Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles

Title: Rules of Attraction (Perfect Chemistry #2)

Author: Simone Elkeles

Publisher: Walker Books

Release Date: April 13, 2010

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

Carlos Fuentes idolized his older brother, Alex, when he was a member of the Latino Blood. So when Alex chose to get jumped out of the gang for a chance at a future with his gringa girlfriend, Brittany, Carlos felt shocked and betrayed. Even worse, Alex forced Carlos to come back from Mexico to join him on the straight and narrow path. Trouble is, Carlos just wants to keep living on the edge. And ties to his Mexican gang aren’t easy to break, even hundreds of miles away in Colorado.

In Boulder, Carlos has to live with one of Alex’s professors—and he feels completely out of place. He’s even more thrown by his strong feelings for the professor’s daughter, Kiara, who is nothing like the girls he’s usually drawn to. But Carlos and Kiara soon discover that in matters of the heart, the rules of attraction overpower the social differences that conspire to keep them apart.

Oh how I love the Fuentes brothers. If I could, I would just spend all my time reading about them and their lives. There is just something about the way Simone Elkeles writes that has me completely hooked on to every single word she writes. That happened with Perfect Chemistry and Leaving Paradise and now it happened again when I read Rules of Attraction. I just couldn’t put the book down, despite the fact that people were sick of me reading when they were trying to talk to me. What can I say, I just couldn’t put the book down.

Carlos was perfectly content with the life he had in Mexico but then his brother, Alex, decides that he should come to Colorado so he can have a proper education and maybe even have the hope of a future. Regardless, Carlos comes to live with his brother in Colorado but gets into trouble right off the bat. He then has to go live with one of Alex’s college professors and his daughter Kiara. Carlos never expected to feel anything for Kiara, but to his surprise she begins to turn his world upside down. But unfortunately for him, Kiara isn’t the only one who seems to want to have a future with Carlos.

Like I said before, the Fuentes brothers are currently topping my list of favorite male characters. I don’t really know why but I just love them...I may just be developing a tendency to fall for the “bad boy” type. Carlos was great. I was a bit apprehensive before starting the book, thinking that Carlos would be just like Alex was in Perfect Chemistry or the story would be the same. Sure there were some similarities but in the end Alex and Carlos were two completely different people. I’m repeating myself, but I really liked Carlos, the way he was with Kiara and her little brother, Brandon, how on the outside he seemed to only care about himself but in reality he cared a lot more than he cared to show. Let’s just say that if Carlos were a real person I would definitely fall for him. Heck, I’ve already fallen for him and he’s just a fictional character.

Kiara was pretty awesome too. I think I liked her better than I did Brittany. I liked that she didn’t really care what people thought of her (except maybe when it came to her stutter) and that she wasn’t afraid to go for what she wanted. I especially liked that she didn’t try to fight her attraction to Carlos. Sure she wasn’t always willing to admit to others that she had feelings for Carlos but at least she was able to admit them to herself. I wouldn’t have minded the book being longer just so I could read more about Kiara and see what she has to say about different things.

I said this in my review for Perfect Chemistry and I’ll say it again about Rules of Attraction: though it may appear to be a story about a love that wasn’t meant to be, it doesn’t feel like a cliché or like it’s been done so many times before. Personally, I’m a sucker for that kind of story so I may be slightly biased in my opinion but it wasn’t like a story that I’d read before. It wasn’t even like Perfect Chemistry, which I was scared it might be.

I would be ready to pick up the book and read it all over again, even if I read just only over a week ago. That’s how much I enjoyed it. I’m really looking forward to everything coming from Simone Elkeles in the future, especially the third Perfect Chemistry novel which is coming out in 2011.

Book Blogger Hop (6)

I am back from vacation and in time to take part in this week's Book Blogger Hop! The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly event hosted each week by Jennifer of Crazy-for-Books. Every week I've met new bloggers who came to visit me and found some pretty awesome blogs that I now visit regularly.

This week's question:

HOW MANY BOOKS DO YOU HAVE ON YOUR 'TO BE READ SHELF'?

Surprisingly I don't have that many anymore. I had a bunch earlier in the summer but I read pretty much all of them. Then I was away for 3 weeks and didn't buy any during that time so they didn't really pile up. I actually think I have more French books that I haven't read than the books I read for review right now...

OTHER NEWS

The past 3 weeks have been kind of slow since I have been away but now that I'm back things should pick up a bit. I have 2 books that I will be writing and posting the reviews for and have 3 more waiting to be read and reviewed...and of course a bunch I just need to go and get from the bookstore...or wait impatiently until they come out, like say Mockingjay and Clockwork Angel!

Happy hopping and enjoy your weekend!

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #1)

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Release Date: August 1, 2009

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

the cold.

Grace has spent years watching the wolves in the woods behind her house. On yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--watches back. He feels deeply familiar to her, but she doesn’t know why.

the heat.

Sam has lived two lives. As a wolf, he keeps the silent company of the girl he loves. And then, for a short time each year, he is human, never daring to talk to Grace...until now.

the shiver.

For Grace and Sam, love has always been kept at a distance. But once it’s spoken, it cannot be denied. Sam must fight to stay human--and Grace must fight to keep him--even if it means taking on the scars of the past, the fragility of the present, and the impossibility of the future.

Until the past week I was probably one of the rare people who hadn’t yet jumped on the Shiver train. I can now say that I have absolutely no idea what I was waiting for. I finally decided to pick up the book and absolutely loved it. I am now eagerly awaiting my return to civilization in order to go buy Linger.

When she was eleven years old, Grace was attacked by the pack of wolves that lives in the woods behind her house. A yellow-eyed wolf saved her from what would have been death and since then she has considered him her wolf. Sam has two lives: during the cold of the winter he spends his time with the pack of wolves and during the heat of the summer he gets to be a regular teenager, observing Grace from afar. But one year everything changes and Grace and Sam get to be together...for as long as it will last.

Other than the whole obsession with wolves, I could totally relate to Grace. I found that she was a really believable character and could often understand where she was coming from. I loved her as a character and I think she is now among my favorites. Not only could I totally relate to her but at times I literally wanted to be her...might have had something to do with Sam. I also liked being able to read parts of the story from her point of view, having the alternating narrators really made me love the story that much more.

Lately, I have been going a lot for the bad boy types but I am officially in love with Sam. I don’t even know how to begin describing his awesomeness. There’s just something about him that I couldn’t help but love. Beyond my love for him, Sam was a great character; the way he was with Grace and even when he was a wolf you couldn’t help but love him. Let’s just leave at this: Sam was an extremely lovable character.

I also loved the story. Werewolves were a refreshing change from vampires. And even then, they weren’t your typical werewolves who changed according to the moon. Having them depending on the temperature made it more interesting because it was less predictable when they were going to change. And the end was amazing too, it kept me going until the very last page and even then I wasn’t sure if I wanted to believe what I was reading. I just loved it.

Shiver was just amazing, I honestly don’t know why I waited so long to read it (in my defense, until this year I wasn’t in North America). I can’t wait until I get back home and can go to out to buy Linger. Maybe I’ll just order it online so it’s already there when I get home...

Book Blogger Hop (5)

I actually have wireless Internet this week and everyone is still asleep. Since I have the computer all to myself I figured I would participate in the Hop this week. The Book Blogger Hop is a weekly event hosted by Jennifer of Crazy-for-Books. Every week I have had the chance to meet lovely new bloggers and found blogs that I now visit regularly.

This week's question:

DO YOU LISTEN TO MUSIC WHEN YOU READ: IF SO, WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE READING TUNES?

I rarely am NOT listening to music. No matter what I do there is most likely music playing in the background and I will occasionally sing along to whatever is playing. As far as what I listen to while I read, I have a playlist I made of music to listen to when I work out and that's actually what I listen to the most while reading. Basically it's all my favorite upbeat songs that keep me going no matter what I'm doing.

Happy hopping and enjoy your weekends!

Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles

Title: Leaving Paradise

Author: Simone Elkeles

Publisher: Flux

Release Date: April 8, 2007

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

What happens when the person who damaged you for life...

Caleb Becker spent the past year in juvenile detention.

Maggie Armstrong spent the past year in hospitals and physical therapy.

Two teens who were scarred one fateful night are going to have to face their greatest challenge yet—meeting up with each other again.

...becomes the person you trust most?

A few weeks ago I discovered Simone Elkeles by reading Perfect Chemistry and I immediately wanted to read more. I ordered Leaving Paradise and started reading it right away. I wasn’t disappointed and I felt the same way I did while I was reading Perfect Chemistry. Simone Elkeles just has a way of writing that really draws you into the story and you don’t really emerge until you’ve read the entire book.

A year ago, Caleb went to a juvenile detention facility for having been driving drunk and running into his neighbor Maggie. Today Caleb is released and Maggie is suffering through physical therapy and and has to walk with a limp, most likely for the rest of her life. Maggie and Caleb are told to stay away from each other but there is something that pulls them together, they are the only two people who have even the smallest insight into what the other is going through.

I just love the characters that Elkeles creates, they always feel so real and they jump off the page. Sometimes it feels like I could be having a conversation with them, that’s how real they feel. Maggie and Caleb were great. I really enjoyed reading from both their perspectives but I have to admit that I think I like Caleb’s perspective the best. I don’t really know why. I think as a character I also liked him more than I did Maggie. That’s not to say Maggie wasn’t awesome because she really was, I just liked Caleb better...maybe I’m starting to develop a thing for bad boys...

Like in Perfect Chemistry, the chapters had alternating points of view. I don’t know if the story would be the same if it were just from Caleb or Maggie’s point of view. I find that having that constant change in point of view really draws me into the story. Because of the way it’s written you never know how things are going to turn out until the very end, and even then you’re not sure if that’s really how things are going to stay.

The story itself was really great. There is just something about a love that’s not meant to happen than gets me every time. No matter how many times I read about people who aren’t supposed to be together falling in love, I just start rooting for them, every single time. But there is so much more to Leaving Paradise than Maggie and Caleb’s relationship. It’s about growing up, being self-confident and owning up to what you did or didn’t do. I don’t know how to describe the story without giving too much of it away but I’ll say this: the story is about making mistakes, learning from those mistakes, and taking responsibility.

As good as Leaving Paradise was, Perfect Chemistry is still my favorite. Though had I read them in reverse order, Leaving Paradise may be just be my favorite. The ending sort of left me hanging so I’m really looking forward to Return to Paradise, the sequel that’s coming out on September 1st.