Our Chemical Hearts
Connection between the title and the book
The title of the book describes what people go through when they are young and explains that love
is a chemical reaction that comes and goes. Our Chemical Hearts tells the story of Henry and Grace
who meet in high school. Grace is different from the other girls Henry knows: she wears boys'
clothes, looks rather sleazy and walks with a crutch. Henry and Grace start working together on the
school paper and they develop a special relationship. Henry falls madly in love with the mysterious
Grace and little by little learns more about her past and the reason why she behaves so differently.
But that doesn't stop him from chasing the love of his life.
Characterization
Henry Page and Grace Town are the two main characters of this book. Krystal Sutherland takes her
time to introduce the characters and describe the setting. In hindsight, that was necessary to bond
with the characters. I really took Henry to heart and along with his heart, my heart is also a bit
broken. Henry is honest and dares to take risks for the love of his life. Krystal Sutherland has really
written beautifully about how, as a teenager, you fall in love for the first time and where it can seem
that your world collapses when this love is not reciprocated.
Grace is a really complicated character who struggles with trauma, PTSD and a disability. She wears
boys' clothes, doesn't open her mouth in class, refuses to be editor-in-chief of the school paper until
Henry practically forces her to.
Favourite character
Grace is my favourite character, because she is such a mystery. She also seems very mature for her
age, and I really liked her quotes. Especially this one:
‘Love doesn’t need to last a lifetime for it to be real. You can’t judge the quality of a love by the
length of time it lasts. Everything dies, love included. Sometimes it dies with a person, sometimes it
dies on its own. The greatest love story ever told doesn’t have to be about two people who spent
their whole lives together. It might be about a love that lasted two weeks or two months or two
years, but burned brighter and hotter and more brilliantly than any other love before or after. Don’t
mourn a failed love; there is no such thing. All love is equal in the brain.’
She had a different outlook on life and I feel like she learned Henry a lot.
Connection between the title and the book
The title of the book describes what people go through when they are young and explains that love
is a chemical reaction that comes and goes. Our Chemical Hearts tells the story of Henry and Grace
who meet in high school. Grace is different from the other girls Henry knows: she wears boys'
clothes, looks rather sleazy and walks with a crutch. Henry and Grace start working together on the
school paper and they develop a special relationship. Henry falls madly in love with the mysterious
Grace and little by little learns more about her past and the reason why she behaves so differently.
But that doesn't stop him from chasing the love of his life.
Characterization
Henry Page and Grace Town are the two main characters of this book. Krystal Sutherland takes her
time to introduce the characters and describe the setting. In hindsight, that was necessary to bond
with the characters. I really took Henry to heart and along with his heart, my heart is also a bit
broken. Henry is honest and dares to take risks for the love of his life. Krystal Sutherland has really
written beautifully about how, as a teenager, you fall in love for the first time and where it can seem
that your world collapses when this love is not reciprocated.
Grace is a really complicated character who struggles with trauma, PTSD and a disability. She wears
boys' clothes, doesn't open her mouth in class, refuses to be editor-in-chief of the school paper until
Henry practically forces her to.
Favourite character
Grace is my favourite character, because she is such a mystery. She also seems very mature for her
age, and I really liked her quotes. Especially this one:
‘Love doesn’t need to last a lifetime for it to be real. You can’t judge the quality of a love by the
length of time it lasts. Everything dies, love included. Sometimes it dies with a person, sometimes it
dies on its own. The greatest love story ever told doesn’t have to be about two people who spent
their whole lives together. It might be about a love that lasted two weeks or two months or two
years, but burned brighter and hotter and more brilliantly than any other love before or after. Don’t
mourn a failed love; there is no such thing. All love is equal in the brain.’
She had a different outlook on life and I feel like she learned Henry a lot.
