Perfect Chemistry

Simone Elkeles

Published 2008

368 Pages

Rating: A-

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.

(taken from BN.com)

Lets see, I can say this words that describe this book: Incredible! A-Must-Read! Hott!!! :)

I enjoyed this book so much, thanks to a few other book bloggers and their reviews of this book, and to my friend for owning this book, I finally read it. And I am so glad I did. This book was W-O-W! I loved every moment of reading it. Every page I turned I was wanting more. Ever line I read felt like I was right there with the characters, experiencing everything they were going through - the good and the bad.

As you read this book you are reading through the minds of two individuals, Alex Fuentes and Brittany Ellis. Alex is the kid from the wrong side of the tracks, the gang banger. He is a Mexican with a past that others see as bad, but he sees as just his past, something he can never forget. He is part of the Blood gang in a suburb outside of Chicago [the South Side], where him and his fellow gang members but also long time friends deal with drugs, alcohol, and frequent deaths of other members. Alex has had a tough life, but he never wants any one to feel sorry for him. Then there is Brittany, who is on the 'right' side of the tracks, the one with everything you could ever ask for plus more, plus shes the school head cheerleader. She's got the nice house, the fantastic car, the hot bod, the beautiful hair and of course the quarterback boyfriend. Except what you see on the outside, isnt always what you get on the inside. Brittany's home life isnt what you would expect. She rarely sees her father, and her mother has outbursts of total frustration, and her sister, well, her sister has problems of her own.

Brittany and Alex get paired up in Chemistry. Much to Brittany's protests to her teacher, she cannot switch partners. These two are total opposites, or at least thats what they think at first. But then, as their relationship together grows into friendship, they see each other for who they truly are. They both learn to lean onto one another, and what they have together blossoms into something beautiful.

This book is written very well, and at times it can be a little provocative [so it may not be suitable for anyone under 13], but it is an amazing story of two teenagers finding themselves, and learning to open up to someone else and become vulnerable.

I recommend this book to basically everyone, and I plan on rereading it in the future. And I cannot wait to read more from Simone Elkeles :)

-Arielle