The Heartstopper series by Alice Oseman comprise a set of comics detailing the high school experiences of a group of friends. The story focuses on Charlie (a shy over thinker in Year 10) and his relationship with Nick (the popular rugby lad in Year 11). They end up sitting next to each other in a class and a relationship begins to bloom. As they hang out more and more, Charlie starts to have feelings for Nick, though he’s not sure if Nick feels the same way. Luckily, even unlikely wishes often come true in this case! The story often covers some side characters as well: Charlie’s best friend, Tao, is worried about bullying and feels as though he’s being replaced. Plus, Tao is navigating his relationship with his friend Elle...
The best part of this book is how sweet everything is. The comics are easy to speed through, and super cute! There is some conflict, but you know everything is going to be resolved. However, in a way, that’s a negative to the book as well. Although a few tougher topics are addressed, most things are taken care of pretty easily in a way that’s not very representative of real life. Again, I think that’s part of the appeal, though. I regard the series the same way you would regard a cheesy rom-com: not realistic or substantive, but cute and providing an escape. There’s also fairly good representation for various groups (though this is mostly relegated to side characters) and I would recommend it to just about anyone looking for a sweet romance.