Review #34: Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles

Rules of Attraction
Author: Simone Elkeles
Publisher: Walker
Gender: YA Romance/Drama
Publication Date: April 27th, 2010
Pages: 324 (Paperback)
★★★★★

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 college 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.

Such was my attachment to the story of Alex and Brittany in Perfect Chemistry that I could not help myself. I found myself crazily reading Rules of Attraction while waiting for the arrival of my copy of Last Sacrifice (Vampire Academy #6). The reading of this sequel did not reached the level of excitement of the first volume; again, however, the protagonists have captivated me.

Carlos manages to be even more stubborn than his older brother. Annoying, with such an ego even bigger than the whole world, he does not care about rules, and is much less interested in serious and balanced feelings. Soon after returning from Mexico to the United States, now in Colorado, he gets in trouble at school. Being legally prohibited from living with his brother, all because he is still completing the Senior Year, he is invited by Professor Westford, Kiara's father.

Kiara is athletic, knows how to repair cars, and work with volunteering... The one type of girl who never gives major problems. And besides all this, she loves being challenged! Once Carlos comes to town, Alex, a student of Westford, asks Kiara to be his brother's peer guide around school, and, from this moment on, especially when they get to live under the same roof, Carlos becomes the biggest challenge Kiara has ever had. Nor can I forget her hilarious, gay best friend, Tuck, who Carlos believes for a long time to be Kiara's boyfriend. So hilarious!

Simone Elkeles's writing remains amazing, with which I could easily identify myself. Ideas are coherent; the language used by the characters sounds very realistic, as well as emotions and attitudes that pass. I was happy to meet again the protagonists of Perfect Chemistry, and was happy to see that Elkeles was able to balance their participation in the novel, appearing and having the right influence in the right level of being there... Since this second volume is primarily about Carlos and Kiara, my new beloved couple.

Perhaps the different situations in which are Alex and Carlos when comparing the two books, the second actually suffers a much lighter drama. Unfortunately, however, despite the less emotional reality shown, Rules of Attraction has the same flaw I have complained about while reviewing Perfect Chemistry: the final epilogue wass unnecessary and the ending could be better developed as the emotions and dialogue of our protagonists.

With 4 little blue stars, I recommend it from the very bottom of my heart, that has been increasingly growing such a passionate attachment to the series. Now, I can hardly wait until Chain Reaction (2011), with the third and youngest of the Fuentes brothers, Luis, being the good guy while his lover is the bad one.

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