"Our Chemical Hearts"

 "Our Chemical Hearts"

Written by Krystal Sutherland

Reviewed by Diana Iozzia

Our Chemical Hearts stands out as being the most problematic book that I have read in a very, very long time. In anticipation of the release of its Amazon Studios adaptation, Our Chemical Hearts was recently re-printed to create buzz and attract new readers to the original source. However, I believe that author Krystal Sutherland created an extremely offensive and hurtful story, one to which teens should not be exposed.

The plot begins with the first person narrator, Henry, meeting the new girl, Grace, for the first time. Grace is extremely shy and is perceived as odd, because she smells, dresses in male clothing, doesn't appear to bathe, and she walks with a cane. Henry and Grace are tossed together to co-edit their high school's newspaper. Henry and his two best friends begin a Nancy Drew-like investigation to understand why Grace acts differently.

Very early on in the story, I began to believe that this is a harmful portrayal of teen relationships, sex, love, and grief, one that should not have been re-printed as it is. I absolutely believe that the publishing house is at fault for not editing the book and taking out matter that wasn't as problematic in 2016 when it was released, but it is now far more unhealthy. We readers and reviewers need to hold publishing houses accountable when they choose to release a book that portrays unhealthy depictions.

Feel free to click away in fear of spoilers, but I am about to list problems I had with this novel.

• Henry treats Grace like a manic pixie dream girl. There are repeated references to this issue in the story. Just because an author points out the flaws, it doesn't mean we can forgive them.
• There are far too many parenthetical asides. This writing style choice took me right out of the story by the end of the first chapter.
• Henry's two best friends are Murray (Muz) and Lola. Murray is portrayed as the annoying drunken foreign character, in this case Australian, who cannot take any situation seriously and uses far too much slang.
• Lola is a gay character, who never stops talking about being gay. I am in full support of having an LGBT character, but it seems like she was just used to be inclusive, not to be meaningful and shed important light on her experience. It feels as if the author watched two episodes of The L Word and thought it to be sufficient research.
• An Indian character named Seeta Ganguly is called Sugar Ghandi by all characters in every instance of her being spoken about.
• Henry's insistence on treating Grace like an experiment or a puzzle to be decoded. Her grief over her dead boyfriend isn't a light silly mystery for him to investigate. He also treats her terribly in nearly every conversation, because he is jealous of Dom.
• Yes, this was published four years ago. No, there still shouldn't have been a sexual encounter, in which Henry felt depressed that he couldn't have sex with her, because they were drunk. Not even a question of consent; he worried he would not be good at sex.
• In another instance, after he loses his virginity to Grace, he listens as she cries while falling asleep, crying that she misses Dom. And Henry is livid, not caring or understanding. He's livid that after he pressured her into sex, and frankly their entire relationship, that she doesn't feel elated after intercourse.
• There's another scene where he feels unhappy that they cannot have sex, because she is too drunk. The conversation should be surrounding that she may have an alcohol problem, not that he has blue balls.
• Henry, his sister, and his best friends stalk Grace as she walks to the cemetery, when they first realize Grace might be unhappy.
• A "Why You Should Date Me" powerpoint presentation, which Henry uses to manipulate Grace and bully her. In which he mentions how her ex abandoned her, not possibly considering who she could have been visiting at the cemetery.
• We even have a moment where Grace tells Henry that she will stop going to visit Dom, because of Henry, because doesn't want her to "|lie| on the grass above his decomposing corpse, crying tears that seeped into the earth to rest upon his coffin".
• Tasteless jokes about her injury and accident. Dom is dead, was killed in an accident that Grace was involved in, and Henry just feels mad that Grace's every thought isn't consumed by Henry. Imagine if something similar happened to your cousin, sister, boyfriend, best friend in real life. Is this how you'd like the story to be told?
• I don't feel the characters or the readers learn any lesson from this story. Teens will not read this and take any positive wisdom away from it.
• There are far too many jokes and negative comments about addicts, especially those who suffer from drug and alcohol addiction. I feel I could count on my hands and toes how many times I read the word 'junkie'.

Let us now examine some direct quotes from this novel:

"Because apparently you still have to chase girls who can't run."

"...Trying to decide if I wanted to vomit because I was drunk or because the girl I'd lost my virginity to had probably been thinking about her dead boyfriend the whole time."

"I wanted so badly to stick to my guns, to make her feel bad for the weeks of hell she'd put me through when she chose her dead boyfriend over me."

In defense of the novel, I enjoyed some aspects of Our Chemical Hearts. I personally enjoyed Henry and Grace's characters at first, as well as the best friends and Henry's family. However, Henry's character was soured very quickly. I loved Grace's character. She is portrayed in her grief very accurately and carefully, which made me wish the whole story was through her eyes, rather than Henry's rose-tinted glasses. Grace was flawed and interesting, and I wish we could have seen more of that, instead of Henry moping about her. Additionally, I enjoyed the format types: text messages, letters, and other social media messages.

Still, this novel is one of the worst cases of toxic romanticization and poor misrepresentation I have ever read. Every John Green book combined with Rainbow Rowell, as the publisher advertises, would be less problematic and hurtful than this novel. I cannot believe that Bonnier Books / their young adult imprint, Hot Key Books, would allow this book to be reprinted, without major edits. This book is horrible and sets terrible examples for teens and young adults. Impressionable readers could misconstrue this novel, but the worst offender is the publishing house for not caring enough about the readers to fix these issues. In an era where political correctness and stories of the Me Too movement are so important and relevant, it feels that Bonnier Books spits in the face of these important topics and completely ignores them, like Henry ignores Grace's true feelings. There is no excuse for this publishing company to have acted this way, other than a greedy gimmick to bring in readers and money. In no way do I recommend this author or novel.

Thank God, they did not end up together. I truly would have burned this book.

I was sent a complimentary edition of this novel by Bonnier Books and Hot Keys YA.

"Eden"

 "Eden"

Written by Tim Lebbon

Reviewed by Diana Iozzia

Eden bursts out onto the scene of a newer sub-genre: eco-horror. Eco-horror is categorized as a horror work, that has the true villain be a secondary cause of the conflict. The main conflict instead is the human influence on the world, on the ecological environment. Additionally, Eden can fall into the sub-genre of natural horror, as the world attacks back. The author, Tim Lebbon, might be familiar to some from his books and the recent Netflix adaptation of his novel, The Silence, starring Kiernan Shipka, Miranda Otto, and Stanley Tucci.

In Eden, a group of adventure explorers decide to illegally enter Eden, one of the safe, beautiful thirteen zones off limits, in a world that is on the brink of falling apart. With oceans rising to unsafe degrees and the depletion of the rainforest, Earth looks how scientists predict it will. The crew consists of Lucy, Aaron, Selina, Dylan, Cove, Gee, and Jenn. Jenn is our leading female protagonist and 'final girl'. Her father, Dylan, has been exploring with her for years.

Notoriously, Eden is a beautiful, lush zone that has been reclaimed by nature but many know it to be dangerous. Each crew member has a reason for entering. Many people have been searching each zone for the fabled ghost orchid, which may have properties that can save the planet. Jenn has an underlying motive for joining the expedition. She believes that her mother, Kat, was on an earlier expedition through Eden.

The horror style of the story comes into play early on. The beginning of the novel feels a tad slow, but author Lebbon takes his time to develop each character and introduce exposition in a realistic way. I do love an action / adventure / horror that begins while the characters are in transportation, en route to their dangerous mission. When the characters land, they start to discover some sinister plays in motion. They find many dead bodies, not necessarily decomposing but placed in a way that nature reacts to them. Water flows through a body. Flowers grow from a body. Additionally, we have a perspective that follows Kat, as she descends into a monstrous animal. 

Personally, I felt the story fell a little flat for me. I enjoyed the action and adventure moments, but many scenes felt a little too long. I also wish that the relationship between Dylan and Jenn. Their father-daughter dynamic is interesting, but I felt that Lebbon focused heavily on Dylan's relationship with his ex-wife. However, I still genuinely liked the story. I found the bloodthirsty animals and strange plant biology to be very unique, and it proved to be an effective horror novel, even though I felt like most of the novel was a combination of Jurassic Park and Predator, possibly due to the author's work for the Alien vs. Predator novels and on other sci-fi novelizations. I think that some readers might have hoped for more of a post-apocalyptic story, but I found that Eden succeeded in not living up to that expectation. I just wished that the novel was a bit more insightful than fun.

Finally, I rated this story at four out of 5 stars. I'll be keeping it in my collection and continuing to read more works from Tim Lebbon in the future!

Thank you to the lovely Titan Books for sending a finished copy in early 2020 for my reviewing purposes. I think we can all understand why us reviewers are a little delayed this year!

"The Secret History"

“The Secret History”

Written by Donna Tartt

Reviewed by Diana Iozzia

The Secret History is a modern classic, that helped define the dark academia genre. The genre is classified by its mix for characters’ appreciation and love for Greek, Roman, Italian, French, and romantic culture, and the characters’ descent into dark crimes. The setting is almost always an exclusive boarding school or college. Other famous novels, which I have all read, in this genre are If We Were Villains, Long Black Veil, Dead Poets Society, Black Chalk, and She was Always the Quiet One. As an anglophile who would consider this genre to be a favorite, I knew for years I wanted to go to the core, to return to the roots of this type of novel. Many say that The Secret History and Dead Poets are the parents of this genre, so I was thrilled to begin.

 

This novel, one of Donna Tartt’s masterpieces, about a group of Classics majors at an elite university has become praised, mocked, and emulated in many popular films and television shows. Most recently, a teen favorite to love and hate, Riverdale centered its fourth season around the similar theme, with a main character beginning school at a literature-centered boarding school. There are characters similar to Tartt’s, including a character even named after her, called Donna Sweett. Tartt’s novel has such lasting power, that so many works have been inspired by her. My favorite is mentioned earlier, If We Were Villains, about a close-knit group of theatre students who begin acting suspiciously like their William Shakespearean counterparts.

 

In The Secret History, we meet a cult-like group of individuals, obsessed with classics culture and speaking romance languages. Charles and Camilla are twins, bordering on the incestuous side. Francis is wild yet reliable. Henry is a sensitive yet caring guy. Lastly, Edmund “Bunny” Corcoran is Henry’s foil, a rude and terrible man who takes advantage of everyone in the group. However, the story starts out on a very interesting note: our narrator, Richard, tells us the investigation team and police have found Bunny’s body after ten days of his murder. Richard also tells us that he and his friends are behind it. The story then propels backward to the beginning of Richard’s education at the Hampden boarding school, showing us each character’s descent into mania and madness.

 

Tartt does an excellent job at creating characters that are meant to be disliked, beloved, frowned upon, and absolutely hated. Depending on the reader’s personality type, Tartt’s characters will be relatable to some, while all readers can agree that Bunny is purely disgusting. However, we readers must look upon our own moral compass and decide if his death is justified.

 

Tartt’s writing style may be off-putting to some, but I found myself eating it up like ice cream. I found her verbose and eloquent way of writing to perfectly match the story style. Each character has distinct mannerisms, vocabularies, and personality traits that easily define them and allow us readers to find them significant. Additionally, a dark tale at an elite university would require thick language and require references to the romance languages these characters speak. To some, the language and dialogue may feel pompous, but I believe that the story could not be told in any other fashion. The bombastic style allows the story to feel authentic. While I personally never attended a university or boarding school, I can recognize the human nature and imagine myself there. Her more irritating characters feel realistically annoying. Tartt’s work never feels excessive, and readers can appreciate the time, effort, and research she invested into this project.

 

I personally loved the story, but I must acknowledge some flaws. There are some horrific moments of sexual content that has not aged well. We must consider the time it was written and also which characters are saying and acting this way. We are not meant to sympathize and agree with the horrific words and actions in which the main characters partake. Additionally, I believe that many readers could find frustration in how long the story is. In comparison, I find other stories in the dark academia genre to not be long enough. The Secret History takes place over the darkest year of Richard’s life, so it would feel it would be an injustice to have the story take place over only 300 pages. The 550+ page length of the story includes fleshed-out characters, intense but vivid scenes, and appealing sequences. Many novels do not include every length that Tartt has included. I only wish we could have a current adaptation of this, perhaps into a mini-series directed and acted in by the best and brightest of current Hollywood.

 

Moreover, this novel includes LGBT characters, similar to If We Were Villains. Thankfully, in comparison, Tartt does not use the LGBT characters to send a graphic message or manipulate the characters specifically because of their sexuality. However, I still do not think the representation of the LGBT characters, especially for Francis and Richard, was a successful one, merely glossing over certain moments due to the characters’ inebriation. As mentioned above, I do warn about the incestuous relationships, and the sexual content. Also, this genre glorifies murder, smoking, drugs, alcohol, sleepless nights, and unhealthy relationships.

 

Furthermore, I highly recommend this novel to those who have enjoyed all books, films, and television programs I have mentioned above. Those who love gothic and dark themes, especially in works for young adults and teens, may enjoy this novel, if they have not yet learned about it. I also recommend this book to lovers of Carrie, Heathers, Kill Your Darlings, Never Let Me Go, and even Rope.

 

Lastly, I will rate The Secret History at 5 out of 5 stars. I was very lucky to find my copy at a free little library, but I will plan to buy a nicer and cleaner copy.

“And Now She’s Gone”

“And Now She’s Gone”

Rachel Howzell Hall

Reviewed by Diana Iozzia

For many years, I have gravitated towards psychological thrillers that have a female lead, because frankly, we do not get many female protagonists unless they’re in perilous situations. Am I enabling the genre for not expecting more from its authors, or am I embracing any chance at a female lead? Either way, the newest debut from Rachel Howzell Hall is presented to us in two perspectives: of Grayson Sykes and Mrs. Dyson. We soon find out how the two are connected, and how the connection will lead to the disappearance and search for Isabel Lincoln. Gray is hired by Isabel’s partner, Ian, but it soon becomes suspect that Isabel has fled on purpose, hoping to not be found.

Hall creates a dark abyss of deceit that Gray falls into, as she searches for the elusive Isabel. Furtive characters come out of the woodworks and reveal interesting clues about who Isabel may be and what her choices might mean. Eventually, we are led to an appealing and challenging climax that made the book worthwhile.

 

However, I felt that the execution of its plot, characters, prose, and dialogue did a disservice to those elements. Hall uses long-winded descriptions, common dialogue, far too large an ensemble, and many filler scenes that do not reveal enough detail about the story. I felt that the two major plots: Isabel’s disappearance and the truth behind Mrs. Dyson were too different and unnecessary to have both. I could see how the Mrs. Dyson plotline could tie into the backstory of Grayson, but it did not feel necessary to set it up as half of the plot. Two major plotlines with two major villains turned the book into a tiring reading experience for me.

 

One of the best things about this story is that it is written by a woman of color. Although the psychological thriller genre is dominated by white men and women, I was so grateful to spend more time reading from perspectives and experiences of black characters. In today’s climate, we have an obligation to read more diverse books and encourage budding black writers, so let’s start here. I fully plan to read other works by Hall that have been already written and more to come.

 

Due to my dislike for much of the writing style, I give this a three out of five stars. I still enjoyed the book for the most part, and I recommend it.

Thank you to Forge Reads at Tor Publicity for sending along a complimentary copy to read and review.

 

"Landline" - Book Review -

“Landline”

Written by Rainbow Rowell

Reviewed by Diana Iozzia

A nostalgic and magical story, yes. A thorough and developed story with layer and lessons learned, no. Landline by the beloved Rainbow Rowell feels similar to if Taylor Jenkins Reid wrote It’s A Wonderful Life. In this novel, we meet Georgie (a nod to George Bailey, a similar character, perhaps?), who has been ignored and avoided by her husband at Christmastime, when she chooses to spend more time working on her work project than spending important time with her family. Georgie struggles to contact Neal, through errors with her cell phone and voicemail tag, finding her parents’ landline to work. However, once Georgie is enabled to speak to Neal, she finds that it is a version of her past Neal that she is communicating with.

Georgie’s tale is one that I imagine most adults who have been in long term relationships can understand. The Last Five Years is a favorite musical of mine, telling the tale of Cathy and Jamie, who have separated after they cannot both achieve their dreams and are determined to hurt the other. I understand Georgie’s plight, that she does not want to sacrifice her beloved career for the sake of her family. However, I do not think that she would need to sacrifice one or the other; I think she just has an unyielding and pressuring husband. When she speaks to Past Neal, Georgie does not seem to learn any lessons or adapt any new behaviors, she acts the same way as before. Perhaps it can be argued that Georgie realized how much she has missed with her husband and children. Unlike good Old Georgie Bailey, our Georgie does not seem to need this wake-up call. Personally, I was not going to be surprised if she and Neal decided to divorce, Georgie would date Seth, her co-worker, and if Neal would go back to date his pretty neighbor who happens to be his ex-fiancée.

I liked this novel more than I disliked this novel, but as this is the second book I have read by this author, her work has cemented into my mind in the ‘no’ category. Years ago, I was given Eleanor and Park as a present by my mother, and we both were severely disappointed by it. When considering buying Landline, I thought there would be a possibility that as an adult, I could enjoy an adult-aged story, rather than her work for teens.

I was drastically unimpressed by the unanswered questions. Was Georgie imagining the communication with Past Neal? Now that she has completed a massive grand gesture of soaring through airports at Christmastime on her way back to him, they embrace. However, does that just solve every problem they have? To me, Present Neal is the true problem that Georgie and he have. Although her job is vitally important to her and her dreams are coming true, Neal feels jealous of Seth. Neal nearly ruins his marriage, because she needs to spend time on her dream project. When Neal and Georgie finally see each other after she returns home, the story abruptly ends. Do they rekindle, and will they be happy?

In conclusion, although I enjoyed the plot premise and certain elements, I found the story to be too disinteresting. I found certain chunks of the story to be filler, without any important lessons or events occurring. I enjoyed the inclusion of Georgie’s sister, Heather, but I did not see much of a point to certain scenes with her, including her dog giving birth and her striking a romantic interest with the pizza delivery girl. A last and final gripe finds me strongly disliking some of her jokes that have aged poorly about eating disorders and victim blaming. I recommend this book, because I am sure that many people would enjoy the story, I just have extremely high expectations when reading romance novels. Due to my expectations, there are only certain authors that I would consider to be my favorites and from who I love all their work. I do not think I plan to read more from Rainbow Rowell, because none of her other books’ plots appeal to me.