READING: Heartstopper Vol 1 & 2 by Alice Oseman

Publication date: October 2018 and July 2019
Published by: Hodder Children's Books
Genre: Young Adult, MM, Romance, School, Contemporary, Graphic Novel
Rating: 

 

Charlie Spring is in Year 10 at Truham Grammar School for Boys. The past year hasn't been too great, but at least he's not being bullied anymore, and he's sort of got a boyfriend, even if he's kind of mean and only wants to meet up in secret.

Nick Nelson is in Year 11 and on the school rugby team. He's heard a little about Charlie - the kid who was outed last year and bullied for a few months - but he's never had the opportunity to talk to him. That is, until the start of January, in which Nick and Charlie are placed in the same form group and made to sit together.

They quickly become friends, and soon Charlie is falling hard for Nick, even though he doesn't think he has a chance. But love works in surprising ways, and sometimes good things are waiting just around the corner...

This was, without a doubt, super cute, super romantic and incredibly sweet.

Charlie and Nick were adorable (I totally had a crush on Nick) and I liked how both their families were supportive and kind and how they were all around great guys.

But.

I felt that both books were targeted at a much younger audience. So apart from them both being very vanilla, which I actually didn't mind, they read more as juvenile fiction than YA, meaning that there were stuff in there that Young Adults should already know, if that makes any sense. If I was a librarian or in charge of curriculum in secondary school, I would definitely be all for having Heartstopper as a compulsory read for sex ed, because that would be the coolest. As it stands now, it was only just a cute story for me and that's all.

For Heartstopper to take it to the next level, it should have way more character depth. There were only the obvious good and bad guys. Good guys are always kind, considerate, polite and self sacrificing, whereas bad guys are always cruel, spiteful, hostile and violent. That's why it reminded me so much of middle grade books, in which heroes and villains are so easily distinguishable and the former always, always prevail because they are just the best. I am not knocking these types of books they're great, but I expected a little bit more complexity out of Heartstopper.

I also thought the drawings were too generic, I would have liked them to be sharper.

Definitely give these books a try, they are really lovely. They were just a tad too plain for me.