Ah, books, one of the oldest forms of entertainment we have.
But like everything else books are constantly changing and new styles, trends and fads sweep the market every year.
Before I dive into the actual review I’ll briefly explain the criteria on which I’ll be judging all the books I review during this series.
- Characters and Character Development
- World-Building
- Overall Plot and Spice (aka drama)
- Writing style
- Aesthetics
Now with that out of the way, let’s jump right into the review!
I thought I would start off with something easy going and lighthearted, so when I picked up Heartstopper I was not disappointed.
A tender love story between our two protagonists, Charlie Spring and Nicholas Nelson, this book portrays the sweet relationship between a young LGBTQ+ individual and his, until recently, straight new friend. Throughout this graphic novel, the reader watches as the two awkwardly interact and dance around each other, trapped in a tango of will they/ won’t they.
The author, Alice Oseman, uses brilliant montage techniques to show the progression of time and their relationship in a way that is not overly wordy or tedious to read through. This, coupled with her unique art style, makes the comic an easy read. In fact, I finished the entire first volume in a single sitting.
However, the book is not all smooth sailing and several characters, twists and turns are introduced to keep the plot dynamic and exciting. Oseman goes as far as including extra information on each character at the end of the comic to help audiences relate to them. I myself found out that I share an MBTI personality score with Ben, one of the antagonists of the story.
Overall, I recommend this book to anyone searching for a sweet romance story. The book can be read either as a webcomic on Tapas or as a physical book, of which the first 4 volumes have been released.
The final ranking for Alice Oseman's Heartstopper:
- Characters & Character Development: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
- World-Building: ⭐
- Overall Plot and Spice: ⭐ ⭐
- Writing style: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
- Aesthetics: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
So the average score is:
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ of 5
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