Sunday, April 26, 2015

BOOK REVIEW | ATTRACTION (Elements of Chemistry #1) by Penny Reid

Title: ATTRACTION (Elements of Chemistry #1)
Author: Penny Reid (Website | Twitter) 
Publication Date: April 6, 2015

SYNOPSIS


One week.

Private beach.

Invisible girl.

Jerk-faced bully.

What’s the worst that could happen?

Kaitlyn Parker has no problem being the invisible girl, which is why she finds herself hiding in various cabinets and closets all over her college campus. Despite her best efforts, she can’t escape the notice of Martin Sandeke—bad boy, jerkface bully, and the universe’s hottest, wealthiest, and most unobtainable bachelor—who also happens to be Kaitlyn’s chemistry lab partner.

Kaitlyn might be the only girl who isn’t interested in exploiting his stunning rower’s build, chiseled features, and family's billionaire fortune. Kaitlyn wants Martin for his brain, specifically to tabulate findings of trace elements in surface water.

When Kaitlyn saves Martin from a nefarious plot, Martin uses the opportunity to push Kaitlyn out of her comfort zone: spring break, one week, house parties, bathing suits, and suntan lotion. Can she overcome her aversion to being noticed? Will he be able grow beyond his self-centered nature? Or, despite their obvious chemistry, will Martin be the one to drive Kaitlyn into the science cabinet of obscurity for good?

Purchase links: Amazon | B&N | iBooks 




I wrote this review last April 14th and forgot to post it. My bad.

This book was totally off of my radar until last week. I only came across Attraction when I was blog stalking one of my favourites, Vilma’s Book Blog, and saw the very eye-catching book cover and read its intriguing blurb. I have to go back and talk about its book cover first, I never thought I would love such a loud and bold colour on a book cover but Attraction made me love it. I adore the bloody red coloured background, black illustration of a man and the intricate details of the chemistry symbols and elements in it. In a way, the cover design was relevant to the characters, the story and how the narrative is written.  In addition to that, it’s not one of those cheesy book covers that we see a lot at present which makes me so happy with how Attraction was treated. As to the blurb, I was sold to reading Attraction when I read…

One week.
Private beach.
Invisible girl.
Jerk-faced bully.
What’s the worst that could happen?”

Ha, I certainly wouldn’t pass up to read some amusing material.

Attraction is actually the first book that I’ve read coming from Penny Reid and I’m quite glad with what I read in here. I’m amazed with Reid’s writing style. Chemistry isn’t one of my favourite subjects back when I was in high school and definitely didn’t changed while I was in college but Reid did something here that made me enjoy Chemistry. Reid incorporated and tied up Chemistry (the science) with how she wrote Attraction. She used chemistry-related terminologies in narrating the story and the thoughts of her characters. It was certainly a unique approach in delivering and capturing the vibe of the story. Kaitlyn and Martin are both intelligent characters and with the various chemistry-references they used all over this book, it just feels natural. The narration was very true to what a person with Kaitlyn’s and Martin’s mind would say or do. I think, the writing style was what hooked me in into reading this book.

From the moment that I’ve started reading Attraction, I was immediately whisked into Kaitlyn and Martin’s chemistry and Bunsen burner-filled world. We have two equally different characters. On the one hand, we have Kaitlyn who’s rational, prefers to be invisible and inexperienced yet isn’t totally naïve and on the other hand, we have Martin who’s quite the opposite of Kaitlyn.

“You’ll have to read the book, and don’t interrupt me. It’s distracting enough looking at you. You’ve already derailed my brain train with your face several times.”

What do we get when that happens? Well, we find Kaitlyn and Martin in totally hilarious, all kinds of awkwardness and scorching hot situations. I have to give Reid a hand for those awkward yet steamy scenes. You know I could’ve finished this book in one sitting, with having only twelve chapters in it, but then I kept on stalling because I don’t want to finish it yet. It was quite an entertaining read.

Entertaining. I was entertained. Huge check mark.

But content wise, I didn’t find that much of a story in here. Attraction was just basically an introduction. It introduced the characters of Kaitlyn and Martin (uh not that much) to the readers and gave a glimpse of how they are figuring out and building their relationship. That means more things will be revealed, discussed and probably more drama will go down in the second book.

I just have to comment and give my thoughts about both of our main characters. I find Kaitlyn to be somewhat of a weak character. Girl, please don’t let your thoughts be clouded just because Martin is all over you. In more than one occasion in this book, Kaitlyn agreed to Martin’s whims during a make out session when her mind is non-existent and her hormones are taking over her body.  I’m happy for her since she’s coming out of her shell already but then I’m just bothered that it happened repeatedly to her. Though, I like it when she stands up for herself and when she doesn’t follow through with what Martin wants to happen.

Someone’s asking me about Martin. Well, Martin is nice and kind to Kaitlyn and sometimes to his rowing team members. I couldn’t tell much about him because his (their) interaction with other people is very limited since the setting for this book took place in a secluded island and during spring break.

“He’s kind of crazy about you, Kaitlyn.”

But yeah, he’s quite good and sweet towards Kaitlyn. He is actually genuinely into her. Apparently, Attraction is set in Martin’s post-sowing his wild oats period. I won’t expound more about their characters because that’s something you would want to discover while reading this book. And since it’s very short, I wouldn’t want to take away more from your reading experience.

Attraction ends with a cliffhanger. Not surprising though, since this book is a set-up for the next installment. The ending was quite explosive with a clichéd type of drama and it's something that would definitely trigger the "I need the next book" feel out of you. Oh I also felt that making this as a series wasn’t that necessary and it could’ve been just a good standalone novel. 

Still, I’m looking forward to read the next two parts of the series and know what happens next to Kaitlyn and Martin.

“Even though you don’t feel calm doesn’t mean you can’t be calm.”


RATING
3.5 stars



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