Perfect Chemistry

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles is a new and interesting tale of opposites attract. This is the tale of two seemingly different teenagers from two very different worlds on the north and south sides of suburban Chicago. This tale narrated by its two main characters Alejandro Fuentes and Brittany Ellis.

Brittany Ellis is a typical high school student living in the wealthy north side of suburban Chicago. To her friends and other school mates, she has the perfect life. Perfect family, perfect car, and perfect boyfriend but this is a myth that she encourages to disguise the truth. At home, if Brittany doesn’t do exactly as her mother wishes, she has the deal with her mother’s intense attitude and often yelling. Her father offers no relief as he is always gone with his job at a computer company. On the few occasions’ that he is home, he does not interact with the family choosing to lock himself away in his office and continue his work. Brittany’s only relief comes from caring for her elder sister Shelly. Shelly, who has cerebral palsy, cannot function very well on her own and must be taken care of 24/7. Spending time with Shelly is the Brittany’s only real relief from the stress of her chaotic life. The chaos only worsens when she catches the eye of well known Latin Blood member Alejandro Fuentes.

Alejandro Fuente, better known as Alex, is an eighteen year old high school student living with his mother and two younger brothers on the south side of the same city. Because his father was murdered when Alex was very young, responsibility has fallen on his shoulders to be the man of the house. This includes joining the Latin Bloods in order to keep his family safe. This also means making sure that his younger brothers, fifteen year old Carlos and eleven year old Luis, away from the same lifestyle. Though Alex does achieve high grades and has dreams of going to college and having a better life, he feels that he will never achieve those dreams. Therefore, he intends to see that his brother can have the life that he can’t. Much like the locations, his life is the exact opposite of Brittany’s. At least that’s what they believe.

Brittany and Alex’s paths first cross on the first day of their senior year at Fairfield High School when Brittany nearly hits Alex when attempting to pull into the same parking space. Their paths cross again when the two are paired together in their chemistry class leading them into a relationship neither can understand nor stop.

Simone Elkeles does a phenomenal job capturing the reality of teenage relationships and situations. She keeps the book interesting by putting the reality of teenage life into a romance novel for young adults. She also tells of the realities of gang life and how seemingly perfect lives aren’t always what they seem. If you’re looking for a steamy teen romance about the good girl and the bad boy, who always turns out to be better than you think, Perfect Chemistry is the book you want to read.

*I also found this interesting trailer for the book, enjoy: Perfect Chemistry (Full credit goes to selkeles for the video.)