Book Review: Wild Cards

Synopsis from Goodreads: After getting kicked out of boarding school, bad boy Derek Fitzpatrick has no choice but to live with his ditzy stepmother while his military dad is deployed. Things quickly go from bad to worse when he finds out she plans to move them back to her childhood home in Illinois. Derek’s counting the days before he can be on his own, and the last thing he needs is to get involved with someone else’s family drama.

Ashtyn Parker knows one thing for certain--people you care about leave without a backward glance. So when her older sister comes home after abandoning her ten years earlier, with her hot new stepson in tow, Ashtyn wants nothing to do with either of them. Then she comes up with a plan that would finally give her the chance to leave, but it requires trusting Derek—someone she barely knows, someone born to break the rules. Is she willing to put her heart on the line to try and get the future she wants?  
What I Thought:

I am a huge fan of Simone Elkeles. I loved The Perfect Chemistry and Leaving Paradise. The simple plot but with a lot of heart and emotion. I think a lot of her books (including Ruined) have a common ground, dysfunctional families. Not so cut and dry as abusive or drug/ alcohol addiction. More on the route of neglectful and misunderstood. I love that it's not so cut and dry.

For example, Derek paints his grandmother to be a snobby know it all. She isn't so bad, just misguided. She acknowledges her mistakes and moves to fix them. She made more changes for Derek than my parents would make for me and I think my parents are just fine.

Both Derek and Ashtyn make Brandi out to sound like a brainless bimbo. But she seemed nice to me. She took good care of Julian and really wanted to be a friend to Derek.

Ofcourse Derek and Ashtyn had to fight their feelings for one another for the whole book, until the last page. I'd just like to see them happy. I can't really think of anything bad to say about this book. I would suggest it to everyone who loves YA.