Thanks for tuning in here for another Literary Battle. I know there’s really nothing more common, more mundane, more ho-hum than pitting one book against another. We readers are always doing that. We say things like, “It’s another Hunger Games type of story” or “It’s a mash-up of Anna and the French Kiss and The Shining.” (Haha…wouldn’t that be a story?!?). But before you turn away, let me explain that this Book vs. Book bout is a fight between the same author’s two books. A little more though-provoking and probably something we all either encounter or worry about encountering.
So this week, I bring you…
It’s Simone Elkeles vs. Herself
with…
vs.
I LOOOOOOVED Perfect Chemistry. I read it in a day. That’s unusual for me. Not because I don’t like to read, but because it’s difficult for me to sit so still all day long. But I did it because I just couldn’t put that book down. I loved bad-boy Alex. I loved the alternating point of view. I loved the realistic nature of the story. And I was so excited to have found a new author. Upon putting the book down, I was…
So I picked up the next book in the series, Rules of Attraction. I couldn’t say it out loud, but I was a bit disappointed. It still had a lot of the same elements that i loved, but it wasn’t as magical. I didn’t admit it out loud, though. I knew it was just me and not her.
I recently came across Wild Crush. I didn’t know she had new books out. I was once again,
But not far into the book, I became…
So much disappointment. (*spoiler alert)
- the bad boy character was stale. Vic was hot, but I didn’t fall so in love with him.
- The plot didn’t seem too realistic. Vic’s father called him a loser. It’s not that I don’t understand that not all people have great parents, but the way the character was written made him seem to exaggerated. Also Vic’s friend died, which just seemed there for shock value. Or maybe that it was that it happened too fast. Something about it just didn’t work for me.
- Lots of telling and not showing. This one is a tough one for me because my writing has been dinged for so many of these things that I see in every wildly successful book that I read.
All in all, it was a pretty disappointing read. I realized as I was writing this post that I don’t even own the book anymore. That’s rare for me. I usually hang on to all my books. Not this one. I had no wild crush on Wild Crush. I think Simone Elkeles had a great formula for some steamy YA contemporary, but it’s time for something new. Perfect Chemistry is a homerun and all the other books are strikeouts.
Have you read any of her books? If so…
