Review: Wild Cards by Simone Elkeles

Publish Date: October 1, 2013
Kindle {p. 288}
Genre: Young Adult
Series: Wild Cards #1
Source: Publisher
Ashtyn Parker, Derek Fitzpatrick

After getting kicked out of boarding school, bad boy Derek Fitzpatrick has no choice but to live with his ditzy stepmother while his military dad is deployed. Things quickly go from bad to worse when he finds out she plans to move them back to her childhood home in Illinois. Derek’s counting the days before he can be on his own, and the last thing he needs is to get involved with someone else’s family drama.

Ashtyn Parker knows one thing for certain--people you care about leave without a backward glance. A football scholarship would finally give her the chance to leave. So she pours everything into winning a state championship, until her boyfriend and star quarterback betrays them all by joining their rival team. Ashtyn needs a new game plan, but it requires trusting Derek—someone she barely knows, someone born to break the rules. Is she willing to put her heart on the line to try and win it all?

I truly enjoyed the dynamic between Ashtyn and Derek. As always, the tone the author sets seems to be right on point with the youthful voice. It's just something about her books that suck you in. After reading the advanced copy, I can honestly say I don't regret pre-ordering this book back in June.

The story starts off very quickly, but not so quickly that you get lost. The two meet within the first couple of chapters and sparks immediately start to fly. As with every teenaged boy, Derek has his jerk moments, but they're not enough to make him off putting. I however cannot say the same about Ashtyn's boyfriend Landon. He, on the other hand, I hated on first sight.

The premise of the girl football player reminded me of Catching Jordan, but the only thing these two books had in common was a girl football player. Since this book takes place over the summer, Ashtyn's interaction with her teammates was all off the field. There was very little actual football playing.

Ashtyn family was a whole other story in and of itself. I never really ever understood what her dad's problem was. Yes, the author addresses it, but I still found her dad lacking. Her sister's story I don't recall being explained at all, but she wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. The other secondary characters weren't all that interesting either beyond Derek's grandmother and his little brother Julian.

All in all I'm anxiously awaiting the release of the next book in this series, and I'm hoping it's just as great.

Review: Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles

Chain Reaction
Simone Elkeles
Series: Perfect Chemistry #3
Publisher: Walker Books for Young Adults
Publish Date: August 16, 2011
Hardcover {p.320}
Source: Public Library
Genre: Young Adult
Characters: Nikki Cruz, Luis Fuentes
Challenge: 100+, YA Romance
Buy the Book: Amazon

Luis Fuentes has always been sheltered from the gang violence that nearly destroyed his brothers’ lives. But that didn’t stop him from taking risks — whether he’s scaling a mountain in the Rockies or dreaming of a future as an astronaut, Luis can’t stop looking for the next thrill. Nikki Cruz lives her life by three rules — boys lie to get their way, don’t trust a boy who says “I love you,” and never date a boy from the south side of Fairfield. Her parents may be from Mexico, but as a doctor’s daughter, she has more in common with her north-side neighbors than the Latino Blood at her school. Then she meets Luis at Alex’s wedding, and suddenly, she’s tempted to break all her rules. Getting Nikki to take a chance on a south sider is Luis’s biggest challenge, until he finds himself targeted by Chuy Soto, the new head of the Latino Blood. When Chuy reveals a disturbing secret about Luis’s family, the youngest Fuentes finds himself questioning everything he’s ever believed to be true. Will his feelings for Nikki be enough to stop Luis from entering a dark and violent world and permanently living on the edge?

I was a little back and forth with this one. Luis seemed to have everything going for him and was going to make it unscathed by the LB. Wrong. Of all the Fuentes brothers, Luis by far made some of the stupidest decisions.

What made it an enjoyable read for me was Luis and Nikki together, and her struggle to get past her trust issues. If it was just Luis and his struggles, I probably wouldn’t have bothered. I didn’t like him as much as I loved his brothers. He seemed to be all over the place emotionally. I know he found out a difficult secret, but really? Did his reaction have to be him losing his mind? Because he was built up in the previous two novels as being so smart, I thought he would have been more logical in how he choose to handle things.

Like the other books in the trilogy, this one is totally steamy. These are some of my favorite YA novels because they are so real when it comes to teens and sex. Some YA novels tend to skip over it like it doesn’t exist, when we all know it does.

Perfect Chemistry is yet another series/trilogy I hate to see end.

Review: Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles

Rules of Attraction
Simone Elkeles
Series: Perfect Chemistry #2
Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers
Publish Date: April 27, 2010
Audio Book {8hrs}
Source: Public Library
Genre: Young Adult
Characters: Kiara Westford, Carlos Fuentes
Challenge: 100+, Whisper Stories
Buy the Book: Amazon

When Carlos Fuentes returns to America after living in Mexico for a year, he doesn’t want any part of the life his older brother, Alex, has laid out for him at a high school in Colorado . Carlos likes living his life on the edge and wants to carve his own path—just like Alex did.

Then he meets Kiara Westford. She doesn’t talk much and is completely intimidated by Carlos’ wild ways. As they get to know one another, Carlos assumes Kiara thinks she’s too good for him, and refuses to admit that she might be getting to him. But he soon realizes that being himself is exactly what Kiara needs right now.

Let me start by saying, I loved this book! These Fuentes brothers are the perfect bad boys.

I enjoyed every minute of watching the relationship progress between these two. Carlos so wanted to be a tough guy but never could pull it off with the people closest to him. The only time I feel he achieved his act was when he first moved in with his brother Alex with his attitude toward Brittany.

Kiara is the type of girl you would never suspect Carlos to be with, but she is the girl he truly needs to be with. What started out as him just trying to get under her skin, turned into him not being able to get her out of his head.

I must say that after reading this and Perfect Chemistry, I am hooked on Simone Elkeles. I do believe I'm going to have to buy any and everything with her name on it. She did an amazing job of once again capturing both the male and female points of view. The way the story flows together comes across as a well scripted movie.

And the epilogue is just icing on the cake. I truly hated to see the book end.

Read by Blas Kisic and Roxanne Hernandez
Duration: 8 hours
Brilliance Audio

Narration: A+
The two narrators flowed together seamlessly! I always enjoy it when audiobooks have both male and female readers working together. Both narrators managed to capture both the youthfulness and maturity of the characters.

Review: Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

Perfect Chemistry
Simone Elkeles
Series: Perfect Chemistry #1
Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: December 23, 2008
Audio Book {10hrs}
Source: Public Library
Genre: Young Adult
Characters: Brittany Ellis, Alex Fuentes
Challenge: 100+, YA Romance
Buy the Book: Amazon

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.

Brittany and Alex are two totally different people from two different worlds. But in their senior chemistry class they are partnered together. Alex makes it his mission to get under Brittany's skin. Brittany struggles to keep him off her mind and focus her attention on her boyfriend.

This book was so well written, and showed a very realistic view of life in a gang. I loved both Brittany and Alex. Alex is a part of a gang but wants better for not only himself but his family.

Getting to know Alex, you learn that being in a gang is not something he truly wanted, but something he felt he had to do to protect his family. Outwardly he appears to be this bad boy, but underneath it all he's a really good guy caught up in a bad situation. It goes to show that you can't always judge a person on their outward appearance.

His interaction with Brittany was great great! I loved every minute of his teasing and flustering her. You can see why Brittany fell for his bad boy ways.

The storyline flowed smoothly and kept me so very engaged from start to finish. Elkeles provided such vivid detail that made you feel as if you were living the story instead of reading it. This definitely won't be my last book by Elkeles.

Read by Roxanne Hernandez and Blas Kisic
Duration: 10 hours
Brilliance Audio

Narration: A+
The two narrators flowed together seamlessly! I always enjoy it when audiobooks have both male and female readers working together. Both narrators managed to capture both the youthfulness and maturity of the characters.