The Synopsis: has no clue that her carefully created “perfect” life is about to unravel before her eyes. She’s forced to be lab partners with Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, and he is about to threaten everything she's worked so hard for—her flawless reputation, her relationship with her boyfriend, and the secret that her home life is anything but perfect. Alex is a bad boy and he knows it. So when he makes a bet with his friends to lure Brittany into his life, he thinks nothing of it. But soon Alex realizes Brittany is a real person with real problems, and suddenly the bet he made in arrogance turns into something much more.

My thoughts: I picked this up, not expecting much. Typical rich girl and boy from wrong side of the tracks fight and fall in love. But I was pleasantly surprised. The plot didn't deviate much from what I expected, but Elkeles layered the novel well, infusing the story with details that evoke emotion well. Alex doesn't want to be a gang member, but did what he had to, at the unspoken behest of his mother, to ensure his two younger brothers would never succumb to the life that killed his father in front of him, and forced him in. Ironic that of the three, he has the drive, the passion and the courage to succeed in a better world when his younger brothers seem content to live with their lot in life, warring gangs and fallen friends. Brittany is the perfect girl, but only to please her parents so they won't send away her sick older sister Appearance is everything when you live where Brit lives.