Review: Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles

Goodreads Summary | Amazon
When Carlos Fuentes returns to America after living in Mexico for a year, he doesn’t want any part of the life his older brother, Alex, has laid out for him at a high school in Colorado . Carlos likes living his life on the edge and wants to carve his own path—just like Alex did. Then he meets Kiara Westford. She doesn’t talk much and is completely intimidated by Carlos’ wild ways. As they get to know one another, Carlos assumes Kiara thinks she’s too good for him, and refuses to admit that she might be getting to him. But he soon realizes that being himself is exactly what Kiara needs right now.

MY TAKE:  5/5 STARS

I bought this book a year ago and started it back then as well. I don’t know what it was that made me shelved it back to my TO-READ pile, but I did.

Maybe because I was a little put-off by the realness of Kiara – hair in a ponytail, oversized shirt, uber self-confidence issues, over all your typical girl lead in a book who suffered from I’m not good enough syndrome; maybe because Carlos frustrated me even more so than Alex did. Carlos’ hot temper and occasional idiocy made me want to pull a good chunk of my hair.

But I’m so glad I kept going this time. The boy revved up my engines and had me cursing under my breath numerous times.

In a true Simone Elkeles fashion, Rules of Attraction delivered a sexually-charged, tearful, poignant story of brotherhood, family, friendship, and love.

This is the story of Carlos; the second Fuentes brother who seemed to be carrying an even bigger chip on his shoulder as Alex did and I’m imagining that the younger brother, Luis would too. After all, they’re cut from the same cloth. But he was even more frustrating than Alex. Half the time, I wanted to step into the pages of the book and sexually assault him senseless. It was truly a trying experience reading his POV. But he’s got redeeming qualities that stopped me from abandoning this book the second time around.

First of all, he’s a FUENTES. I don’t think there’s any need to elaborate on that. Second of all, once I got over myself and calmed down some, it was difficult to stop. The plot flowed smoothly like a warm maple syrup on hot pancakes. Now there are points in this story where I had difficulty reading. I’m not a fan of drug use in a book but I make exceptions on some. This series is one of them. You can’t really avoid excluding those scenes if the book is gang related. I also had to skip the violence scenes; it’s just a personal preference.

I absolutely loved Kiara and her family – talk about a refreshing read! I loved how supportive and loving her whole family was. They’re almost too perfect. Tuck was a delightful, funny character that made me wish I had a friend like him.

Simone Elkeles wrote this book with torture in mind, I bet. She didn’t give me enough time to recover from one maddening, assholic, Carlos scene to another. I was either fuming silently or getting hot under the collar. She tortured me with how unbelievably sexy this Fuentes brother is. I don’t know how it’s even possible for me to like Carlos even more so than I liked Alex. He simply reduced me to a puddle of molten goo.

Ms. Elkeles has a penchant for whisking you away into the world of her well evolved characters and irrevocably making you fall in love with them. Her writing is so real that it was not a hard task to identify with the characters’ feelings and situations. Hands down, SIMONE ELKELES OWNS ME.

Over all, I love, love, love Rules of Attraction. It will make you laugh; scream, cry, and sometimes, Carlos will make you want to punch your neighbour’s kitty. But in the end, this boy will own your heart.