Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland
The Blurb On The Back:
”I always thought the moment you met the love of your life would be more like the movies …”
Henry Page is a film buff and a hopeless romantic. He’s waiting for that slo-mo, heart palpitating, can’t-eat-can’t-sleep kind of love that he’s seen in the movies. So the last person he expects to fall in love with is Grace.
Grace Town is not your normal leading lady. She dresses in oversized men’s clothing, smells like she hasn’t washed in weeks and walks with a cane. She’s nobody’s idea of a dream girl, but Henry can’t stop thinking about her.
There’s something broken about Grace; a small part of her soul is cracked from the secrets in her past. Henry wants nothing more than to put her back together again, but will she let him?
17-year-old Henry Page has avoided the teenage crushes that have caused so much drama for his best friends Murray (an Australian whose 6 years in the USA hasn’t eradicated his accent and whose hopelessly in love with an Indian-American girl from another school) and Lola (a bi-racial lesbian in a relationship with a girl from the next town). It’s not that he’s adverse to love - it’s just that he wants the love-at-first sight long term love that his parents have in their marriage.
When Grace Town transfers to his high school, Henry doesn’t pay her much attention. Sure she’s a bit weird - she walks with a cane, wears over-sized men’s clothing and smells a bit funky, but there’s no magic spark there. That only comes when the English teacher, Mr Hink makes them co-editors of the school newspaper. Henry quickly falls for Grace but she’s got secrets that have left her damaged and although Henry wants to help fix her, Grace herself doesn’t seem too keen …
Krystal Sutherland’s debut YA contemporary romance is a slickly written tale of first love with some dry one-liners and a serious comment to make about false expectations in romance and how love alone can’t “fix” someone suffering from emotional trauma but it falls for the cliché of having two “oddball” characters who are also incredibly hot beneath their quirkiness and some of the observations don’t ring true for teenagers - no matter how precocious Henry and Grace may be. What Sutherland does well is show the selfishness that teenage love can entail - on the part of both Henry and Grace (whose grief and guilt are well depicted) - and I like how she shows the emotional growth they each go through. Also good are the side characters of Murray (who intentionally skirts Aussie cliché) and Lola (who is the sensible, practical heart of the novel) - both are fun and ground the central romance. However some of the dialogue and cultural references didn’t ring true for teenagers and I really disliked the fact that Sutherland makes a point of showing that her leads are actually quite hot beneath the gawkiness (in the case of Henry) and self-punishment (in the case of Grace). That said, this is a strong debut that will appeal to its target audience of Rainbow Rowell and John Green fans and I look forward to reading what Sutherland does next.
The Verdict:
Krystal Sutherland’s debut YA contemporary romance is a slickly written tale of first love with some dry one-liners and a serious comment to make about false expectations in romance and how love alone can’t “fix” someone suffering from emotional trauma but it falls for the cliché of having two “oddball” characters who are also incredibly hot beneath their quirkiness and some of the observations don’t ring true for teenagers - no matter how precocious Henry and Grace may be. What Sutherland does well is show the selfishness that teenage love can entail - on the part of both Henry and Grace (whose grief and guilt are well depicted) - and I like how she shows the emotional growth they each go through. Also good are the side characters of Murray (who intentionally skirts Aussie cliché) and Lola (who is the sensible, practical heart of the novel) - both are fun and ground the central romance. However some of the dialogue and cultural references didn’t ring true for teenagers and I really disliked the fact that Sutherland makes a point of showing that her leads are actually quite hot beneath the gawkiness (in the case of Henry) and self-punishment (in the case of Grace). That said, this is a strong debut that will appeal to its target audience of Rainbow Rowell and John Green fans and I look forward to reading what Sutherland does next.
OUR CHEMICAL HEARTS was released in the United Kingdom on 4th October 2016. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.
”I always thought the moment you met the love of your life would be more like the movies …”
Henry Page is a film buff and a hopeless romantic. He’s waiting for that slo-mo, heart palpitating, can’t-eat-can’t-sleep kind of love that he’s seen in the movies. So the last person he expects to fall in love with is Grace.
Grace Town is not your normal leading lady. She dresses in oversized men’s clothing, smells like she hasn’t washed in weeks and walks with a cane. She’s nobody’s idea of a dream girl, but Henry can’t stop thinking about her.
There’s something broken about Grace; a small part of her soul is cracked from the secrets in her past. Henry wants nothing more than to put her back together again, but will she let him?
17-year-old Henry Page has avoided the teenage crushes that have caused so much drama for his best friends Murray (an Australian whose 6 years in the USA hasn’t eradicated his accent and whose hopelessly in love with an Indian-American girl from another school) and Lola (a bi-racial lesbian in a relationship with a girl from the next town). It’s not that he’s adverse to love - it’s just that he wants the love-at-first sight long term love that his parents have in their marriage.
When Grace Town transfers to his high school, Henry doesn’t pay her much attention. Sure she’s a bit weird - she walks with a cane, wears over-sized men’s clothing and smells a bit funky, but there’s no magic spark there. That only comes when the English teacher, Mr Hink makes them co-editors of the school newspaper. Henry quickly falls for Grace but she’s got secrets that have left her damaged and although Henry wants to help fix her, Grace herself doesn’t seem too keen …
Krystal Sutherland’s debut YA contemporary romance is a slickly written tale of first love with some dry one-liners and a serious comment to make about false expectations in romance and how love alone can’t “fix” someone suffering from emotional trauma but it falls for the cliché of having two “oddball” characters who are also incredibly hot beneath their quirkiness and some of the observations don’t ring true for teenagers - no matter how precocious Henry and Grace may be. What Sutherland does well is show the selfishness that teenage love can entail - on the part of both Henry and Grace (whose grief and guilt are well depicted) - and I like how she shows the emotional growth they each go through. Also good are the side characters of Murray (who intentionally skirts Aussie cliché) and Lola (who is the sensible, practical heart of the novel) - both are fun and ground the central romance. However some of the dialogue and cultural references didn’t ring true for teenagers and I really disliked the fact that Sutherland makes a point of showing that her leads are actually quite hot beneath the gawkiness (in the case of Henry) and self-punishment (in the case of Grace). That said, this is a strong debut that will appeal to its target audience of Rainbow Rowell and John Green fans and I look forward to reading what Sutherland does next.
The Verdict:
Krystal Sutherland’s debut YA contemporary romance is a slickly written tale of first love with some dry one-liners and a serious comment to make about false expectations in romance and how love alone can’t “fix” someone suffering from emotional trauma but it falls for the cliché of having two “oddball” characters who are also incredibly hot beneath their quirkiness and some of the observations don’t ring true for teenagers - no matter how precocious Henry and Grace may be. What Sutherland does well is show the selfishness that teenage love can entail - on the part of both Henry and Grace (whose grief and guilt are well depicted) - and I like how she shows the emotional growth they each go through. Also good are the side characters of Murray (who intentionally skirts Aussie cliché) and Lola (who is the sensible, practical heart of the novel) - both are fun and ground the central romance. However some of the dialogue and cultural references didn’t ring true for teenagers and I really disliked the fact that Sutherland makes a point of showing that her leads are actually quite hot beneath the gawkiness (in the case of Henry) and self-punishment (in the case of Grace). That said, this is a strong debut that will appeal to its target audience of Rainbow Rowell and John Green fans and I look forward to reading what Sutherland does next.
OUR CHEMICAL HEARTS was released in the United Kingdom on 4th October 2016. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.