Heartstopper

I adored this book from the moment I read the first page of the first graphic novel! I fell in love with Nick and Charlie and related so hard to the struggles that they were going through, even though I’m older than they are. It brought me back to how I felt in high school.

Charlie’s eating disorder, especially, really struck a nerve, and I thought it was handled with such beautiful rawness. Note: I read it before watching the TV show, which I also love. 

This series is filled with meet-cutes, butterflies, and coming-of-age lessons. I watched the series with my children, and we all learned a lot.

The books are fantastic, whether or not you identify as LGBTQ. I was amazed at the level of emotional maturity in the teens that I still fantasize adults will someday possess. There is a series on Netlix based on this series, and it does not disappoint. 

As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I would recommend Heartstopper to any person of any age who is questioning or has family or loved ones who are questioning. What speaks to me most is that while the characters are going through the throws of discovering themselves and dealing with the unpleasant aspects of bullying, they are surrounded by friends and family that love and support them. Struggles are often met with healthy solutions, though not forced upon the characters. I think this is a beautiful and delicate work that shows the freedom and happiness that comes with not only… show more.

A tender love story between a shy, anxious wallflower and the ebullient jock he thinks is impossibly beyond his reach – until, all at once, he isn’t. Gently and tranquilly observed, Oseman’s eye for emotional detail also informs an art and lettering style that feels as fragile and transitory as a math class doodle – moments come, and they are gone, and we feel as though they are captured as quickly and desperately as the first furtive adolescent love they depict. It reminded me of that sweet and tentative joy of young love both exactly as it was, and exactly… show more.

This is what I read on the nights I can’t sleep. Nick and Charlie’s love story is so comforting, I can pick it up in any place and I know where I am. A cleverly simple tale about young people falling in love, told with so much care and sweet drawings and a wide cast of queer characters. I think I remember Alice Oseman saying that she wrote and drew this as a comfort read and hopes others will find comfort in it too.