Chain Reaction (Perfect Chemistry #3) by Simone Elkeles

Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 
Five/five stars!

To be honest, I had no idea how Simone Elkeles was going to top Perfect Chemistry and Rules of Attraction, but she did. Yet again she released a brilliant book about learning to love, family, trust and loss.

Luis Fuentes is the youngest of his three brothers, and so far the nicest and the smartest. He is working his ass off to get good grades and get into a good college to study to be an Astronaut (sorry, I forgot what the actual study is and I don’t have the book at the moment!). What his family doesn’t know is that apart from the grades and studying, he is very much the same as his brothers; he knows how to play the field and get the girls. He is aware of how he looks and how he affects the girls, but he really has no intentions of getting a girl. He’s studying hard, and playing the field is fun for him. When he meets Nikki Cruz, possible Mexican chica, he thinks he’s in for a good night, until she opens her mouth. She has attitude and is a man hater. She’s going to be a great challenge for Luis.

Nikki Cruz has been hurt before, and doesn’t want to be hurt again. Her first, very serious relationship ended terribly. She thought she loved Marco, she thought that they would be together forever, but unfortunately, he was actually a dickhead. It had only been a short time since the broke up with Marco, so when Luis Fuentes tries to chat Nikki up, she is furious. He is Mexican, cocky, arrogant, everything Nikki is trying to stay away from. But after everything she has been through, can Nikki let her guard down for Luis, or will she be hurt yet again?

I loved the series so much. This is why I read! I get to fall in love with THREE EXTREMELY HOT BOYS, and not feel guilty. Simone Elkeles has managed to produce another excellent book in the Fuentes brother series. This book was so good, it made me cry. I read it in… oh, about a day or so. I got it in the mail on Friday, finished ALL my assignments and homework then read for hours. I finished on Saturday night. Chain Reaction was so amazing. I can’t even describe it! I was feeling ALL THE THINGS. It was incredible.

This book was obviously Luis’s book, but Elkeles still managed to bring all the brothers together (THANK THE LORD, HOTNESS OVERLOAD #DEAD) for an epic finale.

Ok, so characters… I’ll start with Luis. He was just as amazing as his brothers. He was smart, but still had a bad boy edge to him. He had all the awesome Fuentes traits, such as, cockiness, a huge ego and he was arrogant, but that is what MADE the series. When Luis, like his brothers, sets his mind on something, or someone, he is going to get it, or her. As soon as Luis sees Nikki, he has got to get her. But he really is in for a challenge! He was so sweet and lovely with Nikki; *SPOILER*although, he did stuff it up, typical Fuentes. But overall, he was an amazing character. (Yeah, he was awesome, but Carlos is my favourite, forever.)

All my compassionate feelings went out to Nikki. She was only young but had been through so much in her short life. Hell, in the first few chapters she was a freshman. I’m in Australian, so it’s a bit different, but I’m a freshman. I had to explain the American schooling system to my friend because I was so shocked, and she didn’t really understand why it was a big deal. I don’t know if I could handle what happened to Nikki at my age; the embarrassment and having to deal with the wrath of my family members. At first Nikki pissed me off because she wasn’t even giving Luis a fair go. I understood her dilemma, but still! Luis was different, and he was trying to prove himself. Because I had read Simone Elkeles books before, I wasn’t too worried because I figured out what was going to happen. That doesn’t mean these books are predictable, because none of them were; cliché, yes, predictable, perhaps. But aren’t all contemporary books like that? I really did like how Nikki’s character turned out. She was a solid, strong main character, and I admired that.

The brothers, Alex and Carlos, and their girlfriends/fiancée’s/wives were AMAZING. OHMYGOD. Honestly, not enough fangirling in the world to comprehend how I felt reading the parts with Alex and Brittany and Carlos and Kiara. Within the first 36 pages, I WAS CRYING. CRYING. CRYING LIKE A GODDAMN BABY. And I couldn’t share my fangirling with my friends because they hadn’t read the book. I was a friggin mess, only 36 pages in. Then the scenes with Carlos and Kiara… gosh, this book was so emotional. I loved how the boys’ relationships turned out. I was so proud of my boys :P

The shit that went down in this book was pretty big, but in my opinion, not as big as the first two books. I think Perfect Chemistry was pretty intense with all its shit going down. Chain Reaction wasn’t actually too bad. With all the brothers working together, it almost seemed… easy? But it was still dramatic, typical Elkeles style.

This book was a heart breaker. I was actually crying real tears and laughing out loud. I didn’t want this series to end; I could honestly just read it forever and ever and never get sick of it. I’ll just have to continue to read the Epilogues over and over, because God knows Simone Elkeles knows how to write an Epilogue.