Henry Page has never been in love. He fancies himself a hopeless romantic, but the slo-mo, heart palpitating, can't-eat-can't-sleep kind of love that he's been hoping for just hasn't been in the cards for him—at least not yet. Instead, he's been happy to focus on his grades, on getting into a semi-decent college and finally becoming editor of his school newspaper. Then Grace Town walks into his first period class on the third Tuesday of senior year and he knows everything's about to change.
Grace isn't who Henry pictured as his dream girl—she walks with a cane, wears oversized boys' clothes, and rarely seems to shower. But when Grace and Henry are both chosen to edit the school paper, he quickly finds himself falling for her. It's obvious there's something broken about Grace, but it seems to make her even more beautiful to Henry, and he wants nothing more than to help her put the pieces back together again. And yet, this isn't your average story of boy meets girl. Krystal Sutherland's brilliant debut is equal parts wit and heartbreak, a potent reminder of the bittersweet bliss that is first love.
Grace isn't who Henry pictured as his dream girl—she walks with a cane, wears oversized boys' clothes, and rarely seems to shower. But when Grace and Henry are both chosen to edit the school paper, he quickly finds himself falling for her. It's obvious there's something broken about Grace, but it seems to make her even more beautiful to Henry, and he wants nothing more than to help her put the pieces back together again. And yet, this isn't your average story of boy meets girl. Krystal Sutherland's brilliant debut is equal parts wit and heartbreak, a potent reminder of the bittersweet bliss that is first love.
Our Chemical Hearts encloses a moving story about love, grief, loss, and even guilt, displayed in a new light within its enclosed pages, waiting to be discovered. – Abooktopia
Our Chemical Hearts is a gorgeous quick read that takes a few unexpected turns as our main protagonist Henry Page tries to undercover the mystery of Grace Town, a girl with a tragic past. But what Henry doesn’t realise is how greatly her past has impacted her present lifestyle. With Grace as Henry’s main forefront of his thoughts and the slow detriment of his priorities as dream school editor, he soon learns a lot about himself, his family and his friends’ and that love isn’t always how you expect it to be.
I adored the characters contained within the pages of Our Chemical Hearts and the contrast among each character and their family members. It was great having them present throughout the story so that the plot wasn’t wholly based upon love but also about friendship, family and growing up. I enjoyed the interactions between Henry and Grace when they were together and the little quirky conversations they had throughout their texts and in person. The characters felt realistic and honest which caused me to become thoroughly invested into Krystal’s book and ended up completing the book in one sitting. My favourite thing about this contemporary read was the moral of the story about how one should love someone for who they really are and not just the idea of them.
Henry Page had a fun and refreshing personality that mirrored the kind of personality you look for in a friend, as he was humble, yet witty with his own little quirks. As for Grace Town, she was mystery that was hard to understand at times, yet you could apprehend some of her infuriating actions for you can’t fault someone for trying to cope with their own inner pain. Overall, I was content with the ending of this story as it was quite realistic and honest; displaying a new angle of loss and the dealings of guilt and sadness and how everyone can express it differently for grief occurs differently for everyone.
I adored the characters contained within the pages of Our Chemical Hearts and the contrast among each character and their family members. It was great having them present throughout the story so that the plot wasn’t wholly based upon love but also about friendship, family and growing up. I enjoyed the interactions between Henry and Grace when they were together and the little quirky conversations they had throughout their texts and in person. The characters felt realistic and honest which caused me to become thoroughly invested into Krystal’s book and ended up completing the book in one sitting. My favourite thing about this contemporary read was the moral of the story about how one should love someone for who they really are and not just the idea of them.
Henry Page had a fun and refreshing personality that mirrored the kind of personality you look for in a friend, as he was humble, yet witty with his own little quirks. As for Grace Town, she was mystery that was hard to understand at times, yet you could apprehend some of her infuriating actions for you can’t fault someone for trying to cope with their own inner pain. Overall, I was content with the ending of this story as it was quite realistic and honest; displaying a new angle of loss and the dealings of guilt and sadness and how everyone can express it differently for grief occurs differently for everyone.
***I received an ARC of this book in return for an honest and unbiased review***
I am Krystal Sutherland, writer of books. Or, more specifically, I am the writer of one lonely book, OUR CHEMICAL HEARTS, which is being published in September 2016 by Penguin in the US and ANZ, and Hot Key in the UK.
I was born and raised in Townsville, in the far north of Australia. Since escaping to Sydney in 2011, I've also lived in Amsterdam, which was awesome but cold, and Hong Kong, where I currently reside (though I speak neither Dutch nor Cantonese).
Growing up, I never dreamed of being a writer. I wanted to be a) a florist, then b) a volcanologist, then c) an actress. It wasn't until shortly after my 18th birthday that I sat down to write my first (terrible) novel.
OUR CHEMICAL HEARTS, thankfully, is slightly better than that hot mess. Nonetheless, I am notoriously bad at explaining what it's about, except to say that it involves the terribly tragic and awful experience of falling in love for the first time.
I have no pets and no children, but in Amsterdam I owned a bicycle called Kim Kardashian. It was somewhat difficult to get along with. I was fond of it regardless.
I was born and raised in Townsville, in the far north of Australia. Since escaping to Sydney in 2011, I've also lived in Amsterdam, which was awesome but cold, and Hong Kong, where I currently reside (though I speak neither Dutch nor Cantonese).
Growing up, I never dreamed of being a writer. I wanted to be a) a florist, then b) a volcanologist, then c) an actress. It wasn't until shortly after my 18th birthday that I sat down to write my first (terrible) novel.
OUR CHEMICAL HEARTS, thankfully, is slightly better than that hot mess. Nonetheless, I am notoriously bad at explaining what it's about, except to say that it involves the terribly tragic and awful experience of falling in love for the first time.
I have no pets and no children, but in Amsterdam I owned a bicycle called Kim Kardashian. It was somewhat difficult to get along with. I was fond of it regardless.
Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland
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