REVIEW: Heartstopper (graphic novel, vol. 1) by Alice Oseman

Heartstopper is a coming-of-age/gay romance graphic novel series. I bought my copy of the first volume brand new.

Review:

Charlie and Nick both attend the Truham Grammar School for Boys. Charlie was outed as being gay last year and had to deal with a lot of bullying, but that has since tapered off. Now he has a secret sort-of relationship (kissing in out of the way places) with Ben, who's still in the closet. Meanwhile, assigned seating has placed Charlie and Nick next to each other in class. Nick is a rugby player, but despite jock stereotypes, he's actually a really nice guy. He invites Charlie to come play rugby, and as the two boys get to know each other better, Charlie realizes to his horror that he's starting to fall for the almost certainly straight Nick. However, Nick is coming to some realizations of his own...

I haven't watched the show based on this series yet, although it's in my queue (along with a ridiculous number of other things). I didn't even know it was based on a graphic novel until I spotted the first volume at Walmart, so I decided to pick that up as a quicker way to dip my toes into the story.

The artwork wasn't really to my taste, which isn't to say it was bad - just not my style. Still, I loved Nick's facial expressions, particularly when he was being a sparklingly wonderful nice guy. 

Nick was one of my favorite types of characters, a sweet cinnamon roll of a jock who stands up for people when others are being horrible to them. It took Charlie a while to trust him, and he initially spent a lot of time wondering if Nick was going to morph into a bully at any second.

It was nice watching Nick and Charlie become friends, and I felt for Charlie every time he pined over Nick a bit. I wish Nick had a bit more space to figure his own issues out without potentially hurting Charlie while doing it, but judging by the author's acknowledgments, there's a happy ending on the horizon, so I'll try not to worry too much.

All in all, this was good even if the artwork wasn't my usual cup of tea, and I plan on reading volume 2. I'd like to try the TV show too, but it may end up being too anxiety-inducing for me.