Cute but sad story, u didn't like Henry at first but you sort of learn to love him. I haven't watched the amazon version so now sure how it stacks up to that but I will be picking it y up

I wasn’t sure if I was going to like Henry in the beginning, but the further I read, the more I enjoyed his flaws and reckless abandon to be with Grace. He showed how easy it is to get lost in a person. I did think the book tried to be a little too edgy at times (“Sugar Gandhi”), but it did feel fitting for a teenage boy’s perspective. One of my favorite aspects was Henry’s relationship with his sister, and the advice she gives him, which was written quite beautifully. This book definitely has John Green vibes, and felt like something I’d already read, even though I don’t think I had before. Overall, it wasn’t my favorite, but it was entertaining, and the ending makes up for the little things I disliked.

It was cute and sad and totally not what I usually read. That said, it was still a good, kind of a heartbreaking story.

Wow! I knew this book was going to be sad, but I didn't expect it to be so gut wrenching. And poetic! I wanted to save so many quotes that I probably should have just highlighted the whole book! Teenage love is confusing. It's even more confusing with trauma on top of it. I love their love ❤

A classic YA coming-of-age narrative with all the ups-and-downs of first love. I would recommend reading this one first before watching the movie adaptation -- it made it a much more satisfying experience!

I didnt enjoy this as much as I wanted to. I wasn't really a fan of their relationship as it didnt feel that real to me. Some parts I did enjoy, but not enough for me to keep it.

Thank you Netgalley and PenguinTeen for sending me an e-galley to review. All opinions are my own.

I'm going to be completely honest and say this book was not my favorite. I do understand that I am no longer the intended audience for YA novels, however I love the genre and continue to read it, but as an older reader I picked up on a lot of harmful elements that I felt could have been handled with more care. The whole idea that Grace was a "pick me girl" was infuriating, aren't we past the point of needing to make women have some superiority complex to other women to prove their worth? Also, I felt like her grief, mental illness, and trauma were utilized by the other to make Grace a problem for Henry to fix, rather than having Sutherland actually explore the hows and whys of Grace's current state and provide some positive representation for younger readers.

I don't mind the use of tropes, oftentimes I find them necessary and comforting, however I felt like this book was riddled with an extreme amount. The book tried to be quirky and relatable, but instead it felt a touch pretentious and overly-done. To me, the ending was the best part of the story and that's when I finally began to feel an emotional connection to the characters. If only the rest of the story had matched the vibe of the end I probably would have given this book a four star review instead.

Sutherland is a talented writer and I've enjoyed other works by her, however this one fell short for me.

I honesty used to love YA romance stories but I think I may just be a little too old for them now. I think a lot of readers will love this one but it just wasn’t for me.

Chemical Hearts was so beautifully written. I loved Henry as a character, and his relationships with his close friends and his immediate family were so heartwarming. What I didn't like was the main love story. It felt forced and very unhealthy. Overall a good read, but not my favorite.

I can see why so many enjoy this book - felt a lot like Perks of Being a Wallflower or a John Greene book. This was a case of it's me not you. The narrative of the awkward (yet actually cool) girl but the boy can't understand his feelings for her is old to me. I must be too old for this angsty novel.

Chemical Hearts is a raw, emotional, but ultimately romantic story about young love. It’s narrated by 17-year-old Henry Page, who fancies himself a hopeless romantic even though he’s never been in love. Henry’s voice comes across so strong on the page, and I love how he talks about the influences in his life that led him to desire falling deeply in love, in particular his parents’ relationship. I always love male characters who are depicted as emotional or as wanting romance.

When Henry meets Grace Town, she’s a far cry from what he would consider his dream girl–she walks with a cane and wears boys’ clothes–but he can’t help but be intrigued by her. And as much as Henry’s friends joke about Grace being a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, she isn’t because of her heartbreaking backstory. Reading about why Grace uses a cane and why she wears boys’ clothes had me in tears.

Henry and Grace have a slow-burn, forced proximity romance, which is one of my favorite romance tropes. They’re thrown together when they are chosen to edit the school paper together, and I must say that Sutherland does a great job at showing both Henry’s passion for journalism and his desire to figure out the enigma that is Grace. It’s a slow burn, so the love story is fleshed out over the pages, and I loved seeing Henry fall for Grace.

Overall, Chemical Hearts was an emotional punch to the gut, and I’m excited to see if the movie adaptation does it justice!

I really liked this book! It was so emotional and raw, quite different from most other YA contemporaries that I’ve read. Grace and Henry were well fleshed out characters, and I found the side characters to be very dynamic too! I like that this story had disability and mental health representation, and I can’t wait for more books to follow this example. I’m going to go watch the movie now!

The epub has an issue where every double ff is omitted and it is really hard to read. The plot isnt sticking either so im gonna neutral rate this! PLease refer to a different review for your opinion.

It’s that time again! That’s right, it’s time to talk about the differences between the book and movie for the recent adaptation of Our Chemical Hearts.

In an interview, author Krystal Sutherland mentioned how the movie really focuses in on the two main characters, Henry and Grace. This assessment is very true and the main difference between the book and movie. In the book, there’s a fairly large cast of characters—Henry’s parents, his sister, his nephew, his two best friends, and a few of their friends. The movie narrows this down to just his parents, older sister, and two best friends—who are all not as complex as they were in the book. Henry’s sister is still going through a divorce, but she doesn’t have a son and her character wasn’t the rebellious version she is in the book. His parents are present, but the end of the book revealed that their marriage wasn’t the perfect relationship Henry had been led to believe all these years and they announce a divorce (this doesn’t happen in the movie). With his friends, Muz isn’t Australian nor obsessed with his ex-girlfriend, and La doesn’t live next door and is actively interested in a girl instead of already having a girlfriend. And then of course many of the other minor characters were just missing.

What the movie does well is portraying Grace and her grief. This stayed true to the book, and you can see how Henry wants to fix what he think is broken about Grace. By focusing on their relationship, the consuming nature that Henry fell into in the book comes through. Although, in the book, Henry really let this take over him and he missed homework assignments as well as newspaper deadlines, which did not happen in the book. The newspaper theme was also established early in the book—and not put-off until the last minute.

While most of the main scenes (especially the emotional ones) make it from the book to the movie, quite a few of them seemed to be out of order. The timeline also changes as the book takes place through the fall while the movie ends on the last day of school. But the story is still coherent even though the scene order was rearranged. For example, Grace and Henry were together in the book before the Halloween party and Henry desperately wanted someone to catch them together there to make their relationship “real.” In the movie, they get together during/after the Halloween party—but in both they end up in Henry’s room after the party.

Overall, Chemical Hearts stayed true to the themes within the book, and Lili Reinhart and Austin Abrams did a good job portraying the main characters Grace and Henry.

Heartbreaking and full of ups and downs, this story will will take you on a roller coaster of emotion. Henry is infatuated with Grace, the new girl at school who isn’t like anyone else he knows. After breaking through her hardened exterior while working together on the school paper, he slowly realizes the depth of the trauma she has endured, but hopes he will be enough to keep her from completely succumbing to her despair. How much is Henry Page willing to give up to try to love Grace Town? Bittersweet and full of clever dialogue and bookish references,I enjoyed this book!

Oh my goodness this book is amazing!!

This young adult coming-of-age novel is deftly written, and had everything I wanted in a modern YA romance. The characters were a delight to read, had depth and all sorts of emotions, heart break and feelings - it had its funny and also heart wrenching moments. You are going to want to talk to someone about this book after you read this.

This novel explores two very different people and what love is. It also explores issues on PTSD, trauma, loss, anger, and frustration.

This one is really fantastic. I highly recommend this amazing book.

Also, if you haven't seen the Amazon Original film go watch it, it is amazing!

⭐️ 3.75 / 5 ⭐️

This is what happens when a Rom-Com lover reads an angsty teenage drama.

I had to stew this one over, because after I finished last night (or rather, way early this morning), I was so in my feelings. It takes a lot for me to enjoy a super emotional contemporary like this, and it started off super strong. I feel like every element of this story deserves a different rating, because it was so well done, but I personally didn't love everything. However, it's important to note that this is an amazingly well-written story.

The Writing
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

This entire book was a quote. There were so many lines of dialogue, little descriptions, bits of Henry's inner voice that was just magnificent. At one point, I wanted to buy a physical copy just so I could drench it in highlighter and deface it with incomprehensible footnotes. It was so beautiful.

The Characters
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Henry was adorable (if a little bit obsessive - I have OCD though, so I can't blame him 😂), and Grace was so interesting. After awhile though, I found her character to be tedious. The side characters, on the other hand, were a WORK OF ART. I loved Murray. SO MUCH. I laughed out loud while reading his dialogue. And Lola! She was feisty. She pushed Henry. She pushed everyone. Lola was the voice of reason in this philosophical teen drama. I loved her. Even the adults in this book were hilarious. All in all, I think I enjoyed the side characters more than the two main characters.

The Plot
⭐️ ⭐️

This is where it went downhill for me. In combination with my dislike for Grace, and me not absolutely loving Henry, it became quite difficult for me to comprehend why he was so infatuated with her. I understand that she was hurting, but AGH. It felt redundant at some points: her stringing Henry along, and him just following blindly. And it went from being this enjoyable contemporary, to a sad story. The more of the mystery that shrouded Grace began to clear, the more I found that I didn't like what was really there. The allure that I initially felt for the story dissipated.

In the end, I left the book feeling like true love doesn't exist, and we're all going to die someday, so what's the point? However, the author did succeed in telling the story. And she told it well. It was angsty, but I didn't love the love story, and I didn't like the ending.

If you're a fan of John Green and The Perks of Being a Wallflower, then I'd suggest picking this one up!

Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland is a YA drama about a boy named Henry Page who has never been in love, but ends up falling for the new girl, Grace Town, when they both have to edit the school newspaper together. Except Grace Town is no normal girl. She has some kind of mysterious, probably tragic past, and Henry Page loves broken things.
I'm not going to lie, the description and first chapter was off-putting in several ways. Grace walks with a cane. She wears boys clothes, doesn't brush her hair, and seems like she's got a lot of strange things going on. She seems like a Manic Pixie Dream Girl through and through, down to the life lessons she seems to be teaching our young, naive white boy protagonist through her reckless, nihilistic behavior. But about halfway through, it becomes apparent that Grace Town has no intention of being Henry's "dream girl."
As someone who read and enjoyed all of John Green's books before realizing what the MPDG trope was, I have become quite tired of the trope and almost stopped reading when I thought this was the direction it was going. But stick it out and you'll be rewarded with a bittersweet feeling and the realization that people are not always as they seem, and they are not just broken vases to be put back together again.
Pros:
- I very much enjoyed the writing in this book. I highlighted several beautiful quotes, and several times I stopped and thought deeply about what was said or thought by the protagonist. For a typical teenage nerdy white dude, he's got some interesting and beautiful things to say.
"Because I never realized that you could fall in love with humans the same way you fall in love with songs. How the tune of them could mean nothing to you at first, an unfamiliar melody, but quickly turn into a symphony carved across your skin; a hymn in the web of your veins; a harmony stitched into the lining of your soul."
- The mystery of Grace Town's past is definitely something that kept me hooked. Despite feeling annoyed when I thought she was a typical MPDG, her backstory made me really feel. It wasn't something that was "oh that's sad" and then you forget, but something I really thought about for several days after reading the book. It really delves deep into the themes of grief, pain, guilt, and how we choose to deal with loss, and how this affects the people around us.
- The characters are a delight. I thoroughly enjoyed the banter between Henrick and Grakov, as well as Lola, Murray, Sadie, and even Madison towards the end.
Cons:
- for much of the book, it really reads like a typical "damaged girl teaches nerdy boy life lessons and then disappears" story. Even if the lesson is "damaged girls do not only serve the purpose of teaching me life lessons then leaving," (sorry for the convolution) it might be off-putting.
- the pop culture references: there were /so many/ and despite me being a teenager myself, I didn't understand half of the name drops. I don't know that any teen group except the most entrenched in obscure cult classics and culture would really understand every reference.


Henry got himself into this mess. Despite everyone telling him otherwise. Lola hit the nail on the head when she told him "Are you falling for /her/, Henry? For the Grace we know? Or for the girl in her Facebook profile picture? Because that's clearly not who she is anymore, as much as you might want it to be."
Overall, I think it was an enjoyable read that leaves you with quite a few thoughts on the nature of attraction and illusions and life and all those big thoughts. Give it a shot, and you might be pleasantly surprised when you find yourself tearing up.

I first added this book to my tbr list FOUR YEARS AGO. Now that it's finally been turned into a movie, I picked this up and I regret not having picked this story up four years ago. Though, I have to say, within the first page of reading I immediately could see how and why this story has been turned into a movie.

A beautiful, tragic, love story. Our Chemical Hearts is a contemporary romance novel about a teenage attempt at love but it deals with so much more. The relationship is almost a hard one to read about because it is so toxic, but it comes with a taste of reality that isn't always present in young adult contemporary fiction.

I loved the romance, tension, and characters, but the real treat throughout this story is the author's amazing wit. You hear it mostly in Henry's thoughts or words, but it shows up all throughout the novel (obviously, she wrote it...), but what I mean to say is if the plot doesn't entice you enough, give this story a try anyways. There are so many amazing details and I LOVE how every rebuttal to a character's action is clearly addressed by the other characters. These are not some airheaded characters and there is purpose, understanding, and analytical skills present.

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Books for my e-copy of Our Chemical Hearts in an exchange for an honest review. I wasn't initially inspired to read this book, although I do enjoy YA angsty love - until I saw the movie was being released on Prime Video this week. Once I then saw the movie casting, I knew I had to read the book immediately, and was delighted to be gifted a copy!

The book begins much like other YA fiction, a mysterious new girl, who might be deemed attractive with a makeover and an attitude change - and I won't lie, I was a little worried. I was worried this story would become the stereotypical love story, they'd fall in love, and their problems would magically disappear, and she's the "hot girl" now (think Bad Sandy in Grease). The last thing we need is another story of the girl getting a makeover to be deemed attractive for the MC male.

I was happily proved wrong! Henry's character proved to be more complex than what I expected of an adolescent boy, and his personality was very, well... normal (in the best way). He struggled through navigating his emotions and communication like any typical teenager would. Most of all, I enjoyed the complexity of Grace's character, and how we only received one piece of her past at a time, she was indeed a mystery, a puzzle, for us readers to solve. Her character drew me in, and simultaneously broke me. I ached to comfort her, to console her, and relate to her pain. Her character was mesmerizing and wonderfully heartbreaking.

Another part of this story I really enjoyed were the references to current pop culture, literature, and music throughout the story (Edward Cullen will be forever deemed "Old Sparkly" in my world, and applaud Sutherland for this). Sutherland's great sense of humor often came through in these references and the dialogue with Henry's family. I could listen to their banter all day.

Lastly, I loved how the story ended (although I would ADORE another book about Grace's character or from Grace's POV exclusively). “Stories with happy endings are just stories that haven't finished yet.”

Now excuse me, as I go bawl my eyes out to the new movie - my tissues are at the ready.