravel what's really going on! If you want a quick and super enjoyable read, give this one a go, you won't be disappointed!

[Gordon Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story starts out to be a standard YA Paranormal novel. It soon develops into more than that, mainly because of its quirky sense of humour, in places involving the main character’s extreme embarrassment at having two other characters — who happen to be boys her age — discussing events which happened in the bathroom where she threw up.

In fact, a lot of the enjoyment of the book involves experiencing the main character’s reactions to the metaphysical events that overtake her, skittering between mature analysis and teenage silliness. Plus, her awareness of the silliness, and her reaction to that. Like, “Why am I noticing how cute he is when there’s a damn vampire chasing us?” The language is pretty realistic as well.

There is also a decent level of repartee between the two main characters, based, as one might expect, on mutual attraction and natural caution, as their relationship develops throughout the story.

The plotline flows logically, and the conflicts pile up in a natural fashion, starting with a magical storm, and adding a classical novel character, then a vampire, then a pack of zombies, then…well, the rest would be telling.

Anyway, the storm and the supernatural conflict build to their inevitable climax and then crash to an ending that should be disappointing but isn’t, because our real interest is in the relationship between the two characters…

…which will continue in the next episode. Because this is not a novel, it’s a serial, and it’s just getting started.

I can’t wait.

[Vanessa Velandonie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A witty and fun read. I really enjoyed this book. It is packed with action and it’s mostly dialogue driven. The main characters’ personalities work great together. It was pretty much an addictive read and I finished it in a couple of hours.
Of course, the story still goes on in the following books, but a part of me thinks that this might have been better as a full novel instead of four instalments. The concept of the book is very interesting and the story feels like a game of Dungeons and Dragons. Brainstorm leaves us with many questions and I can’t wait for the next part in this quartet.
I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Joey Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up because the cover and blurb sounded interesting, and I was not disappointed. A quick read, but you’re thrown into the action from the first page and you can’t help but get hooked on Sadie’s adventure. From the strange happenings to trying to get out of it unharmed, it’s just a whirlwind of a ride and one that’s pretty easy to get lost in and finish in one session. I’ve got the second book and plan to dive right back in because I want to know all the details, and pick up and spend more time with Sadie and Lincoln. Highly recommended!

[Liz Fully Booked · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella was a way fun read. Brainstorm is a fast, easy YA fantasy book which really captures your attention. The story, about characters from books that come to life during a freak snowstorm, is fun and well written. The main characters, Sadie and Lincoln are believable and really come to life in this novella. I read this novella in a couple of hours, and now I’m ready for the next one.

If you’re looking for something entertaining and short, definitely give Brainstorm a read!

[Tiffany Ewald · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an incredible fast fun read. Great, unique concept. Couldn't put it down literally and read it in 1 day! Love the way this author throws you in immediately and I am left wanting more more more!

[Nissa Harlow]

“I need to get my bag,” I say. “Could you aim the light over there?”

“Over where?” He turns around, and the glow from his phone hits me in the eyes. Squinting, I turn away.

“The teen section.”

He snorts and starts to walk. “Looking for a vampire romance, were you?”

“No,” I snap, which makes the lie all too obvious.

“Hey, I’m not judging.”

“Sounds like you were.”

“As long as they drink human blood and don’t sparkle, it’s fine by me.”

“Oh, gee. I’m so glad I have your permission. And if you must know,” I say, spotting my bag on the table in a puddle of blue illumination, “I’m only reading that crap for a class.”

“Your teacher assigns young adult paranormal romances?”

“No. She assigned us to write a story in our least-favourite genre. I was just looking for inspiration.”

Brainstorm is the first book in the Elements of Mind series. In it, we meet Sadie, an aspiring writer who's having a rough day. She's on a deadline and she's feeling kind of sick. But those turn out to be the least of her problems during what ends up being a very strange night in the library... with a stranger who's as annoying as he is cute.

If you enjoy shorter reads featuring tropes like forced proximity and bookish magic, give Brainstorm a try.

Purchase here: Brainstorm

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was fun and engaging from beginning to end. A unique and quirky story that keeps you wanting more, as well as a wonderful twist of portal and library tropes. I really enjoyed reading this.