Heartstopper Vol 2 & 3 | Alice Oseman #GraphicNovel

 

After thoroughly enjoying my time with Charlie, and his new boyfriend Nick in Heartstopper Vol 1, I knew I had to complete the trilogy to see how things turned out for them. 

The being in love part turns out to be pretty easy for these two sweet guys in Heartstopper Vols 2 & 3. The hard part is coming out to everyone at school. 

Last year Charlie was badly bullied when some kids at school found out he was gay. Naturally he's reluctant to be the centre of school gossip once again. For Nick, things are a little more complicated. He likes girls, and now he also realises he likes guys. As the captain of the football team, this is not an easy thing to come to terms with. How does he tell his family that he's bisexual and what if he gets bullied like Charlie did last year?

By the end of Vol 2, Nick has told his mum, and together, they have told a few close friends.

Vol 3 sees the boys very excited, planning a school trip to Paris. There's a lot of cute stuff about them working out how to be good boyfriends to each other, how to talk openly about what's going on for them, how they feel etc.

They tell a few more people, and realise that most people are cool with them being together. The Paris trip goes well until Charlie faints one day at the Louvre, and Nick starts wondering what else is going on for Charlie.

Oseman leaves us with a cliff hanger in Vol 3 as we see Nick google what he suspects is Charlie's problem, which leaves ME to assume that a Vol 4 is in the works! Huzzah!

This is pure teen romance from start to finish.

Sweet, gentle and awkward. 

The Gravity of Us | Phil Stamper #TeenFiction

Teen romance, The Gravity of Us never quite reached the stars it was aiming for. 

It took me ages to finish this cute story about budding online journalist Cal and 'astrokid', Leon. The romance was sweet, tender and funny and the stuff about NASA's astronaut program that both families were caught up in, was fascinating too, but when I compare it to Oseman's Heartstopper trilogy, it doesn't.

The reader could feel the effort required by Stamper to put the book together. It often felt like he was trying to do too much. But it also had some lovely, lovely moments and ideas around belonging, taking risks and living in the moment. It was also nice to see social media being used by the characters as a positive, pro-active tool to bring like-minded people together and to effect change, although I also suspect, it is this very social media use that will date the story very quickly.

The moments that felt most forced, or clunky, were around Leon's anxiety issues and Cal's reporting, when Stamper's storytelling became earnest and informative. 

So, it's a bit of an odd read really. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it. I appreciated it's good intentions and tender heart, but sometimes the execution left me cold. I'm obviously not the target audience, having left my teen years behind me many, many moons ago, but at that age I was looking for romances that felt believable. Perhaps that's where this one doesn't quite hit the mark. Everyone was too exceptional to be real.

Fun but forgettable.

Book 13 of 20 Books of Summer Winter

Heartstopper Vol 1 | Alice Oseman #GraphicNovel

How can someone so young be so successful already? Alice Oseman has been a YA publishing sensation for 6 years now. She was only 19 when her debut YA novel, Solitaire first appeared. 

Solitaire is narrated by Tori Spring 'a pessimistic...teenage speed skater with a penchant for solving mysteries'. The story is all about her, but Tori's younger brother, Charlie and his doting boyfriend, Nick appear in the background. 

As time went by, Oseman found herself wondering how it was that Charlie and Nick actually got together. Their back story grew out of sketches she drew when she should have been studying for her A-Levels.

A couple of years later, she launched Heartstoppercomic on tumblr.

Heartstopper Vol 1 was first published as a Kickstarter project in 2018. Hodder and Stoughton then published it in 2019.

I give you this much author detail, because all I can really say about this charming, heart-warming graphic novel is how much I loved it. It's sweet and cute and full of gentle, awkward teen romance. Charlie knows he is gay. Nick is still working it out. Meeting Charlie changes everything, for both of them. 

Oseman has created a story that feels authentic and timeless. And there are two more volumes to follow. 

The final pages include some costume (uniform) notes plus character guides that include birth dates, gender, Hogwarts house and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Lots of fun and highly recommended for anyone who loves love.