Will no longer be reading or reviewing this book due to lack of interest in the title, and the fact that the title has been archived.

I would like to say upfront that this is probably a case of 'It's not you, it's me'. There is nothing wrong with this book at all, I just feel like I have read it before as it is so similar to several others that I have already read. If I had read it before those others I know I would have loved it and I would certainly recommend it to people who haven't read those Young Adult weepies it is similar to. And a book that references Harry Potter so many times can't be bad...

Book Review:

When I heard the premise of Our Chemical Hearts I was really excited as it sounded like something right up my street and would be something that I love, however, this was not the case. Our Chemical Hearts is a well-written book but is quite familiar with the sea of YA.

Our Chemical Hearts is a difficult book to review because although I enjoyed much of this book it was quite familiar especially the ending of the book which was similar to something that I have already read so this let the book down for me.

Saying this, however, I really remember enjoying the characters for the majority of the book although I do tend to dislike the manic pixie dream girl trope which this book does have, the relationship between the main protagonist and his friends were nice. I also really did enjoy the writing of the book and I am a sucker for any contemporary book that puts pop culture references in it which is one does have.

The Verdict:

Our Chemical Hearts is a YA contemporary that might capture your hearts but didn't win mine.

One of American YA's most unduly hyped releases of recent years. Comparisons to John Green and Gayle Forman don't go very far when the writing style is dull, the characters are two-dimensional and the tone is off-putting. This book read like the last gasp of a peculiar brand of pseudo-intellectual teenage American contemporary which went out of fashion ages ago. YA has so much more - and so much better - to offer elsewhere.

*I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

Henry Page has always seen his friends fall in out of relationships so many times but that has never appealed to him before, he is more interested in his studies and becoming editor for the school newspaper. This all changes when Grace Town starts at Henry’s school and is offered co-editor. Grace is not like normal girls, she wears boys clothes, walks with a limp and her eyes constantly look pained. Whilst Henry gets to know Grace, he discovers the dark truths and how broken Grace Town really is.

My feelings on this book can be summed up in one word….MEH! I wasn’t blown away but I didn’t hate it either. I liked that this was told from a male perspective although written by a female author. I loved that there were references to fandom in the book.

At times this book was frustrating to read just because Henry knew that Grace was a broken soul and she had been telling him that and he just kept going back for more and get hurt over and over again. The problem is he see’s a picture of Grace on Facebook before all her troubles began and he wanted her to be like she was and he felt like he saw glimpses of that person break through when he was with her sometimes,however she was never going to be the same again and Henry just didn’t seem to realise this.

The characters were a bit hit and miss with this book, I really didn’t like his best friends. One was just portrayed as a stereotypical Australian with bad jokes and Lola just didn’t seem realistic. Henry was frustrating and a bit stalkerish. Grace was actually the only character that I thought felt genuine, she had flaws, she was grieving and very secretive about her past and she was a really fleshed out, three-dimensional character.

This is a short review as I don’t really know what to say. This book deals with grief, self harm and first loves. This has been compared as a hybrid between John Green and Rainbow Rowell. I can tell you now that the characters in this book are not as pretentious as the ones in TFIOS(sorry fans of John Green), but the book doesn’t have the same emotion and connection as Rainbow Rowell’s books.

I rated this book 2 out of 5 stars

This is a some what coming of age with a twist. The author has excellent writing skills. Her words just flow smoothly across the pages. I enjoyed reading her words. The storyline made me think about teens who have lost classmates/friends and my heart ached. I could not put my kindle down. I was pulled into the story from page one. I cried and laughed many times during my read. I fell in love with these characters. In the end I was happy with the last chapter because love is love. We are humans and we love many. This opened my mind up to her point of views about love and loss. I totally agree with her words.