Book Review: Perfect Chemisty
Perfect Chemistry
By: Simone Elkeles
Published By: Walker Childrens
Publication Date: December 2008
Page Count: 359
Buy it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or IndieBound
Source: Library
Audience: Young Adult - Contemporary Romance
I think I'm coming around to contemporary fiction. I do love a good love story, and this was a great one! This tale of forbidden love seemed sometimes a little cheesy, particularly during the epilogue, but apparently I love cheesy, because I found it really hard to put down!
This is the story of a perfect girl, Brittany, and a bad boy, Alex, being thrown together by a tough teacher for a chemistry project. They hate each other to start with, as neither can look beyond the exterior of the other, but as they spend more time together, they find common ground and a passion for each other which made for great reading.
As with any love story, the journey isn't smooth here. Alex is a Mexican gangbanger, and he has to deal with that side of his life colliding with Brittany, and her overbearing parents. There's danger and suspense, and a fair amount of violence. But the romance is hot, and the pages flew by. I do think this was fairly cliched, but I enjoyed it a lot. I didn't connect with it emotionally in the same way that I did Pushing The Limits by Katie McGarry (which was flat out fantastic) - but I think fans of either book should defintely read the other in the pair!
When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created 'perfect' life is about to unravel before her eyes. She's forced to be lab partners with Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, and he is about to threaten everything she's worked so hard for: her flawless reputation, her relationship with her boyfriend, and the secret that her home life is anything but perfect.
Alex is a bad boy and he knows it. So when he makes a bet with his friends to lure Brittany into his life, he thinks nothing of it. But soon Alex realizes Brittany is a real person with real problems, and suddenly the bet he made in arrogance turns into something much more.
In a passionate story about looking beneath the surface, Simone Elkeles breaks through the stereotypes and barriers that threaten to keep Brittany and Alex apart.
Alex is a bad boy and he knows it. So when he makes a bet with his friends to lure Brittany into his life, he thinks nothing of it. But soon Alex realizes Brittany is a real person with real problems, and suddenly the bet he made in arrogance turns into something much more.
In a passionate story about looking beneath the surface, Simone Elkeles breaks through the stereotypes and barriers that threaten to keep Brittany and Alex apart.
I didn't enjoy Perfect Chemistry much but i did enjoy Rules of Attraction.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree about the comparisons to Pushing the Limits! Fans of either book will enjoy the other. Great review!
ReplyDeleteBecause I read Perfect Chemistry first, I found it more enjoyable than Pushing The Limits. I'm not entirely sure what it was about Perfect Chemistry, but I couldn't stop thinking about it afterwards. It's a shame you didn't enjoy it enough to rate it higher, but here's hoping you love the rest of the series.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Somewhere Between the Pages. I read this one first and loved it. I also couldn't stop thinking about it. I did enjoy book 2 in that series a little more than this one, but I gave them both high ratings. I think Jen just loved Noah so much that it was hard to follow him with anyone else. I do agree that Pushing the Limits does have more internal struggles which makes the characters all the more compelling. Perfect Chemistry does pay attention to race and class, but I don't feel like we saw the characters inside and out as much.
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