Genre: Fiction, Romance, LGBTQIA
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
One Sentence Description:
Heartstopper depicts the challenges and romance of navigating young love and sexual identity.
⛰ What It’s About
Heartstopper, a graphic novel series and now Netflix series, centres around the main characters Nick and Charlie. Charlie has been bullied in the past for being gay, at their all-boys school in England. But, when he is sat next to “rugby lad” Nick in class, they quickly spark a great friendship that only grows deeper as they fall in love. This creates a number of natural, as well as prejudiced, obstacles they must navigate.
🔍 How I Discovered It
Having seen a number of youtube videos pop up with people reading the series, as well as the recent release of the Netflix series, I decided to join in and read Heartstopper.
🧠 Thoughts
This is the first graphic novel series I’ve read in earnest in quite some time, so this was a really fun and easy read. I read the series in a couple of days, just relaxing and enjoying the characters and their relationships.
While the topics that are discussed in the story can sometimes get heavy and dark, Oseman has a way of tenderly approaching the story, often aided by some light comedic relief. By doing so, the author evokes lots of emotion, but also offers respite.
Most of the books that have been reviewed on this blog so far have been a lot of “classics”, which often lack diverse representation of people. I hope this, and other fiction reviews to come, will offer more diverse and inclusive characters.
What I Liked About It
While I haven’t read many graphic novels to compare to, I liked Oseman’s artistic style and way of portraying actions and dialogue on the page. The ambience is quite warm and cozy.
What I Didn’t Like About It
If anything, I thought the plot was a bit simple. Heartstopper is definitely not supposed to be action-packed, but at times the pace felt a little slow.
🥰 Who Would Like It?
This book is definitely geared more to those who like contemporary romance, LGBTQIA stories, or young adult books.
📚 Related Books
Oseman has published a few other books that focus on other characters from the Heartstopper series such as Radio Silence and Loveless.