Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland

Illustrated by: N/A

Series: N/A

Published: October 4th 2016, Hot Key Books

Edition: Paperback

Length: 320 pages

Narrated By: N/A

Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance,

Where Did I Get It? I won a proof copy!

Blurb: 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 expectes 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?

Opening Line(s):

I always thought the moment you met the great love of your life would be more like the movies.

 

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My Review: Yet another book I am guilty of lusting after because of the front cover. Blue goldfish lazily floating over the cover text? Simple, catchy title? I want it.

Did I read anything about it before entering a competition to try and win it? Nope. I just wanted the blue goldfish book. (So did Liberty, she also fell for the cool cover. My copy is on its way to her house soon 😉 )

Thankfully, Our Chemical Hearts lived up to the awesome cover design. It is a very clever story that didn’t go quite how I expected it to when I started reading.

A typical YA tale of first love unfolds – told in the first person by the main character Henry Page, who teenage me would probably have been madly in love with if I’m honest.

It’s awkward, adorable, clumsy and confusing but it becomes clear as the story moves on that Grace is more than your usual hormonally confused teenage girl. There is something bigger wrong with her and Henry is getting himself mixed up in something that is almost definitely going to hurt.

He carries on anyway though – because he’s a teenage boy in love.

Laugh out loud funny moments mixed with thoughtful contemplation and slow, bitter heartbreak create a book that made me think, made me giggle and made me cry. It deals with sensitive subjects honestly and the easy friendships between the main characters, the Harry Potter references and the school life portrayed, all build a strong story that is easy to read and hard to put down.

If I could bear to write in books, I’d probably have highlighted a fair few quotes too – Krystal Sutherland has a beautiful way with words. As it is I will either have to memorise page numbers or locate my mini post-it notes…

I’m still quite chuffed I won a copy of this and it is definitely high on my list of favourite book covers for the year! I don’t think I will be forgetting Henry Page or Grace Town any time soon.

My Rating: 4/5*

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Our Chemical Hearts can be purchased on Amazon here.

Follow Krystal Sutherland on Twitter here.

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