So we all know by know that I wasn’t all that impressed with Simone Elkeles’ “Perfect Chemistry” (some of you even shot me some pretty intense emails about it) so when I decided to read “Rules of Attraction” (which is the companion novel to PC,) I promised myself that I would look at it from all of the angles y’all insisted were so important.
Now, while I stand behind my original objections to “PC” I am happy to say that “Rules of Attraction” was back on mark for Elkeles’ writing ability. (The ability that I fell in love with in her novel “Leaving Paradise”) All of the things that I ranted about; the lack of equal character development, the vapidness of the heroine, and the sloppy writing in PC, were no longer present in this novel (thank God.)
Carlos is a troublemaker, he is into drugs and gangs and pretty much anything else that would make a parents blood boil. Kiara is… not a troublemaker. She’s a tom-boy with quick wit, and a inability to turn down challenges, she spends her time teaching art classes at retirement homes and climbing mountains with her gay best-friend Tuck. Not exactly a match made in heaven right? But when Carlos is framed (think drugs… lots of them) and kicked out of his current sleeping situation he has only 2 choices… go to jail, or live at Kiara’s. Choosing the lesser of 2 evils Carol’s makes the move… to a lovely little yellow polka-dotted room. What happens when you finally realize the girl down the hall is more than just a T-shirt lovin wrench monkey? What happens when people start trusting you? And what is going to happen when the people that set you up, decided they aren’t quite through with you?
I was happy to see Elkeles bring back her natural flair for story telling. Her angst scenes were captivating, pulling the reader in and out of moments, daring them to guess what would happen next. Her characters were finally balanced, introducing their qualities in a steady stream of duel narration, and more importantly…I actually cared about what would happen to these people in the end of the novel (I even like Brittany more in this book. Go figure.) This book is easily a stand alone (if you don’t feel like backtracking to catch up) and if you are looking for something you can knock out in minimal time… this was a fairly quick read. (1 day for me)
There were devious blondes, cookie magnets, rainy homecoming dances, family fun nights, several life altering decisions, and a missing $50 grand.
There was plenty of action to keep the plot flowing and… just like last time, tons of Spanish slang (just in case you were needing to bone up on it.)
This one is worth the money people! Get it, Live it, Love it… pass it on.
Happy reading my fellow Kindle-ites and remember: never show up to peer counseling with a shiner… it spurs way to many questions.
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[Rating:4/5]Book Trailer
