Double Review: Perfect Chemistry & Rules of Attraction

Titles: Perfect Chemistry; Rules of Attraction
Author: Simone Elkeles
Dates Released: December 23rd, 2008; April 13th, 2010
Pages: 360; 324
Ratings: 5 out of 5; 4 out of 5

Descriptions:
Perfect Chemistry:

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.

Rules of Attraction:

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.

Review:
LOVED PERFECT CHEMISTRY AND RULES OF ATTRACTION WITH SO MANY WORDS THAT I CAN'T EVEN EXPLAIN IT!  Perfect Chemistry is definitely right up there on my favorites list with Anna and the French Kiss.  Rules of Attraction was pretty amazing as well.  They were both a little corny and definitely predictable , but they were also really sweet and cute reads that anyone would be able to breeze through.

In Perfect Chemistry, you can definitely see the chemistry building between Brittany and Alex.  They go from absolutely hating each other, to eventually falling totally in love and it's really cute when they do.  When Brittany breaks up with her then boyfriend, Colin, it was a major relief since you really couldn't see it going anywhere.  And they kind of seemed awkward when they were together. 

I also loved that both of the main characters had their imperfections.  For Brittany, it was her dysfunctional family and disabled sister who she loves with all her heart (and I absolutely adore her for that) that were her imperfections, while for Alex, it was his involvement in gangs. 

In Rules of Attraction, it almost mirrors Perfect Chemistry, with Kiara and Carlos absolutely not being able to stand each other, and then falling in absolutely love with each other.  They also had their little imperfections, too, like when Kiara stutters and the fact that she's not the most social or popular girl at her school, and with Carlos' sort of bad boy attitude towards everything.  The reason why I didn't like Rules of Attraction as much as Perfect Chemistry was that I didn't really see that attraction develop with seriousness.  And, it was pretty much random.  You just see Kiara and Carlos going from taunting each other to just suddenly throwing themselves at each other.

Elkeles really brings in the harsh reality of being committed to a gang and some of those scenes were really intense and vivid.  She also really brought a lot of hilarity into the novel through the characters.  It's absolutely funny in the beginning.  I also liked how you got the perspective of both characters throughout both novels because then you get an insight into how both of the characters felt about each other and how those feelings developed.

Perfect Chemistry and Rules of Attraction were both really great books to feed my current craving for contemporary novels!  They were both absolutely addicting and, well... I've fallen in love.  I definitely can't wait until I can get my hands on Chain Reaction!  Elkeles really takes the meaning of star-crossed lovers to the next level through these two novels by drawing in the two separate worlds of totally different people, together.  If you're looking for a romantic contemporary novel, then definitely give Perfect Chemistry a try!

Cover Review:
This covers are actually okay.  I guess it kind of fits the contemporary genre because of the photo of the two people, and the one for Rules of Attraction is actually pretty cool.  I think that I just feel like they could have done something cool with like, the font. 

Cleo :)

*Description and covers from goodreads.com
**Review copies borrowed from a friend.