Rules Of Attraction by Simon Elkeles | Teen Ink

Rules Of Attraction by Simon Elkeles

December 2, 2011
By Sav123 BRONZE, Highland Village, Texas
Sav123 BRONZE, Highland Village, Texas
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

In Rules of Attraction, by Simone Elkeles, Carlos Fuentes loves his brother Alex but wants no part in his perfect life with his rich, gringo girlfriend, or his fancy college, or anything. He is less than interested to be moving to Boulder, Colorado and play a part in the new life Alex has laid out for him.
But, when his ties to a Mexican Gang don’t loosen he finds himself set up by an ultimate drug lord. When he gets caught in a drug bust at school, he is forced to live with one of his brother’s old professors and his family to prevent him from going to jail. This is less than an ideal situation for Carlos.
Here he meets a girl, Kiara, the professor’s daughter. She is different from the girls that Carlos normally would go for. He feels different around her. He feels safe, like she is his only safe haven where he can let his guard down. Even though she is not popular and everyone thinks she is a huge geek, he starts to fall head over heels for her. FAST. He soon learns that no matter who you are the rules of attraction will overcome any difference that sets them apart. And that anything can happen.
But as danger seems to always find Carlos he realizes that his new family is the only one that can save him. But is he willing to put them at bullet point to save him?


Rules of Attraction is an amazing book. It is realistic, relatable, and just downright perfect. It is the second book to the Perfect Chemistry series. In Perfect Chemistry it is from the view point of Alex, Carlos’s older brother, but this book gives you the entirely different view point of Carlos.
Carlos is an amazing character. He is a bad boy, who likes to control his entire life. He does not like change at all. He is a strongly willed jerk who only thinks of himself. He would rather live on the edge and be a thug, than try to change and be a different person in order to save his life.

He is a totally different character from his brother Alex. He is forced to move to Boulder, Colorado because he gets caught up in the wrong crowd. He is sent there by his brother when something went terribly wrong at the sugar mill in Mexico, and he loses his job.
He shows that he can be a good person periodically throughout this book, but this sweetness is always counteracted by his old selfish ways. Carlos is really a good kid, but Kiara is the only person who can save him from himself.
Kiara is by far my favorite character in this book. She is also very strongly willed. She doesn’t care about her physical appearance because she believes that people are loved from what’s on the inside, not the outside. She is a great person in general.
She loves her family, and would do just about anything to keep them happy. She is kind of a tom boy and has her very own unique personality. Even though she hated Carlos at the beginning, she learns that he is what she needs.
HE gives her a spark, excitement, happiness, and love. She is the only person who ever sees Carlos when he is truly happy, and when the huge shield that he has made to block people out is let down. Carlos is the only person that makes Kiara truly happy. And she is unable to be around him without her heart pounding in her chest, like it is trying to escape its little shell in her chest. When she is with him it’s like the whole world stops and it’s just them. Carlos is what makes her world go round.

This is the story of Carlos Fuentes. It’s his story that has never been told. This book is mostly about Carlos and Kiara falling head over heels for each other, and the other issues that are happening are just white noise in the background. There are some different scenarios that you have to re-read because they are so thrilling and the tension is just unbearable. This book is an excellent mix between romance and action/drama.

I most diffidently enjoyed this book. It has good parts, and then just amazing parts. The end climax is just thrilling, and has a twist that no one ever sees coming. It is the second book in the Perfect Chemistry series, but I do think that you can read this book first without being lost. Because like I said it is in the view point of Carlos and not Alex.
It does give away a little to the first book, but not enough to where it will ruin the story. I for sure recommend this book for anyone who loves a good romance.
I love all of Simon Elkeles writing, there is perfect action, drama, love, and tension in all of her books to where it is just a thrilling page turner. I give this book a rate of a 10. And I do think that even if you don’t necessarily like romance that you can still enjoy this book.


The author's comments:
I was inspired to write this review because I love this book. It just stood out to me, most people say dont judge a book by its cover, but it looked like my kind of book. This book is a great balance of romance/drama and action . So all in all this book was amazing.

Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 0 comments.