Book Review: Perfect Chemistry

Title- Perfect Chemistry
Author- Simone Elkeles
Pages- 357 pages
Rating- 4.8 out of 5 
Companion Books- Rules of Attraction; Chain Reaction
 

Goodreads Synopsis- 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.

Personal Thoughts- Brittany is your typical high school girl. The popular, beautiful, rich, dating the captain of the football team, girl. Alex is the typical bad-ass, gang member, poor, type of guy. This book is about Alex and Brittany, who are complete opposites, who get partnered together for Chemistry class, and since that moment, everything changes. 
Something that I really loved about this book was that it was told in the perspectives of both Alex and Brittany. We got to see the lives of both of them and what they deal with. I also really love Simone's writing style. It's both beautiful and captivating. I could not put this book down once I started it. This book definitely had its cliche moments, but I honestly couldn't help but smile throughout those moments, and this entire book. 


Characters- The characters are amazing. As most people, I couldn't help but fall in love with Alex and Brittany, and following their relationship together. I can't talk about the characters without mentioning Paco and Isa. I LOVED them. Paco is the best friend of Alex, and Isa is the girl who Alex has known all his life, and became good friends with. I loved Isa, and her relationship with Alex, Brittany and Paco.


One thing that stopped me from giving this book a 5 was the fact that while I was reading this book I couldn't help but think about the movie West Side Story. It's one of my favorite movies and I couldn't help but compare the book and the movie together. I love West Side Story, but I didn't want to keep thinking about the the movie while reading this book. So, overall I gave this book a 4.8 out of 5. It's a great story and I highly recommend it. I cant wait to check out Rules of Attraction and Chain Reaction.