Heartstopper

hmatherly
Dec 1, 2023
2 min read

Genre/Award/Honor

Graphic Novel

Age Group

7th – 12th

Plot Summary

Charlie and Ben are a couple. Sort of. Well, only when no one’s looking, so Charlie ends it. Nick is straight, sporty, and oh, so handsome. He and Charlie become good friends very quickly. What can possibly go wrong?

Justification

Heartstopper has received lots of acclaim and controversy. It’s even been made into a Netflix live-action series. But I chose it because two important people recommended it to me: Darla, the YA Librarian at Atascocita Library; and Madison, one of the teens at Crosby library.

Plot

Heartstopper tells the story of Nick and Charlie. They meet in class and are friends. Charlie grapples with an abusive ex-boyfriend. It was refreshing that Charlie didn’t hang on to the poor relationship out of loyalty or poor self-esteem. In fact, Charlie ends that relationship early in the story.

Nick is straight. At least he thinks he is straight until he meets Charlie, which is very confusing. The two build a solid friendship that slowly blossoms into a healthy romance. The drama in the story comes from outside sources – friends and exes – and not from their relationship.

Pacing

The pacing of this story is excruciatingly perfect! It’s perfect because it allows Nick and Charlie to build a strong friendship. It’s excruciating because it’s obvious to the reader that both Charlie and Nick like each other. Oseman chooses just the right amount of time before the first kiss (p. 256!) for these two to have a strong foundation for their romance.

Illustration

The manga style illustrations tell the reader right away that this is a light-hearted romance. The illustrations are black, white, and mint green. I found it difficult to read the text messages between the characters, as they were white text on paler mint green. There just wasn’t enough contrast for easy reading. Fortunately, this was only a small portion of the story.