Elect by Rachel Van Dyken

About the book

Elect is the second book in the Eagle Elite series by Rachel Van Dyken. The book was published on Kindle on 10^th December. I received an ebook for review through NetGalley.

Synopsis

Nixon Abandonato made a choice that put him in charge of everything. You see, his family is a mafia family and his friends are all in on it too. After he fell in love with Tracey, it marked her as a target to all of Nixon’s enemies. He swears that he will do everything to protect her but the only way to do it is to convince the world that he isn’t really with her. In doing that, Nixon ends up pushing her towards his best friend but she isn’t quite ready to give everything up just yet.

When family secrets threaten everything that Nixon has been working for, it all comes down to a life for a life but who will it be?

What I thought

Before reading this book, I had no idea that it was the second in a series and I hadn’t even heard of the first, let alone read it. So, it’s safe to say I wasn’t quite with the plot to begin with when reading this one.

The plot for this book, and this series, is pretty unbelievable and not in a good way. The series focuses on mafia families and one that is now being run by a teenager. I’m not sure if protagonist Nixon was put into power in the last book or that was how everything started out. Either way, I just couldn’t get into the plot because of how ridiculous it was. Not only is he running a crazy business but he’s also going to school and trying to show that everything is normal. Say what?! I maybe would have bought into the idea more had it just been plain and simple. Why do mafia bosses need to go to school especially when they have so much money?!

Anyway, the characters were just as silly as the basic plot. Nixon is quite level headed for the most part and does come across as a normal teenager, especially during his scenes with girlfriend Tracey. However, at times he would just completely flip, beat someone up… or worse and act like the mafia boss he was supposed to be. I understand that this is part of the whole mafia world and threats and violence are what gets people into certain positions but his actions and his personality/ character just didn't fit.

Part of the plot focuses on Nixon and Tracey’s relationship and the danger she is put in. As Nixon obviously doesn’t want her to be killed, he puts best friend Chase in charge of looking after her. A teenage boy in charge of protecting someone… okay, that makes lots of sense. What I didn’t understand was how or why Nixon put him in charge of security when he had older, more capable, people working for him. Surely anyone else would have been better than a teenage boy filled with lustful feelings for the girl. Luckily though, Chase was the most likeable character in the book so that helped a little bit.

Another thing that was disappointing was the lack of excitement. While there are plenty of scenes that should have been very intense and thrilling, I didn’t find them to be. I think people who liked this book more than me would disagree but because I really disliked the plot and most of the characters, I just couldn’t connect much with the story. Fights, threats and tense conversations should have been so exciting to read about but I found it all to be too tame. I understand that this is a young adult book but the plot subject should have allowed for more.

As you can see, I did not enjoy this book at all.