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Tuesday, October 1, 2013

BBReview: "Wild Cards 1: Wild Cards" By Simone Elkeles

Genre: Young Adult - Contemporary
Publishing Date: October 1st, 2013
Page Count: 288
Source: BEA (Book Expo America) 2013
Format: ARC (paperback)

Description from Goodreads.com:
After getting kicked out of boarding school, bad boy Derek Fitzpatrick has no choice but to live with his ditzy stepmother while his military dad is deployed. Things quickly go from bad to worse when he finds out she plans to move them back to her childhood home in Illinois. Derek’s counting the days before he can be on his own, and the last thing he needs is to get involved with someone else’s family drama.

Ashtyn Parker knows one thing for certain--people you care about leave without a backward glance. A football scholarship would finally give her the chance to leave. So she pours everything into winning a state championship, until her boyfriend and star quarterback betrays them all by joining their rival team. Ashtyn needs a new game plan, but it requires trusting Derek—someone she barely knows, someone born to break the rules. Is she willing to put her heart on the line to try and win it all?



Review:
Let me first start off by saying that Wild Cards was my first book by Simone Elkeles. Yes, I have always heard how amazing the Perfect Chemisty series was, but I just haven't gotten around to reading it for myself. While I was at BEA (Book Expo America) this year, I heard about Wild Cards and decided to go ahead and grab a copy. Well, I am so freaking glad I did, because seriously this book was amazing!! I am now officially a fan of Simone's and will definitely be picking up all her other books ASAP!

First thing I have to love about this book, of course, is that it is told in two POV's. I absolutely loved both Ashtyn and Derek and loved them even more since I got to get into both of their heads. I don't think I would have loved the story as much if it wasn't told from both POV's, because then I wouldn't understand why they were acting the way they did towards each other, and probably would have gotten frustrated and hated one of them, but I got into both of their heads and fell in love. They are great main characters. I found it very easy to relate to both of them, and could find something I had in common or could just relate to with both of them. I also really liked that they both had issues that they needed to work out and that it wasn't a perfect relationship.

I also loved the other characters in this book besides Ashtyn and Derek. I loved how clueless, but yet completely in the know, Brandii (Derek's step mom and Ashyn's older sister) was. She was a great minor character. I also really love Brandii's son Julian and his relationship with Derek. I absolutely loved that even though they are world away in age that Derek really loves him and watches out for him. And finally I absolutely loved Derek's posh grandmother. She was so texanly awesome. At first I hated her with Derek, but then you see her true colors and really love her.

The romance aspect was completely on point. I love that they both fought their feelings so hard and that it ended up making the romance go at a slow pace. It literally made me crave for something to happen between them, and that is what a reader loves; when they have to literally beg the book to make something happen. I could not put this book down once I started reading it. The only time I willingly put it down was to go eat dinner and even then the whole time I wanted to get back home to finish the book (which I did).

And the ending! OMG the ending was amazing! I couldn't think of a better way to end this book. It completely won me over emotionally. This book was absolutely perfect and I wouldn't have changed a thing! I am so ecstatic that this will be a series, and I cannot wait to see what else is in store for the newest books to come. Congratulations Simone Elkeles, you have a new fan-girl!!

Overall:
AMAZING! AMAZING! AMAZING! Simone Elkeles has a new fan-girl to please and that is me! This was my first Elkeles novel and I absolutely adored it! The characters were amazing and completely added to the story overall. I absolutely loved that it was told in both Derek and Ashtyn's POV's because it completely made the story genuine and heartfelt. The romance was completely on key and I couldn't get enough of it. This was a piece of perfection! I will definitely be reading the rest to come in this series and will reading all the other books she has written!!

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 5/5


**The books cover, description, and info was all found and borrowed from Goodreads.com. A link back to it's Goodreads site has been provided. All other work and ideas are of my own creation. I received this novel while at Book Expo America 2013 for free.**