Book Review of "Perfect Chemistry" by Simone Elkeles

______________________________________________________

Title: Perfect Chemistry
Author: Simone Elkeles
Classification: YA Fiction, Contemporary
Source: Bought

Overall Grade: 

A

Would I read it again? 

Yes, definitely!

Would I recommend it? 

Yes, with disclaimers on content.

______________________________________________________

Summary (from Goodreads):

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.

______________________________________________________ 
My Thoughts: 

Perfect Chemistry has everything that I love about contemporary novels: Well-developed characters, an exciting plot, tension between the two protagonists, and a dual first-person narrative that is done very well.

In Perfect Chemistry, we meet our first main character: Brittney. Brittney represents for many readers that polished, pretty, popular girl in high school that was at once hated and adored. She is beautiful, affluent, and is girlfriend to the captain of the football team. However, when she is paired with dangerously-sexy Alex Fuentes in Chemistry class, her perfect reputation is definitely on the line.

Perfect Chemistry had very high-stakes for a contemporary novel. Alex is in a gang, forced into the situation when he was young, and often engages in less-than-savory activities, like collecting debts for gang leaders. This makes Brittney's interactions with Alex much more tense, because he is obviously dangerous.

It was very clear from Elkeles' writing that she did a lot of research into common slang terms used by Mexican Americans and gang members. During Alex's portion of the narrative, I felt the authenticity of his interactions with his friends and fellow gang members through the prose.

The clash of cultures in Perfect Chemistry was extremely interesting. Elkeles effectively deconstructs Brittney's affluent family, complete with her disabled sister Shelley and critical mother, as well as Alex's poor family, with his two younger brothers, single mother, and the dynamics of gang-life.

However, while the novel was compulsively readable, the romance palpable, and the characters endearing, I found the perfect ending to be contrived and more than a little cheesy. That, however, is my one major complaint about the novel! The rest of the book was amazing; The plot was fast moving and exciting... I ended up reading most of the novel in one sitting. Elkeles made it easy to get to know her characters, and to eventually love them! Even when they were being infuriating, stupid, and annoying!

PS: In my rating, I mentioned that I would give others a disclaimer before reading this book on the content. This is because for a YA novel, there is an awful lot of swearing in it, something that I found surprising when I first started reading.

______________________________________________________

Overall Grade: 

A

Would I read it again? 

Yes, definitely!

Would I recommend it? 

Yes, with disclaimers on content.

Tweet