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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
Well hell. If you want my review of this book, all you need to know is what I texted my sister as soon as I finished it. It was something along the lines of "GOD F*CKING DAMMIT. The way this stupid book ended!" GARRRRRRRR. I really liked Elite and the introduction to this mafia romance world, but I'm so not ready for the angst that reading Elect, book two in the series, will most definitely cause. I'll probably squeeze in a rom-com and then dive back in when my heart is a little less fragile. Definitely recommend if you're looking for a different type of romance!
i was on the fence about starting this book because i was never a fan of the bully becoming a lover. started it when i had nothing to read and i really don't regret it. i don't think it was a waste of my time, but i wasn't interested in continuing the series.
Different and unexpected. This book was not a usual NA college experience and a bit over the top. Set in Eagle Elite College, there is bigotry, elitism, bullying and its all tolerated by the teaching staff and principles because basically they don't hold the power. Nixon is in charge. Tracy arrives on a scholarship; some of the time she's accepted, some of the time she is at the bottom. It was an unrealistic story but interesting all the same.
Elite was definitely a different kind of book. It was unlike anything I have read in the New Adult genre. It was ridiculous and confusing at times, but in the end it was a fun ride.
Immediately, I had a severe dislike for our main love interest, Nixon. I can’t even describe how much I hated this character after the first chapter. Why you ask? Because he is a DOUCHEBAG from the first few pages.
Those are just a few of the gems that Nixon rolled out within minutes of meeting poor Tracey. My hatred for him came hard and fast, he just disgusted me. And this is who Trace is supposed to fall for??
Somehow we are to believe that this barely twenty year old guy has the run of this uppity private school for the benefit of everyone involved. He segregates students from different counties because they might have a difference of opinion and fight! Nixon was a tyrant he threw out these rules and everyone must obey them or suffer the consequences. He kicks out one of his closes confidants for mild flirting with Trace! His own sister couldn’t stand him and thought of his as Satan himself.
Even as this book got more outlandish and ridiculous as it went on I did enjoy it. I couldn’t put it down. How I ended up liking it is still a bit of a mystery to me, but I did and I now want to read the second book. As the story progressed I was thoroughly confused. The more the mystery built the more I got into it.
Trace is our poor naïve main character. She is verbally abused by Nixon and his crew, the student body, and physically attacked at one point as well. She breaks down multiple times in public and has to be carried off. Even though all of this abuse stems from Nixon she still is willing to socialize with him.
Immediately, I had a severe dislike for our main love interest, Nixon. I can’t even describe how much I hated this character after the first chapter. Why you ask? Because he is a DOUCHEBAG from the first few pages.
“If an Elect talks to you, never make eye contact. Because, technically you don’t exist. You’re just a pathetic excuse as a human being, and at this school you’re a real tragedy. You see while one of the Elect is running for president and basically ruling the world, you’ll be lucky enough to be working for one of our companies. You follow the rules, and maybe we’ll throw you a bone.”
“This key card gains you access into the elevator only once a week. It also gains you access into the cafeteria, twice a day. No three times. We don’t want you gaining weight. Use it wisely and if you impress me with your ability to follow directions. I may just up your freedom.”
“Memorize it now, because as of this moment, you can’t touch us. We are untouchable. If you as much as sneeze in our direction, if you as much breathe the same air in my atmosphere, I will make your life hell. This touch, what you feel against your skin, will be the only time you feel another human being as powerful as me near you.”
Those are just a few of the gems that Nixon rolled out within minutes of meeting poor Tracey. My hatred for him came hard and fast, he just disgusted me. And this is who Trace is supposed to fall for??
Somehow we are to believe that this barely twenty year old guy has the run of this uppity private school for the benefit of everyone involved. He segregates students from different counties because they might have a difference of opinion and fight! Nixon was a tyrant he threw out these rules and everyone must obey them or suffer the consequences. He kicks out one of his closes confidants for mild flirting with Trace! His own sister couldn’t stand him and thought of his as Satan himself.
Even as this book got more outlandish and ridiculous as it went on I did enjoy it. I couldn’t put it down. How I ended up liking it is still a bit of a mystery to me, but I did and I now want to read the second book. As the story progressed I was thoroughly confused. The more the mystery built the more I got into it.
Trace is our poor naïve main character. She is verbally abused by Nixon and his crew, the student body, and physically attacked at one point as well. She breaks down multiple times in public and has to be carried off. Even though all of this abuse stems from Nixon she still is willing to socialize with him.
There are things I love and things I seriously have issue with when it comes to Elite by Rachel Van Dyken. The premise is something I haven’t come across before and everybody likes a little crime boss activity right? If there is one word to describe this book, it is CYRPTIC. Holy moly cryptic, which was great because it kept me wanting the read more. Elite is by no means a realistic book. Oh no. But it was fun, SO FUN. As in, whoah this would never happen so who knows what’s coming next?! In terms of Nixon? Mixed feelings all around. Do I love him? No. Do I hate him? No. Do I think he’s a seductive mad man? YOU BETCHA! The ending killed me in more ways than one but I will most likely be reading book number two just to find out what’s next.
Read the complete review on Jenny's Bookshelves
The book starts with Trace and her grandpa arriving at the Eagle Elite College. She immediately finds out that the school is much different from what she expected. But what I liked about Trace is that she didn't let it get to her. She kept her head held high and tried to make the best of it. A lot of the stuff that came out of her mouth made me laugh. Especially the mooing, and other cow stuff cracked me up. I loved her wittiness and self-mockery.
And then we have Nixon. He's just my kind of guy; a hot and sexy bad boy. Even though he was acting like the biggest ass on the planet at the beginning of the book, particularly at the party, I liked him instantly.
The book starts with Trace and her grandpa arriving at the Eagle Elite College. She immediately finds out that the school is much different from what she expected. But what I liked about Trace is that she didn't let it get to her. She kept her head held high and tried to make the best of it. A lot of the stuff that came out of her mouth made me laugh. Especially the mooing, and other cow stuff cracked me up. I loved her wittiness and self-mockery.
And then we have Nixon. He's just my kind of guy; a hot and sexy bad boy. Even though he was acting like the biggest ass on the planet at the beginning of the book, particularly at the party, I liked him instantly.
3 This is the third time I've read this and I enjoy it more every time I read it. This world is a comfort place for me and it's where I met my number 1 BB. I won't ever stop re-reading for falling in love with this story and that's a credit to not only Rachel Van Dyken's writing, but the world she's created.
1I wasn't sure what this was when I started it. But it quickly came to me. I have a feeling this series is going to be something wonderful. This isn't the first RvD book I've read and I really enjoy the writing. It's not too much. I also have a weakness for Mafia books.
1I wasn't sure what this was when I started it. But it quickly came to me. I have a feeling this series is going to be something wonderful. This isn't the first RvD book I've read and I really enjoy the writing. It's not too much. I also have a weakness for Mafia books.
When I started reading this book I had no idea what to expect. Then after a few chapters, I was confused and slightly annoyed with the main character.
Tracey has won some lottery and is now enrolled at some super exclusive college. As soon as she arrives, she comes face-to-face with Nixon. He lays out the rules of The Elite. This was went I started yelling at her (my iPad) to turn around and run! I knew from that moment on, things would go down hill, and boy, did they.
She gets bullied, big time. She gets egged, called a slut, hair pulled, and the list goes on and on. And dear Nixon is in the middle of it. According to him, though, all he does, it's to protect her. Oh, and all of this happens in the first week she's there. In a way I thought she was strong for enduring all of that, but I also thought she was weak for not putting her big0girl panties on and leaving the school. Nixon was a douchebag for the first half of the book. I really didn't get what she saw in him.
The second half was surprisingly good. I kind of had an idea what was going on, but not everything. If the whole book was like the second half, I would have enjoyed it more. I even understood where Nixon was coming from.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and will definitely be reading the second book in this series.
Tracey has won some lottery and is now enrolled at some super exclusive college. As soon as she arrives, she comes face-to-face with Nixon. He lays out the rules of The Elite. This was went I started yelling at her (my iPad) to turn around and run! I knew from that moment on, things would go down hill, and boy, did they.
She gets bullied, big time. She gets egged, called a slut, hair pulled, and the list goes on and on. And dear Nixon is in the middle of it. According to him, though, all he does, it's to protect her. Oh, and all of this happens in the first week she's there. In a way I thought she was strong for enduring all of that, but I also thought she was weak for not putting her big0girl panties on and leaving the school. Nixon was a douchebag for the first half of the book. I really didn't get what she saw in him.
The second half was surprisingly good. I kind of had an idea what was going on, but not everything. If the whole book was like the second half, I would have enjoyed it more. I even understood where Nixon was coming from.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and will definitely be reading the second book in this series.
I have a hard time believing that students have THAT MUCH control over a college
I'm sad that this was a no go for me, I really wanted to like this one and was super excited after reading and loving the Wingman Inc. duet. So this really breaks my heart because I love this author.
To sum it up, I'm a big K-Drama and J-Drama fan and watch Hana Yori Dango, which is extremely similar to what this story follows, not including the mafia tidbit. Rich school society run by the riches boys in school, the leader of the group runs everything, which kids to bully, controls the teachers, makes life a living hell for anyone who doesn't listen to his group, especially him. Now in Hana Yori Dango the lead guy redeems himself immensely and his ignorant youthful persona is the reason for a lot of his faults including his awful upbringing. But here Nixon, who is the alpha male and leader is suppose to be a college student, suppose to be a leader of his family but boy did he act like a child most of the time. I wanted to like him, tried so hard to understand his way of thinking, but serious he pissed me off and so did pretty much everyone else.
Trace is an innocent sweet country girl, lost her parents young and been raised by her grandparents in a loving environment. Everything changes when she is accepted to this Elite school and her world is turned upside down with the rich kids who run the school and all their followers. Again this is suppose to be college but I kept feeling like I was in high school. Traces' innocents was heavily focused on, thank goodness she had some backbone though, she never back down, which made me like her. But then she let Nixon walk all over her and she continued to want to be around him.
Anyways, mostly other reviews cover similar issues like I had. There is defiantly redeemable factors that could get better in the next book. The character Chase is extremely likable and easy to connect with, the backstory behind Traces' family is something I'd like to know more about. And the different mafia families, I'm interested to know more about. I have a feeling with the love that people have shown for this series it does mean it gets better, but I just don't for myself want to continue this one.
I hope everyone give this a chance, I love romance, I love mafia stories and complex drama, but I was looking for more maturity in this story then what I got.
To sum it up, I'm a big K-Drama and J-Drama fan and watch Hana Yori Dango, which is extremely similar to what this story follows, not including the mafia tidbit. Rich school society run by the riches boys in school, the leader of the group runs everything, which kids to bully, controls the teachers, makes life a living hell for anyone who doesn't listen to his group, especially him. Now in Hana Yori Dango the lead guy redeems himself immensely and his ignorant youthful persona is the reason for a lot of his faults including his awful upbringing. But here Nixon, who is the alpha male and leader is suppose to be a college student, suppose to be a leader of his family but boy did he act like a child most of the time. I wanted to like him, tried so hard to understand his way of thinking, but serious he pissed me off and so did pretty much everyone else.
Trace is an innocent sweet country girl, lost her parents young and been raised by her grandparents in a loving environment. Everything changes when she is accepted to this Elite school and her world is turned upside down with the rich kids who run the school and all their followers. Again this is suppose to be college but I kept feeling like I was in high school. Traces' innocents was heavily focused on, thank goodness she had some backbone though, she never back down, which made me like her. But then she let Nixon walk all over her and she continued to want to be around him.
Anyways, mostly other reviews cover similar issues like I had. There is defiantly redeemable factors that could get better in the next book. The character Chase is extremely likable and easy to connect with, the backstory behind Traces' family is something I'd like to know more about. And the different mafia families, I'm interested to know more about. I have a feeling with the love that people have shown for this series it does mean it gets better, but I just don't for myself want to continue this one.
I hope everyone give this a chance, I love romance, I love mafia stories and complex drama, but I was looking for more maturity in this story then what I got.