Thursday, July 25, 2013

Review: Elite by Rachel Van Dyken

Title: Elite (Eagle Elite #1)
Author: Rachel Van Dyken
Published: April 14th 2013
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
*A review copy was provided in exchange for an honest review*

For Tracey Rooks, life with her grandparents on a Wyoming farm has always been simple. But after her grandmother's death, Tracey is all her grandfather has. So when Eagle Elite University announces its annual scholarship lottery, Tracey jumps at the opportunity to secure their future and enters. She isn't expecting much-but then she wins. And life as she knows it will never be same . . .
The students at Eagle Elite are unlike any she's ever met . . . and they refuse to make things easy for her. There's Nixon, gorgeous, irresistible, and leader of a group that everyone fears: The Elect. Their rules are simple. 1. Do not touch The Elect. 2. Do not look at The Elect. 3. Do not speak to The Elect. No matter how hard she tries to stay away, The Elect are always around her and it isn't long until she finds out the reason why they keep their friends close and their enemies even closer. She just didn't realize she was the enemy -- until it was too late.

I'm not a huge fan of surprises unless they're good so I think you get why I didn't have a lovely, friendly, adorable relationship with this book. It wasn't at all what I expected and I am sorry if some of you enjoyed this book, what comes next is solely my opinion and we're all different. Whatever floats your boat, dude! This pretty, unfortunately, did nothing for me.

When I met Nixon I had no idea what life had in store for me. In my wildest dreams, I could have never imagined this.

The story. So we have this weird, weird school where all the influential kids attend and Tracey, being a cow-loving farm girl (seriously, she loved her cows more than herself) with a scolarship, wasn't an insider. She was an outsider intruding in and it did not suit well for the Elite. The four guys, along with Nixon--Tracey's love interest--run the school and organize everything: lunch schedules, give elevator passes, choose who's at the top of the food chain in the school etc. They are the Elect. They also bully people both physically and emotionally. Also, Nixon owns the school and if a teacher sees bullying, they don't even blink an eye. 'Hello Mr. Nixon' is all they say, smile and walk away.

My thoughts. Ok, so here's the thing. I'm not going to lie, I'm tired of the same old formula where the main characters have dark pasts and they need this other half who completes them and gives a meaning to their lives and helps one surpass one's past etc. Does it happen in life? I believe so, but it's getting tiresome. Mad props for Rachel for trying to pull off something different. However, sadly this isn't the only aspect I'm looking for in books, I need more. The whole plot was just plain confusing. The first half of it on my part was spent on thoughts like 'wtf is going on' and 'stand the eff up for yourself' and the latter half was where the first part was explained, but it wasn't enough of an explanation for me.

The MC.. Where do I even start with her? She was a clutz who didn't stand up for herself. When she tried, she got to starr in this huge bullying scheme where she was drugged, labeled as a slut, didn't get to eat, got thrown with eggs and sugar water etc. Oh, and she cried about every single thing. In public, by the way. I don't get why she didn't leave the school. You're bullied that heavily in college. The whole time she had a crush on the guy who ran the school and was the head of the Elect who bullied her. He was bullying her to supposedly protect her and as it turned out later on, he had every reason to protect her. Does it make his actions okay? Most definitely not! Even though when the whole twist came in to the picture, it turned out that Nixon loves this girl, but I mean.. wtf? Look, the premise was truly intriguing and awesome, the way it was delivered lacked believability.

The saddest thing is that I actually want to read the sequel because I want to know what happens next regarding the ending. How messed up is that? I am not, in fact, a fan of spoilery reviews, but sometimes they pay off so I hope that there will be spoiler-ish reviews on Goodreads so I can read them and find out what happens without actually purchasing the book. I hate writing these negative reviews and I understand what could appeal to readers in Elite, but as much as it pains me to say this, I wasn't happy while reading this and I think there are better books out there by this author to be discovered beforehand.

Oh, just a little note here at the end: the teaser for the second book introduces a lovely love triangle of Nixon, Tracey and Nixon's best friend. Are. You. Kidding. Me. I think you get my frustration..

Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

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13 comments:

  1. She has a crush on the bully? I already hate this chick!
    And I cannot stand a heroine you whines and cries and cannot stand up for herself. They make me want to punch them in the face.
    And what is this school? Why do people even bother going there if they are bullied?
    The love interest also sounds terrible. I mean seriously, there is no justification for bullying. It is serious and painful for the victim. Does the MC accept his sorry excuse? I hope not. Ugh! Now I want to know what happened in the end that makes you want to try the sequel! DM me! :D
    I hate this book just by reading your review, Siiri! Staying far far away from it! >.<
    Lovely honest review though! :)

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  2. He was bullying her to protect her? I'm not sure I can buy that at all Siiri! I don't think any protection can be achieved through bullying, no matter how amazing his explanation for it might be. It's one of those things like when the treatment for a medical condition is worse than the condition itself. Definitely not the book for me, and I'm so glad you reviewed it because I was eyeballing as a potential read to get me back into NA!

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  3. Wow this one definitely wouldn't work for me. I think I would hate Nixon and the whole school sounds pretty ridiculous as a whole. Sorry you had to suffer through this one darlin'!

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  4. There's a love triangle introduced as a cliffhanger or plot line for the next book? Not my cup of tea. I haven't heard much about this one, but I probably won't read it now. Thanks for the heads up!

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  5. Ummmm...no. To everything. I honestly don't think I would enjoy this much, especially when to romantic lead is a bully. Why would anyone go to that school? Sorry this didn't work out for you, sweetie. Great review!

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  6. Hey!! When you said you had to post your review for Elite, I thought you mean The Elite... but either way, sounds like a book I wouldn't have liked :O.

    Yeahhhh, sureeee the bullying is to "protect" her. Really? Ugh. That ending sounds messed up too - a love triangle cliffhanger? What? It's sad that when the MC tries to stand up for herself, all that crap happens to her, though. That seems really pitiful, though I don't suppose crying a lot would've helped. Pah, I definitely know the feeling of wanting to read the sequel just to see what happens - I hope you'll find a review too. Sorry this one didn't work out :(.

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  7. Aw, sorry it fell short of what it was trying to do, but thanks for honest review

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  8. Siiri this book sounded totally awesome too, so I can totally understand your frustrations with it. Nixon sounds like a total ass, how can he run the entire school and no one says anything to him and at the end it turns out that he loves Tracey? I really want to see how the author manages to pull this off. I don't think this would be my sort of book either, which is really disappointing as I was so intrigued. Thank you for the honest review, I hope your next read is a lot more enjoyable! :)

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  9. Well this is a bummer because I had high hopes. But I'm pretty certain that I'll feel as you do about this one. First none of it sounds remotely plausible - in a really over the top, cheesy way. I can already tell this heroine is going to bug me. I hate when they don't stand up for themselves! And I don't think I can fall for a bully either. So there's no triangle in this book, but one is teased in the excerpt from book 2??? Yikes. No way.

    Also, if I start a series and want to know what happens without reading it, I'll totally go to goodreads and investigate

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  10. Eeeh yeah not sure I would like the MC very much. And she had a crush on a bully? WTF? No way could I get behind this romance at all. I'm not even going to go near this book with a ten foot pole, in fact! I hope your next read is better! :)

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  11. It sounds like this would've been more enjoyable if the twist was more believable and if this girl would've stood up for herself more. I hate it when there's constant bullying and the character just takes it. Sorry this didn't work out for you, Siiri. Thanks for the honest review. :)

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  12. Whoa. This probably isn't my sort of read. The whole school set up sounds so strange! Not to mention far-fetched... And I don't think I could root for a romance like this, particularly not if the love interest is actually behind all those horrible things that happened to the main character. Sounds like too odd a book for me. I'd probably just squirm throughout it all.

    Thanks for the helpful review!

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  13. So I got this off NetGalley when it was a read-now title. I was pretty excited because free NA novel! One who's been snagged by a traditional publisher. And now I've read the plot completely and based on your review, SIGH, I wanna stay away from it but I'm also curious. And yes, I hate how most of NA novels nowadays are about broken people and all that. I have nothing against broken people and stories about them but I just feel like, NA is so saturated with it right now. And sometimes, it's hard to find gems and sometimes, I end up not reading a good one because I'm getting allergic. Great review as always~ :DD

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