BOOK REVIEW: Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

(Goodreads)

Where to begin...

It's not often that I read or watch a film starring a Mexican main character, and it's even more rare for it to be a love story (at least in mainstream American pop culture). Needless to say I was excited after reading the premise and seeing the 4-star average review.

Boy, what a let down.

Meet Alex Fuentes. High school senior, auto body mechanic, and part of the local gang known as the Latino Blood. His bad boy 'tough' exterior is emphasized by his multiple arm tattoos and fit physique (his abs are described on the regular as 'washboard abs'). Alex is as much of a stereotype as you can get: his father was killed in a drug deal, his family crossed over from Mexico, he smokes/drinks regularly, and has had plenty of sex.

Then there's Brittany Ellis. Brittany is not far from the 'rich white girl' stereotype. Blond hair, blue eyes, and a "hot bod". The novel really emphasizes that although her life is seemingly perfect, it's anything but. Her mother is a perfectionist who cares more about what the neighbors will say than her own daughter's feelings and her father is a workaholic who appears for no more than 5 pages. The Ellis family has a 'dirty little secret' in the form of Brittany's older sister, Shelley, who has cerebral palsy and is rarely taken outside the house.

I don't dislike the fact that Alex is a middle-class gangbanger or that Brittany is a rich popular cheerleader. What I dislike (and was so disappointed by) is how one-dimensional these characters are. While there's growth in them, they literally go from "I'm in a gang" to "I'm quitting the gang" and with Brittany it's "I need to keep up an image" to "I don't care what anyone thinks, f-you mom". I stared at the pages thinking, where's the progression?? When did they decide to change??

What honestly had me on the verge of tossing the book across the room every five minutes was the HORRIBLE SPANISH. People who speak Spanish and English do.not.talk.like this. We don't choose random words to say in Spanish in the middle of our sentences and we do not immediately translate those words!

Some highlights:

"Si, everything's bien." (33) 

"She might be a mamacita, but she ain't got nothing on this hombre." (51) 

"'Brittany Ellis is out of  your league amigo. You might be a pretty boy, but you're one hundred percent Mexicano and she's as white as Wonder Bread.' A junior named Leticia Gonzales walks by us. [...] Paco nudges me. 'Now she's a bonita Mexicana and definitely in your league.'" (54) 

"I'm in trouble. Tengo un problema grande." (120)

It really frustrates me because it's clear that there wasn't someone who spoke fluent Spanish working on this book. The grammar is sometimes incredible cringeworthy and there's even a couple of misspellings sprinkled in the book (seriously??). And I thought it was really strange that Brittany only asked once for something to be translated, did she just use context clues all the other times?

Also, can books and media please stop describing Latinos as spicy and fiery? We're not food! (Though there is a scene where Brittany has chilaquiles and sticks her tongue in a cup of cold water and I was like...yo...chilaquiles are not meant to be that spicy.)

I honestly don't think Brittany and Alex were really in love, sure they found someone that could see past their public image, but it didn't feel like they ever really knew each other. Here's a great moment:

Brittany rests her chin on my chest. "You're going to quit the Blood now, right?" 

My body stiffens, "No," I say, my voice filed with torment. Hell, why'd she go and ask me that? 

"Everything's different now, Alex. We made love." (315)

I could talk for hours about the numerous ways this book let me down and quite honestly, offended me in more ways than one. Oh and in the epilogue Brittany and Alex develop a medication to halt the progression of Alzheimers.

Someone let me saber if the Perfect Chemistry series gets mejor, because I don't see myself coming near a Simone Elkeles novel anytime soon. Know what I'm sayin', amigo? Me entiendes?

Book Review: Hide by Mathew Griffin

Hide by Mathew Griffin

(Goodreads)

Set in a declining textile town in North Carolina, Hide is the love story of Wendell Wilson, a taxidermist, and Frank Clifton, a veteran of World War II. They meet after the war, in a time when such love holds real danger. But, severing nearly all ties with the rest of the world, they carve out a home for themselves on the outskirts of town and for decades the routine of self-reliant domesticity--Wendell's cooking, Frank's care for a yard no one sees, and the vicarious drama of courtroom TV--seems to protect them.  

But when Wendell finds Frank lying motionless outside at the age of eighty-three, their carefully crafted life together begins to unravel. As Frank's physical strength deteriorates and his memory dissolves, Wendell struggles in vain to keep him healthy and to hold onto the man he once knew until, faced with giving care beyond his capacity, he must come to terms with the consequences of half a century in seclusion, the sacrifices they made for each other, and the different lives they might have lived--and most especially the impending, inexorable loss of the one they had.

Thanks to Bloomsbury USA at NetGalley for providing me with this eARC! 

I have to be honest: I feel hesitant about posting this review. Why? For two reasons, the first being that I wasn't able to finish this book and the second being that I feel bad for not liking this novel.

As with any other book I entered Mathew Griffin's debut novel with an open mind. The premise seemed interesting and I was ready to give my heart to Frank and Wendell, whose love had kept them together for a bit over five decades. However, I was about fifty pages in and I felt no connection to any aspect of the book.

Frank seemed like the most stubborn old person with no redeeming qualities. The story is told from Wendell's point of view and I struggled to find why he loved Frank, most of the time it was just Wendell looking after Frank and doing things for him that he was too stubborn to do. This novel uses two different perspectives in the form of alternating chapters to tell the current situation and how the two met. I thought I'd find a connection when I read about how they fell in love but instead I was disappointed, I didn't feel like there was a story to tell.

There's a lot of descriptions of mundane everyday things. The kind of things that grandparents drone on about but you listen to because you love them and you care about what they want to share with you. But because I was never given a reason to love and care about Frank and Wendell, these descriptions bored me (a scene that comes to mind is Wendell describing how he had to wash a knife twice because the first time the food didn't come off it all the way).

At the end of chapter 7 (around page 70), I realized I couldn't finish this novel. The only thing I liked about this novel was the gorgeous cover art. I really do wish I could have enjoyed it as much as others seem to.