Showing all posts labelled: Krystal Sutherland
Showing posts with label Krystal Sutherland. Show all posts

Waiting on Wednesday – Week 188

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. It's to spotlight upcoming releases that I'm DYING to get my hands on!

This week's WoW is:
A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares by Krystal Sutherland

Ever since Esther Solar's grandfather was cursed by Death, everyone in her family has been doomed to suffer one great fear in their lifetime. Esther's father is agoraphobic and hasn't left the basement in six years, her twin brother can t be in the dark without a light on, and her mother is terrified of bad luck.

The Solars are consumed by their fears and, according to the legend of the curse, destined to die from them. 

Esther doesn't know what her great fear is yet (nor does she want to), a feat achieved by avoiding pretty much everything. Elevators, small spaces, and crowds are all off-limits. So are haircuts, spiders, dolls, mirrors and three dozen other phobias she keeps a record of in her semi-definitive list of worst nightmares. 

Then Esther is pickpocketed by Jonah Smallwood, an old elementary school classmate. Along with her phone, money and a fruit roll-up she d been saving, Jonah also steals her list of fears. Despite the theft, Esther and Jonah become friends, and he sets a challenge for them: in an effort to break the curse that has crippled her family, they will meet every Sunday of senior year to work their way through the list, facing one terrifying fear at a time, including one that Esther hadn't counted on: love.

September 5, 2017 ● Goodreads

Our Chemical Hearts (read my review) was one of my favourite books last year, and I can't wait for this one–or let's be real: anything that Krystal Sutherland writes. I love that there's a touch of magical realism in this one and I'm sure it's going to be as funny and moving as OCH...or maybe even more-so.

What are you waiting on?

Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland

Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland

Release Date: October 4, 2016
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Rated: YA 14+
Format: ARC
Source: Pansing
Buy: Available at all good bookstores!
Goodreads ● Website

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.

I'm a little bit tired of the trope of books being described as "John Green meets Rainbow Rowell," because while they are both excellent authors, it's completely overdone. However, I was still super excited to read Our Chemical Hearts. Koi (maybe?) fish on the cover! A cool and very strange title! A romance with a girl who might possibly (most likely) have a secret! All signs point to me not being disappointed by this book. And–I'm extremely happy to say–I wasn't! This novel was absolutely gorgeous. I fell in love with the characters, the writing, and the story.

The characters were a breath of fresh air. Sure, we have the typical lanky, somewhat-confident (and self-proclaimed) nerd stereotype as our main character, but how could you not love Henry??? With dozens of film references to movies that I've actually seen (film and television major over here!), and a sense of humour is hilariously on point, I found myself falling head over heels for him. For me, a male protagonist is either a hit or a miss, and I'm so glad that Henry's character exceeded my expectations. I loved his friends as well! La was fierce and level-headed with an awesome snarky side, while Muz was this loveable Aussie idiot. I mean, I actually burst out laughing during some parts of the book. Observe:

❝'Mads. Mate. You still date that clodhopper of a bloke that goes there–which is a travesty, but the way–so that means you know a thing or two. Seeta Ganguly. Senior at East River. Suss out the sitch with her love life. Your payment'–Murray slipped something into Madison's jean pocket–'will be lucrative.'
       Madison took out the folded paper and inspected it. 'This is an expired coupon for Pizza Hut.'
       'There's plenty more where that came from.' Murray leaned in and whispered close to Madison's ear. 'Rendezvous tomorrow afternoon at your locker. You know where it is. Oh, and if anyone asks–we were never here.' Murray walked backward into the crowd then, and tried to do one of those Jason Bourne disappearing-into-thin-air tricks, but we both saw him dive into the girls' bathroom.❞
–p. 91, ARC*
*text is subject to change in the final version

I also really loved Henry's family. His parents are just AWESOME. I mean, their parenting styles are #goals. Sadie, Henry's older sister, is super cool, too. I like it when young adult fiction actually has great families, especially parents who know how to parent (and it also totally helps that they're funny!).

Grace on the other hand... I don't know. I felt like she was supposed to be this typical Manic Pixie Dream Girl, except she wasn't. There was actually a part of the novel where La and Henry discuss whether or not she is an MPDG. I mean, she's kind of got that vibe to her, but I think she's actually the alternative MPDG. Definitely more likeable than one–oh, for sure. So while, I didn't like her "fickle" nature to begin with, it becomes clearer later on in the novel once her story unravels and the small mystery that is Grace is revealed.

What I enjoyed the most about Our Chemical Hearts was the raw and realistic portrayal of love, loss and friendship. There's not exactly a happy ending, and that resonated with me, because life obviously doesn't always have happy endings. I like the growth that all the characters go through, and how things turn out at the end of the story isn't what you would've expected to happen. Excellently written, and guaranteed to make you laugh and cry, Krystal Sutherland's debut is charming, and will enthral you from start to finish. I can't wait to see how they adapt this into a film–I'm optimistic in hoping that it will capture the beauty of the story.


▪ ▪ ▪ Thank you so much to Sasha at Pansing for sending me a copy for review! ▪ ▪ ▪

If you like this, try...

Our Chemical Hearts Optioned for Film

Hey guys! I've got some pretty cool news to share with you all about a book I'm super excited to read: Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland. It's been optioned to be turned into a film! Here's the exciting news from Awesomeness Films:
AWESOMENESS FILMS ACQUIRES FILM RIGHTS TO YA NOVEL OUR CHEMICAL HEARTS

LOS ANGELES (June 28, 2016) – Awesomeness Films announced today that they have acquired the film rights to Our Chemical Hearts, Australian author Krystal Sutherland’s upcoming debut novel.  Our Chemical Hearts will hit shelves in the U.S. on October 4th, to be published by Penguin Random House’s imprint G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers.

“Krystal Sutherland is a breakout young writer, whose voice uniquely captures the emotional journey of falling in love for the first time,” said Awesomeness Films President Matt Kaplan. “We are excited to be working with her at Awesomeness Films and look forward bringing Our Chemical Hearts to life.”

Henry Page has never been in love despite the fact that he fancies himself a hopeless romantic. Instead, he’s been happy to focus on his grades and getting into a decent college and finally becoming editor of his school newspaper. Then Grace Town walks into his first period class, and he knows everything’s about to change.

Grace isn’t who Henry pictured as his dream girl, but when they are both chosen to edit the school paper, he quickly finds himself falling for her. It's obvious there’s something broken about Grace, something from her past, and Henry wants nothing more than to help her put the pieces back together again.

Max Siemers brought in the property on behalf of Awesomeness Films.

Krystal Sutherland is represented by UTA and InkWell.

ABOUT AWESOMENESS FILMS:


Launched in 2014, Awesomeness Films produces and distributes feature films focused on young adult material that connect with global audiences.  Their current projects include Gina Prince-Bythewood’s BEFORE I FALL, based on Lauren Oliver's best-selling novel and starring Zoey Deutch, and Brent Bonacorso’s YOU GET ME starring Bella Thorne and Halston Sage, which is currently in production.   They premiered black list adaptation SHOVEL BUDDIES, starring Bella Thorne and Kian Lawley, as part of SXSW’s Narrative Spotlight section.   The company previously released DANCE CAMP on YouTube Red, Tyler Oakley’s documentary SNERVOUS, which opened as the No. 1 documentary on iTunes, SMOSH: THE MOVIE, which opened as the No. 1 comedy on iTunes, and Expelled starring Cameron Dallas, the No. 1 social movie of 2014.  Awesomeness Films is the film division of AwesomenessTV, the multi-platform media company owned by DreamWorks Animation (Nasdaq: DWA) and Hearst.

▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪

I seriously can't WAIT to read this one and then see the film, which I'm sure will be great! Here's a little bit about the novel:


Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland

Release Date: September 6, 2016
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers (US) ; Hot Key Books (UK) ; Penguin Australia


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.