Book Review: Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

Thomas
11 hours ago
5 min read

TL:DR (Too long; Didn't read)

Heartstopper is a graphic novel series about Charlie and Nick, two high school boys who develop a romantic relationship. The series is recommended for A2-B1 English learners and uses natural, spoken English instead of formal, written English.

While the first three volumes are great for A2 beginners because they are lighthearted and focus on the romance, volumes four and five are better for B1 intermediates because they discuss more mature themes like mental health and sexual intimacy. This makes it a great series that can grow along with you in your English studies.

Author

Alice Oseman

Genre

LGBTQ+, Graphic Novel, Romance, Young Adult

Synopsis

Charlie Spring is given the seat next to Nick Nelson in class. This starts a friendship between them. After some time, that friendship begins to mean something more to Charlie. The problem? Charlie doesn't think Nick could ever be interested in him.

As Charlie and Nick grow closer, these feelings become harder to hide. As they try to navigate friendships, bullies, sports, and more at their high school, they'll soon realize that love works in mysterious ways.

Recommended English Level

A2 - Beginner → B1 - Intermediate

If you are an A2 high-level beginner and you are ready to explore more vocabulary in English, Heartstopper is a great place to start! A lot of the conversations in these books are simple and easy to understand. The images on each page will also help you understand some new vocabulary.

These books are also great because they often use natural, spoken English instead of only formal, written English. One example is on page 3 in volume 1 when Charlie says to Ben:

"Yeah, I've gotta go."

In this sentence, Alice Oseman is using the casual, spoken version of "got to" which is "gotta." In casual English, we often say "got to" instead of "need to" when talking about obligation.

Example:

I've gotta go. = I need to leave.
I gotta wake up early tomorrow. = I need to wake up early tomorrow.

Did you notice that in one example we use "I've" and in the other example we only use "I?" Official grammar rules say we should use the structure "I + have + got," but in casual spoken English, the "have" is optional.

Another example of casual English used in this book is on page 65 when Charlie is talking about the boys who used to bully him. He says:

"All of the older boys kinda remind me of the people who used to bully me."

In this sentence, "kinda" is the blended form of "kind of" and is very common in spoken English. Learning how native English speakers really speak instead of only learning formal written English is extremely important and these books do a fantastic job of using natural, spoken English.

The best part is that these books have been adapted into a series on Netflix with three seasons and one movie. The Netflix adaptation follows the books very closely and accurately, only adding in additional scenes and characters to help fill in space. That means you can read the books and then watch the series to get even more English practice! Also, keep your eyes on the Listening Lab for future practice lessons with the Heartstopper series.

A few disclaimers:

These books are written by a British writer, and they use British English. Since English with Thomas is primarily an American English learning website, I feel that it's important to warn you that not all grammar rules, spelling, or vocabulary used in these books will be exactly the same as what we use in American English. That doesn't make one more or less correct than the other. Both British and American English are two different dialects, and it's important to learn how both function if you want to gain real fluency in your English.

These books are also great because they can level up with you. Volumes one and two are fantastic for A2 level English learners, but volumes three and four will slowly introduce more advanced vocabulary as the stories explore deeper, more intense storylines. These storylines include mental health issues, eating disorders, sexual intimacy, and more. They are great for slowly taking you to the B1 intermediate English level, but they may be a bit intense for some readers.

Heartstopper Book Review

These books are extremely cute and very fun to read! I loved every second of each of the books, and my only complaint is that there aren't more of them.

If you enjoy a fun, adorable romance book between two people who were an unexpected match, then you'll love this book. I will say, the cuteness and fun do start to go away once you reach Volume Four as Charlie and Nick start to explore much more intense storylines surrounding mental health. These storylines are important and teach valuable life lessons, but they did break my heart a little after the first three books did such a fantastic job at getting me attached to the characters.

Speaking of the characters, I really love the way Alice Oseman has written both Charlie and Nick. I think she did a great job of making them both feel very real and very independent. They are uniquely themselves.

I love that Charlie is always saying sorry for every little thing, and then Nick is always telling him to stop apologizing for everything. It's a great dynamic and very real. I also used to be one of those people who apologized after nearly every word I spoke, but it's important to learn that apologies aren't needed in every situation. Sometimes it's good to just let something happen and move on.

I really enjoyed Charlie's friends as well and their ability to love each other unconditionally. I did get a little annoyed with Tao for a while when he was feeling jealous of Nick and Charlie's relationship, but in the end, Tao expresses himself, and you are able to understand why he acted the way he did. Tao's actually a pretty great friend.

I also really appreciated the diversity of the friend group and how there was basically at least one representation of every type of person. Not exactly though, since the group would be massive if it did represent every type of person, but Oseman got pretty darn close to that achievement. There are characters who are gay, bisexual, lesbian, straight, trans, white, black, Asian, you name it!

I really don't have much to say negatively about this series of books. It's cute. It's intense. It's romantic. It's heartbreaking. It's honestly everything you could need in a story about two high school kids falling in love for the first time.

Final Thoughts

If you are a beginner English learner wanting to get to the next level and you love romance, then this is the series for you. Just don't be surprised when the story turns a little dark around volume four. I promise though, getting through that storyline and making it to volume five will be worth it!

Have you read the Heartstopper books? Tell me what you thought about them in the comments below! Feel free to leave similar book recommendations that you enjoyed. I'm always looking for my next book to read!

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