Book Title: Perfect Chemistry
Author: Simone Elkeles
Genre: Young Adult
Page Count: 357
Audience: Young Adults (Safe to say it’s mostly for females though)
Ello Ello, Anonymous Reader!
First of all, this is what you get from the summary:
“A fresh, urban twist on the classic tale of star-crossed lovers.
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.”
When I first got my hands on this book it was back in high school. I used to have a close friend who shared a love of reading with me. We traded books and discussed them like the bookworms we were. The last book she lent me was this one. I remember her words as “It’s kind of cute….” But that’s all I can recall. I was set on reading the book, but then life happened. Graduation came, then college. And sadly the book was put into my infamous green bin of abyss to wait for the day that I cracked it open.
Not too long ago though, in my Fiction I class, we were watching book trailers and learning how to market ourselves to different audiences. One book trailer we happened upon was the trailer for Rules of Attraction, the second novel after the book Perfect Chemistry.
It was the goofiest thing we had seen all day, and trust me; we had also watched the book trailer for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer so we knew goofy. After watching the trailer I remembered the story vaguely and eventually found Perfect Chemistry. After letting my Fiction class know I owned the book (they’re going to be referred to as the Faction from now on) I was told I needed to do a review and sadly I began reading.
Anonymous Reader, do you know what “fan-fiction” is? According to Dictionary.com the definition is this: “a fictional account written by a fan of a show, movie, book, or video game to explore themes and ideas that will not or cannot be explored via the originating medium; also written fan fiction, also called fanfic.” I’m very sad to admit that I have read fan fiction and I bet you know where I’m going with this. You don’t, Anonymous Reader? Let me clarify it for you then. This book reads like an interracial fan fiction written by a woman in her forties that regretted not going for the “Latino stud” back in her day because all of her friends gave her the suggestion that it was a bad idea.
No, I don’t know anything about the author, but I’m allowed to make assumptions, right? Anyway, the book is split up by chapters and each chapter is in the point of view of either Brittany (our “snow girl” from North Fairfield who is trying to put on a perfect facade for her public image) or Alex (our “Latino Blood” from…you guessed it, West Fairfield. Just messing with you, Anonymous Reader. You were right, it was south. Just so happens his family is from south of the border too *chuckle chuckle*.) Now, our lover’s meet in Chemistry class and are assigned to be lab partners. This makes me giggle for a number of reasons. 1.) It reminded of the initial situation that our sparkly vampire had to deal with and 2.) The name of the book is Perfect CHEMISTRY…get it, Anonymous Reader? Isn’t that clever?
But, for a book that claims to have gang members, these gang members remind me of my kitten who chases disabled squirrels. We only get one scene where people are drinking and an assumed scene of drug use. Any other indication of “gang” related actions are told to us instead of shown.
Another thing about those gang members is that they speak Spanish in the book. Now, I don’t have a problem with foreign languages in books, but when you can’t figure out what they’re saying based on context clues it starts to piss some people off. For anyone who doesn’t speak Spanish off the bat, prepare to bring out the Google translator.
Overall, it’s an okay read if you’re just trying to kill time, but don’t be surprised if you find yourself investing your emotions in the supporting characters than in the main characters themselves (My personal favorite was Isa.) Also, you see a lot of stuff coming in those moments when you say to yourself “Of fucking course” (another nifty term from the Faction) because you knew it was going to happen, e.g. the two people that hate each other are forced to work together and fall in love.
There are sequels to this book and will I be reading them? I don’t want to because I have a feeling once you read the first, you’ve read them all, but I may just do it anyway since I’m hard-headed.
I give Perfect Chemistry O O O (3 coconuts) since I was actually able to read through the story until the end.
Also, if you wanted to know…they have a rap music video for the book if you want to know more about it…or if you just want a reason to stick a Spork in each of eyes and pour bleach into your ears. Here’s the link to the page on their official website…which is actually pretty well put together.
http://www.perfectchemistrythebook.com/extras.html
Until next time, Anonymous Reader! I’m going to go find a video game review since I owe you one of those for today.
Quote/Event/Insight of the Day: “A good friend knows when to call even though she has no idea you needed her to.” – For my friend Allene who has awesome timing.
