Review: The premise is contrived; yet the books are compulsively readable
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 14, 2014
I enjoyed book one in this series, Elite.  I wasn't totally sure about Nixon as Tracey's love interest: I thought he ran hot and cold towards her and that bugged me to no end.  I did not understand his motives for the way he treated Tracey.  I really got to know Nixon better in Elect and I do like him for Tracey.  I liked him a lot more as a character as well.I wasn't expecting a love triangle in this story, but there definitely was one.  I was just as torn up as Tracey was regarding the two men in her life.  In the end, I respected her choice and found myself wishing for the couple to be happy together.This series is compulsively readable; once I start one of these books I can hardly put it down.  I wasn't really in love with this book, yet, I could not stop reading it.  There's something about the premise that doesn't sit well with me.  It just feels a little contrived: how could such young adults wield so much power with money, family, and even people's very lives?  It just felt really unrealistic to me.  That's what kept me from loving Elect.  My other problem with this story is how Tracey lost some of herself in her relationships.  She actually says at one point: "he owns my soul" and I didn't like that.  I like tough, strong, independent female leads, not ones who submit to a man so easily.The writing style and pacing were perfect for this story.  I liked that Van Dyken used the alternating first person narrative, especially since it allows the reader to get to know Nixon and Chase better.In the end, I did enjoy Elect.  I would recommend it to fans of contemporary fiction.  It's certainly unique in the new adult genre and is a nice change of pace from the typical contemporary story.