Perfect Chemistry by Simone Ekkeles

Brittany Ellis has it all. She lives on the north side in a wealthy, suburban neighborhood, with a wardrobe full of designer clothing, the hottest boyfriend in school, and blond locks to boot. Her life is perfect, or so she tells herself. But behind the facade lies a dysfunctional home life: workaholic, tough love parents and the much covered up situation that is her handicapped sister. How long she can keep hiding these imperfections, it’s hard to tell.

Alejuando “Alex” Fuentes is the stereotypical bada**, Mexican gangbanger from the south side. He’s rumored to deal drugs, get arrested on occasion, and whether they’re true or not, he likes his tough guy, untouchable image. He also keeps his vulnerabilities hidden. Scars he still bears from seeing his OG (Original Gangster) dad murdered in front of his eyes, and his determination as the new man of the house to save his mother and brothers from similar gang-tangled fates. On top of that he’s set to be the first in his family to graduate from high school, possible or not.

At Fairfield High, the north and southsiders don’t mix, but no one’s crying over it. Not until Brittany and Alex’s world’s literally collide when they’re paired in chemistry class. As their barbed, antagonistic exchanges turn from mean-spirited to friendly, they’ll be willing to upheave every facet of their lives to be together. But can Alex separate his gang and personal life, and can Brittany ditch the perfect image her parents insist she project?

As you can tell, this read was West Side Story 2.0, for better or for worse (as it turned out for me). What I did like was the seemingly real life or death gang drama, which had me on the edge of my seat, and the short chapters alternating between Brittany’s POV and Alex’s, which also made it a page-turner. Although Brittany and Alex are filling very stereotypically teen roles, they are both deeply flawed, fleshed out characters with insecurities and unexpected but commendable hidden hopes and dreams incompatible with their desired image. I liked Brittany immediately. She loves her sister more than herself and accepts her and her condition without exception. It took a little longer for me sympathize with arrogant Alex and his serious Attitude. What I couldn’t come around to was both Alex and Brittany’s preoccupation with physical attraction and sex, particularly Alex. Taken with the cliched premise, it didn’t matter if they were dimensional characters, I still felt like I was reading another been-done, bad teen movie, all the way down to typical rich, snobby white girl first name Brittany and the poor Mexican gang members. When it came down to it the north-south extreme divide felt unrealistic, even if Simone Ekkeles did base it off a real-life highschool. There were moments I was convinced of Brittany and Alex’s romance. They were both exactly the same in the respect that both were hiding their imperfections and true identities in order to maintain their reputations at school. But with the story already focusing on Brittany and Alex’s myriad of differences, those moments I believed in their love were few and far between their sexual thoughts, which felt like the basis for their relationship. I kept on reading, however, anticipating the differing happy ending I knew was coming. Unfortunately the somewhat satisfying conclusion and epilogue were so sweet to the point of gagging, let alone completely unrealistic, once again. And I wanted to like this so badly. Sorry to all you Ekkeles fans out there.