ARC Review - Elite by Rachel Van Dyken

Elite by Rachel Van Dyken

Genre - New Adult

My Rating = A bizarre three stars!

The Blurb

When I won the annual Eagle Elite College Scholarship lottery, I was thrilled. After all, my grandma had just died and I wanted to take care of my aging grandpa — he couldn't be a farmer in Wyoming forever. And graduating from Eagle Elite meant opportunity. But I wasn't counting on meeting Nixon. Nor was I counting on the rules of the Elect. 1. Do not touch The Elect. 2. Do not look at The Elect. 3. Do not speak to The Elect. And worst of all? Don't discover the secret they hide, because in the end, you may just realize... it's about you.

 *This is a New Adult Book, blood, violence, cursing, sexual references, and drug use. Not recommended for those under 17*

My Review

*ARC provided by NetGalley - Forever (Grand Central Publishing) in return for my honest review

Humph. OK I don't really know where to start with this book as it confused the heck out of me. I have read this author’s work before and really enjoyed them. This is a little different and totally not what I was expecting. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I’m still on the fence about that. In some ways it kept me entertained so I guess that is good but the plot line was a little strange to say the least. 

Trace, who is recovering over the death of her Grandmother, wins a scholarship to the Elite College. This is a huge opportunity for her but her arrival, when her Grandfather drops her off, is met by the most unwelcoming party if ever there was one. The Elect are headed up by Nixon and his friends Phoenix and Chase. They have their set of rules that must be obeyed which I found to be extremely bizarre. For instance nobody is allowed to touch, look or speak to them. Everyone must comply with their orders and demands to keep the school running to a perfect acceptance. Their first meeting with Trace was absolutely disgusting and why the poor girl didn't go running for the hills is beyond me but then she finds solace with, strangely enough, Nixon’s sister who she finds out she is to share a room with. From then on the story just got more complex and bizarre as the plotline unfolded. 

When Trace eventually finds some balls and starts standing up for herself it appears this was the magic turnaround for her and The Elect suddenly start to include her into their World. This goes on for a while and Trace finds herself being pulled towards Nixon who initially reciprocates the attraction but then in the next chapter he is back to treating her like a piece of crap for no apparent reason. Yes, this is why I found it a confusing read. I understand this is YA/NA but it was a little immature even for this genre.

However, this confusing behaviour was the least of this books reveals. The truth about the ‘secret’ was totally off the freakin’ charts! We find out who Nixon is and what his control is all about. The history and truth about her Grandfather just had me in a whole bunch of WTFery, and do not get me started on the cows!

So did I enjoy this book? Well to be truthful it wasn't my kind of thing but it did keep me reading, if only to find out what the heck was going on. Would I recommend this book? Probably not to the average NA fan but maybe to a younger (not under 17) reader. So overall it was OK but very bizarre, so that is the word that conjures up this book. Bizarre.