Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles is a sweet YA romance featuring two characters from the opposite sides of the tracks. It’s told in the first person in alternate chapters from both the hero and the heroine’s perspectives.
Brittany Ellis appears to have it all: wealth, beauty and intelligence. She’s the captain of her school’s cheerleading squad and is dating the captain of the football team. All this outward perfection masks the truth: an unhappy home life featuring a severely disabled sister, a neurotic mother, and an absent father.
Alejandro “Alex” Fuentes is the school bad boy. He’s a member of the notorious local gang, Latino Blood. He gets good grades but has no hope of attending college. and escaping life in the gang. As in Brittany’s case, Alex’s bad ass exterior is deceptive. He hates being a gangbanger but was forced into it through circumstance. As the eldest son in a family closely connected to the gang’s leaders, Alex has no choice but to do his duty. The safety of his widowed mother and two younger brothers depends on his ability to keep the gang happy.
When Alex and Brittany are paired in chemistry class, tempers flare and sparks fly. After a rough start, they slowly begin to realize that they have more in common than they’d expected. But with the opposition of Brittany’s parents to contend with, plus increasing tensions in Alex’s gang, their budding relationship has many obstacles to overcome before they can find lasting happiness.
This is a cute story. It’s a fluffy, romantic fantasy in which two unlikely lovers make their relationship work against all odds. The epilogue borders on saccharine, and the Happily Ever After stretched credibility, but I enjoyed the book nonetheless. It took a while for Brittany to grow on me as she seemed almost too perfect, but liked her well enough her by the end. Alex is a great hero. He was definitely my favourite of the two lead characters. I also felt the portrayal of his home life was more finely-drawn than Brittany’s, and I therefore found him the more sympathetic of the two.
If you like contemporary YA romances which don’t contain any paranormal elements, Perfect Chemistry might be for you. Grade: B-
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Enjoyable review. I liked the sweetness of this book a lot. Glad you liked it too
I loved this YA – probably my favorite YA of all time. I gave it a perfect A+ score and highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a YA romance.
I saw have been seeing such great things about this book, especially the rating on Ms Moonlight’s site…I have it requested at PBS. Can’t wait to see what I think about it.
Great review!!
I absolutely adored this book–but then I’m a sucker for downtown boy/uptown girl plots. I loved how Elkeles took a very standard, familiar romantic plot and made it feel fresh and contemporary.
I will agree with you on the epilogue, though.
I wouldn’t have minded it so much if Alex hadn’t been wearing chinos. That’s just creepy.
The epilogue made me giddy. Perfect Chemistry was such a nice change in reading from all the paranormal YA books out there.
@Stacy ~ It was cute. If you like YA romances, give Jennifer Echols a shot. I loved her book Major Crush.
@Elizabeth Jules Mason (MsMoonlight) Another new-to-me blog to visit. Yay!
@Mandi I’ll look forward to reading your review.
@heidenkind Totally agree on the chinos.
@katiebabs The market seems to be flooded with YA paranormals at the moment. Sometimes I just want a YA without werewolves, vampires or fairies, but they can be hard to find.
You will not be disappointed with Going Too Far by Echols then and I just finished a heartbreaking YA that comes out in March by Angela Morrison called Sing Me To Sleep. No vamps, demons or any supernatural things in that. I hope to blog about it this week.
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