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| Image (c) G.P Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers |
Release Date: September 6th, 2016
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Book Format: Physical ARC from the publisher
Rating: 4 stars
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.
To
be quite honest, I kind of did think of this as a typical romance
story. I just always feel worried when, in the actual synopsis, it
blatantly talks about how it's not like the usual 'boy meets girl' story
cause more than not... it is. I can understand trying to let the book
separate itself from other romance stories but I don't know. I think all
descriptions for romance stories are starting to blend in more in my
head now.
The Aftermath:
I discovered my initial thoughts were actually incorrect - and I'm quite happy that it was the case for this book. This book is about a simple love story that's, really, not so simple at all. It's about an all-too normal boy falling in love in such spectacular form that it consumes him. Blinds him. You're left wondering, at the end of the story, what really happened between the both of them and where their relationship stands.
"It's a story about struggling to move forward without guilt, without regrets, in poetic form. Simple, but raw."
Ironic
how one of the main characters, Grace, has a massive desire to
write, listen, and read with no filters, and no editing. After all, I'm
reading the uncorrected proof of this book so, in a way, it's exactly
how Grace would've liked it to be. Somehow, it makes it all
that much more special.
Who knew chemistry could be so interesting?
Who knew chemistry could be so interesting?
There
wasn't really going much for Henry. Honestly, he just wanted to be done
with high school and move onto better things. Not before he earns his
way as an editor in the school newspaper, of course, but if he could
manage to keep his grades up and go into a fairly decent college, it
would be nice. Typical, normal, stuff high school students worry about.
But
Grace... Grace was never a part of his plans. It would have been one
thing had she only really caught his eye during one of his classes. He
had never expected to find her in a position where she would be offered a
place as an editor in the paper as well. Though, at first reluctant,
Grace decides to accept the offer - which meant that now both Grace and
Henry were going to spend a lot of time with each other.
There
was one point when one of Henry's friends talked about how Grace sounds
like a 'MPDG' (or a manic pixie dream girl' in short) with how Henry
talks about her. I think was meant to be a sort of stab at the cliche
but, if anything, I found it a bit insulting. She may seem odd but, in
the end, it was still pitched as a joke and, in result, so is Grace.
Definitely disrespectful, in my opinion.
She's
still very respected, though. But her secretive-ness is what made some
of her friends hesitant to let Henry keep sticking around with Grace.
Their
relationship isn't really all that normal either. In fact, it would be a
bit of a stretch to even call them a couple. They do spend a lot of
time with each other in this book, as evasive Grace is, and there are
some scenes that would be considered very much like they were pointing
down that path. But, due to Grace's past (excluded in this review due to
spoilers), she's been hesitant to even consider it.
To
be vague as possible, it's incredibly confusing. You can tell just how
bumpy a relationship between them would be like if they had one.
Definitely an unconventional love, for sure, but it's probably not a
healthy one either. I liked how vague the ending was in this story, for
once, because it does encourage you to lead to your own decisions.
But,
whatever they might be, there's still that feeling of hope lingering in
this story. I wouldn't mind if they never really considered each other a
couple - in fact, I'm more for platonic relationships if I'm honest.
But there is a hint of courage between them - going past their personal
boundaries and discovering what's really worth going through in life.
There's
not much that can be taken into much details without oversharing any
spoilers. This is only a little of what you can expect from Our Chemical
Hearts. If you find any of this eye-catching, please consider
pre-ordering this book ASAP.
Keep an eye out 'cause its coming out in the US this September 2016!
(Originally posted on A Court of Ink and Paper, previously known as Cosying Up With Books)
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