Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles

Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles
Perfect Chemistry #3
Release Date: July 5, 2012
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Books
Rating: Enjoyable

Like his brothers, Luis Fuentes is a risk taker; whether he's scaling the Rocky Mountains or dreaming of a future as an astronaut, Luis is always looking for the next thrill. Nikki Cruz lives her life by certain rules -, don't trust a boy who says "I love you", boys lie to get their own way and never date a boy from the south side of Fairfield. Then she meets Luis at his brother Alex's wedding and suddenly she's tempted to break all her rules. Getting Nikki to give him a chance is Luis's biggest challenge, until he finds himself targeted by the head of the gang that nearly destroyed his brothers' lives. Will Luis's feelings for Nikki be enough to stop him from entering a dark and violent world that could prove to be the ultimate risk? - Goodreads

Chain Reaction is the third and final book in the Perfect Chemistry trilogy. The focus has shifted to the youngest Fuentes brother, Luis, and his love interest Nikki. While I liked the book, and found it to be an enjoyable read, there were a few things that I didn't like that much about it and I was left a little disappointed.

Firstly, I found that the main plot was waaaaaaaay too similar to the one in Perfect Chemistry for my liking. It didn't feel like anything original, and I found it to be a bit of a drag because it was something I had read before except with a more likeable main character.

That said, I really enjoyed seeing more of the other Fuentes brothers and their mother and their other halves. Alex is adorable, and while I don't really like Carlos that much, he was still fun to read about.

I wasn't a fan of Luis at all. I think I'm tired of the whole arrogant bad boy attitude he - and the other Fuentes brothers - had going on. His character didn't really change that much throughout the book, so that sucked in the development department.

I did, however, really like Nikki, but I think her character suffered from the amount of focus that was on Luis. Nikki had huge issues with sex and love and the male gender, and I would have liked to have seen her deal with those things and to grow more. Instead, the gang plot and Luis took over.

I also didn't really like the epilogue. Call me a sceptic, but I didn't find it very realistic that the series wrapped up how it did.

Anyway, I know it sounds as though this was a bad book, but it wasn't. Not by any means. It just lacked the originality of its predecessors and as I am such a huge fan of the first book, I was left disappointed.

Perfect Chemistry trilogy:

1) Perfect Chemistry

2) Rules of Attraction

3) Chain Reaction