Los chicos del instituto Fairfield, en los suburbios de Chicago, saben que las bandas del South Side y North Side no son precisamente elementos compatibles. De modo que, cuando la líder de las animadoras Brittany Ellis y el pandillero Alex Fuentes se ven obligados a trabajar como compañeros de laboratorio en clase de química, lo resultados prometen ser explosivos. Pero ninguno de los dos adolescentes está preparado para la reacción química más sorprendente de todas: el amor. ¿Podrán romper con los prejuicios y estereotipos que amenazan con separarles?

Even given the sprinkling of Spanish in Alex's chapters, neither Brittany's nor Alex's points-of-view read as distinct from one another; the whole book could've been written in third person and it wouldn't have made a difference. And while I understood why the two were drawn to one another, the rest of their relationship—why they stayed together—was only vaguely sketched in amid all the gang-related and familial drama. Not that I didn't enjoy the drama, but by the time I reached the end of the book, I had no real sense for why they were so passionately in love...only that they were and I was supposed to take their word for it. ( )

Ms. Elkeles knows how to write a good romance. ( )

Perfect Chemistry is the first book in a 3 part series. This book is about two teenagers who have completely different lives falling in love. One of the characters is a white girl who is a cheerleader for her school, and lives a "normal" life at home with her parents. The other character is a Hispanic boy who is in a gang, and was raised around gang violence his whole life. They end up falling in love, but have many struggles and differences along the way. I read this book several times, the first time being in junior high. Although this book is geared towards "young adults", I believe pre-teens could benefit from reading this book as well because it gives insight on reality. The author does an awesome job at showing how different people's lives can be, and how differences do not necessarily separate one person from the next. I actually loved this book so much that I met the author at an event after reading it for the first time! I would recommend this book for pre-teens and teens who are mature and enjoy learning about real world problems. ( )

re-read #5: 23/09/2015 *sigh* this book is as good as ever, i can never get enough of Alex and Brittany ( )