REVIEW: Heartstopper Vol 1 - Alice Oseman

Title: Heartstopper Vol 1
Author: Alice Oseman
Series: Heartstopper
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books
Format: Paperback
Pages: 268 Pages
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads Blurb

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...

Thoughts

I am not a massive reader of graphic novels, but this one has been generating a lot of hype around the booktuber, bookstagram, and book twitter community. So I had to pick it up and see if it was worth all the hype.
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The answer is that it was absolutely worth all the hype, Charlie is gay and becomes friends with Nick, but he starts to have a crush on him, even though Nick is straight and it will never be requited.
Throughout the whole book I was rooting for Charlie and Nick to be together, they are so cute together, and the chemistry between them is just fantastic.

I found that this was such a fantastic book for young teens that are trying to figure out their sexuality and starting to ask themselves some hard questions. I thought how these were handled by Oseman was absolutely fantastic.

I can't tell you how much I love Nick and Charlie, and I never knew they were actually characters in Oseman's previous book Solitare (which I have picked up and will read).

Overall, what more can I say about this book without me making you sit there reading about how much I love this book and the characters. Just go and read it.