'Our Chemical Hearts' by Krystal Sutherland

 

'Our Chemical Hearts' front cover

'Our Chemical Hearts' by Krystal Sutherland - Review

*There are SOME SLIGHT spoilers in this review!*

Description

Henry Page, a hopeless romantic and film buff, is smitten as soon as Grace Town walks into his classroom. But Grace - who looks in need of a good bath, is dressed in guy's clothing, and walks with a cane - is unlike any leading lady he's ever obsessed over. And when Henry and Grace are both offered positions as editors of their high school newspaper, the mystery of Grace begins to captivate him. 

Why does she visit a graveyard every afternoon? What secret does she keep locked away in her bedroom? Above all, why is Grace Town so deeply sad? Henry is sure that he is the one to unlock her happiness. But Grace is capricious, changeable, infuriating, and, above all, damaged. Henry will need to be the strongest he has ever been to survive this particular love story.

Goodreads Rating: 3.80        My Rating: 3.5

First Impressions

First of all, I thought the front cover was so stunning in a simpler way - there isn't too much going on, but the details on the fish are beautiful! I also really wanted to know what this mystery is about Grace; why does she do the things she does? Why is she presenting herself in this particular way? Who is Grace Town?

During the first few chapters, it's obvious that there will be a LOT to unpack with Grace and I did feel really sympathetic towards her without really knowing much yet. Henry, on the other hand, did get on my nerves at the beginning. He definitely said things in a defensive way which came out slightly offensive - like 'no, she's WEIRD, I can't like HER', I may have exaggerated it slightly but the meaning still matches... I suppose this book was a little more accurate in terms of how teenagers would've thought and reacted to particular moments, which is a good thing! 

The Characters

The trope of one believing in fate and the other relying on science has become quite a popular one in YA fiction, from what I've seen, but 'Our Chemical Hearts' does do it a little bit differently! 

Henry believes in fate. Or perhaps uses 'I believe in fate' as an explanation for past relationships not working and not actively looking for someone else. I think that once he meets Grace, he becomes so interested in being the person to figure her out that he falls in love with the chase and the idea of what would be. It was so important to experience Henry finding his own self-worth along the way and becoming more confident and sure of himself as a person!

Grace believes in science. Maybe she stopped believing in fate after the car-crash: 'if it existed, why would something like that happen'? I do think she needed to form another bond with somebody so that she didn't feel as alone, but she wasn't ready to move on or be fully open yet which clashed with what Henry wanted quite a lot. Nobody can tell somebody else how they should be grieving, so it was definitely a journey Grace would have had to have taken on her own!

Final Thoughts

Finishing this book definitely was bittersweet in a way, it didn't force one particular ending and felt a little more realistic compared to other novels with similar tropes. I don't want to say too much and give the ending away! 

There were areas that I thought weren't explained enough and still wanted answers to at the end which felt a little bit disappointing, mostly about Grace. I also would have LOVED to have seen the finished newspaper and read all of the different sections, I think it could have made it just a tad more special that way! It was definitely enjoyable and very interesting to read this book and the deeper significant messages it had, but I just couldn't get as emotionally invested in it, unfortunately...

Conclusion

'Our Chemical Hearts' had a few very important topics that are not highlighted enough, in my opinion, to do with grief, self-worth, and first-loves (or teenage romance, I suppose) which were done really, really well! Krystal Sutherland created a much more realistic young adult romance story using some of the popular tropes in the genre and made it quite unique. I wish I could have felt more emotionally involved in the story, but I still appreciated the deeper messages and thought it was worth the read!

I haven't seen the film adaptation of 'Our Chemical Hearts' yet, but it will 100% be on my to-watch list! I wonder if there will be any major differences to the novel and if that will make it more or less enjoyable... If you have watched it, please let me know what you thought of it! 

Let me know what you think! :)