Review + #Giveaway: CHEMISTRY by C.L. Lynch (YA Paranormal Romance)

CHEMISTRY (Stella Blunt Book 1)

by C.L. Lynch

Light-hearted, fun and charming!

CHEMISTRY by C.L. Lynch is the first book in the Stella Blunt series. It’s a YA, romantic comedy, told in first-person past tense, with a bit of horror and a lot of explicit language. Due to language and the sheer number of f-words, this book may not be suitable for readers under 16.

Stella Blunt has never fit in. She’s overweight, under-confident, and she has some serious anger management issues. It took her years to make two friends at her previous school and now her parents are moving her to Vancouver. She’s dreading the torment she’ll likely receive at her new school, and sure enough, during the first class of her first day, she is literally being drooled over by the biggest loser in the school. Then after a cheating scandal with one of the popular girls, she can’t walk down the halls without being verbally assaulted.

Howie, the drooling boy, has decided that Stella is the most perfect creature on the planet. He will do anything to be with her, and he doesn’t listen when she continually tells him to go away. When he finally wears her down and she lets him in, she finds out that he has a big secret–he may not be entirely human.

I loved this book. It was so silly and fun and sometimes that is the perfect read. This book was a play on the Twilight Saga, right down to the brilliant cover. Instead of the pale vampire hands holding an apple, it’s pale zombie hands holding a human heart. The main character is Stella instead of Bella and her love interest is Howard Mullins. Although some of the circumstances are similar, (ie. Stella moves to a new school, the two meet in science class, there’s a school dance, a fortuitous meeting in a book store, and a supernatural hero) the characters and specific details are not. Stella is not a popular girl and tends to yell throughout the majority of the book. I could have done with a bit less of that but it didn’t take away from my enjoyment. Howie’s idiosyncrasies leave him friendless apart from his brother and sister who also attend the high school.

The story moves from Stella’s abuse of Howie to a serious love connection. Then to an apocalyptic event that may not only mark the end of Stella’s relationship, but may also mark the end of her life. Although there are these overt similarities to Twilight, this felt like an entirely different story with endearing characters that I could relate to considerably easier than the sparkly vampires.

This book earns 4 North of Normal stars. I cannot wait for the next book entitled HISTORY. CHEMISTRY ended with a sneak peek that promises another hilarious and fun read.

New Giveaway!

THE CHEMIST (paperback) by Stephanie Meyer

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