When I was around 13, I had started reading teen romance books in Mandarin (the language I am the most comfortable with) until the age of 18. And this book reminded me exactly of those romance books I had read in the past which made it dull, plot and character-wise. Nevertheless, giving up on this book reflects my increasingly low tolerance towards everything in life at the moment. That's it - life is too short to be wasted on books (or movies or anything else) u don't deem worthwhile.
To me, Perfect Chemistry is kinda like a modern version of Romeo and Juliet. Two persons who are seemingly living an opposite life in terms of everything (with the exception of their academic excellent) have strongly attracted to each other physically and fallen in love later on despite being advised by friends and fully aware that it is forbidden because duh they come from a different world. Brittany is white and rich (although she herself isn't as perfect as the image she is trying to portray due to family issues) while Alex is a Mexican gang member who might not even finish school. But since they are assigned to be each other's Chemistry partner, they are forced to work with each other despite the prejudices and blah they soon are drawn closer and develop mutual understanding after learning more about one another - their problems and that they are actually similar in so many ways. Could it be anymore cliche?
I also wanna whack whoever that says "Look, the characters are real blablabla".. Don't we have enough of this crap in television shows or movies already? Cheerleader dating the quarterback of the football team who can't resist the charm of the bad guy who is rumored to do drug and all the illegal stuff outside school. What makes the story lamer is the bet Alex makes with his friends or cousins to get into her pants before the school ends; if he loses, it is going to cost him his motorcycle. Urgh. Even though I didn't finish the book, I can predict the rest of the story.
Anyway, I admit with the characters having great chemistry as portrayed in the book. For your information, the part I looked the most forward to is them having intense make out session or some sizzling hot sex. In fact, I actually skimmed the book for scenes like that hahaha But I guess I am just sick of books with seemingly perfect characters like Brittany. Although I don't mind to have a male character as sexy as Alex in the book (to make up for the lack of lustworthy males in real life), I guess I do have a preference for the characters to be real at this point of life. And by real, I mean ones that can actually resemble someone we know in life in one way or another or typical us who are carrying out our normal life (and not involving in knife fights etc). But then, other readers who don't share the same view as I do might find it boring. So I guess, young adult romance isn't my thing afterall and I am gladly to move on to other gernes.
