Book Review: Wild Cards

Wild Cards (Wild Cards #1)
by Simone Elkeles
Hardcover, 342 pages
Expected publication: January 2nd 2014 by Walker UK (first published October 1st 2013)
Source: Publisher

Synopsis:

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?

Review:

I should hate this book. I have already established a long time ago that I dislike books that are romance-centered. I like subtlety in my romance and I tend to dislike those books with romance and sexual tension in every page, just like what happened in all the books in the Perfect Chemistry series. But unlike Perfect Chemistry, I actually liked Wild Cards a lot.

Wild Cards has about the same elements as Perfect Chemistry, but thank goodness it's only in the milder sense. I don't think I can handle anymore of those "mamacita's" and "chica's" and unnecessary gangster dramas. Like in PC, Wild Cards is told in alternating POV's of the main characters, Ashtyn and Derek. Ashtyn is the only female member of her school's football team and is also the captain. She's quite snarky and very motivated. She knows what she wants and she works hard to get it. Derek, on the other hand, is the prankster from the South who got kicked out of school and transferred to Ashtyn's school. His snark rivals that of Ashtyn's which made all their banters so amusing and enjoyable to read. But unlike the bad boy facade that he usually wears, there is more to Derek than meets the eye. He has his own secrets that's keeping him from moving forward.

There is an insta-attraction between our two protagonists here but if you're used to Simone's writing, you'll find this hardly surprising. From the moment they met until about the end of the book, Ashtyn and Derek kept on ignoring their feelings toward each other. This leaves the readers to deal with the overwhelming sexual tension. Like I said, I'm not used to sexual tension in every page, but what made this tolerable is that our protagonists started off as real enemies. Their first meeting is one that I truly enjoyed reading.

Apart from our main characters, the side characters are also very enjoyable to read about. The readers will get to know a bit about Derek's past in the beginning; like what happened to his mother and what his grandmother did to them. We only get to meet Derek's grandmother about 3/4 through the book but oh, she is such an entertaining character. She is a snob in the most hilarious way possible. Derek's stepmom and stepbrother are both an enjoyable characters also. His stepmom is described as clueless and who probably hadn't finished highschool but regardless, my heart tugged for both of them multiple times.

Although I liked the plot, there are some loose ends that need to be tied together. The ending is my least favorite. It was Simone's last attempt at a cringe-worthy romance and she succeeded at that. It was also abrupt. I was looking forward to Ashtyn and Derek's senior football, but Simone didn't deliver that. But nonetheless, those negative aspects didn't really shake my love for this book. In fact, I'm already looking forward to the next book in this series.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Disclosure: This ARC was received from the publisher (Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Chain Reaction

Chain Reaction (Perfect Chemistry #3)
by Simone Elkeles
Hardcover, 308 pages
Published August 16th 2011 by Walker Books for Young Readers
Source: Bought

Summary:

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 southsider 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?

Review:

I honestly don't know when the Goodreads summary changed. I distinctly remember that Luis was first described as the innocent, honest-to-goodness Fuentes brother, and the girl, as the one who unintentionally dragged him to the rebel side. That was probably the only reason I was so looking forward to reading the final installment in the Perfect Chemistry series. I was hoping that somehow, it would be different from its predecessors. So you can only imagine my disappointment when none of what I expected came out.

If you have read Perfect Chemistry and Rules of Attraction, you know that both books practically have the same formula: the Latino blood, the family, the girl, the cheesy epilogue, you know what I'm talking about. I honestly thought Elkeles would finally change that formula in Chain Reaction, perhaps reverse the situation in which the girl is the rebel and the boy is the good one just like how I thought it was going to be, but boy I was wrong.

I thoroughly enjoyed PC despite it being so cheesy. I liked RoA because it reminded me of PC. But with Chain Reaction, the Fuentes brothers no longer amused me. It was practically like reading PC or RoA all over again. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy Chain Reaction because I did enjoy it, only not that much.

Rating: 2.5/5 stars