Perfect Chemistry

by Simone Elkeles, 357 pages

When blonde, pom-pom squad princess Brittany and Latino gangster bad-boy Alex are forced to be lab partners in their chemistry class, the sparks fly in a recipe for romance. But will their different worlds prove incompatible?

This story has a lot of potential with its urban-lit-for-teens elements, well-balanced alternating first-person present-tense narrative, and thoughtful characterization and detail, but its awkward execution left me grumbling.

Despite Elkeles's résumé, the book reads like a first novel by a really young author and one that is still in need of a good deal of editing. The voices and dialogue don't always ring true or sound natural for their teenage speakers, and the author insists on making the protagonists tell (repeatedly and with the same recycled phrases), rather than just show, that they've consciously built up a lot of protective walls around themselves and are uncertain and intrigued at the thought of someone else finally seeing and breaking through them. I think if the author had cut out about a quarter or more of the internal monologues and clunky dialogue (and cut out the whole cliché of the boys' bet about Alex sleeping with Brittany--that device has been used so many times in books and movies, I actually groaned out loud and said, "Really?" as soon as it came up), the remainder could have told the story much more convincingly and effectively.

I know this has landed on a number of notable lists and that several of the other bloggers have enjoyed it--as did I, in places--but I just can't get past how the stilted writing makes the characters come off as one-note personalities with a limited (emotional) vocabulary rather than the complex, intelligent individuals the author otherwise sets them up to be.

That said, I'm sure teens will still appreciate and sympathize with all the angst and melodrama. Maybe I'm just getting hyper-critical and cranky in my old age? :P