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cmccallen's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
adelle_bookworm's review against another edition
4.0
To myslí vážně? Takhle to ukončit? :'D
Bylo to supersladký a kresby strašně roztomilé. Ocenila bych, kdyby svůj prostor dostala i Charlieho anorexie, ale celkově jsem spokojená. Srdcerváči jsou přesně tím druhem knihy, kterou zavřete s připitomělým úsměvem na rtech a budete mít chuť přečíst to znovu.
Rereading 2023: Pořád to je děsně ňuňatý.
Bylo to supersladký a kresby strašně roztomilé. Ocenila bych, kdyby svůj prostor dostala i Charlieho anorexie, ale celkově jsem spokojená. Srdcerváči jsou přesně tím druhem knihy, kterou zavřete s připitomělým úsměvem na rtech a budete mít chuť přečíst to znovu.
Rereading 2023: Pořád to je děsně ňuňatý.
lemon_king13's review against another edition
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
maryyykayyy's review against another edition
5.0
this gets better each time i read it. my heart cannot take it. i love love charlie & nick sm
fallonheartss's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
kaitjboyer's review against another edition
5.0
For myself to rate a book 5 stars it has to have changed my life or impacted me so much that I can not stop thinking about it regardless of who I am with, what I am doing, where I am, how I am feeling, etc. It is rare that I ever give books more than 4 stars - a book that I thought was awesome and lovely but did not change my life - and that is why I only have 2 books that have surpassed that - A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara and The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. I never thought any other book would make it onto my 5-star list... until I met Nick and Charlie.
I had this book on my TBR since I stumbled upon BookTok in 2020. I have commitment issues with book series so I kept pushing aside the HS for that reason. During my 2 years on BookTok, HS was constantly spoken about and content was made surrounding it that I would stumble upon on my FYP. I remember seeing the series being announced by Alice and I nearly fainted! It was everywhere I looked. To have this representation on a massive streaming service was so utterly exciting. I, yet again, avoided committing to buying the whole series and got sucked into the world of my undergraduate. That brings me to close to two weeks after the show was released on Netflix. I have bought all the books (waiting for the 4th and getting the Novellas soon) and consumed them immediately.
The impact this series had on me and still has on me is something really personal to me. Something I do not feel completely comfortable sharing on the internet. But just take my word on it that it made me have a full-on crisis and in a good way. In this review, I will be talking about the series as a whole and not just this book in general. Let me zone in on some of the characters here to further develop my deep connection to this series.
Charlie Spring:
Charlie is a character that I really want to just hold and rock to sleep. Charlie's self-sabotage, body dysmorphia, suicidal thoughts, and an ED that really came from the bullying he endured are things that hit really close to home for me. Alongside this, the sexual harassment and sexual assault he encounters from Ben is something I, too, have experienced. I was bullied at a really young age for the way that I looked and the way that I dressed (very feminine and then very masculine) mainly in the context of my body. I became an outsider and had no friends. I let their words eat me alive and began believing everything they said to me. I never spoke to anyone about it which made it worse so it bubbled up to become these illnesses I could have avoided. I now desperately struggle with body dysmorphia, suicidal thoughts, and an eating disorder. Charlie experiencing these within the series was something I never anticipated encountering but seeing myself in that sense being represented was refreshing. Alice made it so Charlie wasn't "crazy" or "looking for attention". Something you do not see a lot of when speaking upon these topics. I think something that really stood out to me about mentioning all these things was how they work themselves into your life even at the subtlest of times. How the smallest things that seem like nothing to someone else are signs of these things. In terms of Charlie's ED is when he breaks up with Ben after finding out he had a girlfriend and he is in the kitchen picking at a bowl of cereal that we never see him eat. In relation to the body dysmorphia and self-sabotage, the scene after the movie when Nick and Charlie are in the parking lot and Charlie mentions that he is used to being picked on. This isn't the only time this happens, too. Just the subtlety of these issues adds to the realism of them. Shows and or movies that speak upon these topics always make it seem like it would be easy to recognize when someone else is dealing with these things when that is not the case at all. Also shedding light on the impact of being bullied and never really speaking about it to anyone. It is something I have tried to talk to so many people about but they do not understand the depth of the situation. Charlie really is a version of me that I wish I could hug and make feel better.
Nick Nelson:
Nicholas Nelson. Where do I even begin? He is a character that I never thought I would find a piece of myself in, but I think I connected to him most out of the two. One of the biggest things that I took away from Nick was the concept of doing things just because everyone else is so you lose who you really are and just shove it so far down that you aren't even sure who you are anymore. This was something that made me spiral. I was a part of a very toxic 'relationship' from the ages of 13 to 17 with a man who was 5 years older than me. The ages of 13 to 17 are your formative years in which you really begin to understand yourself and who you are and what you want to be, etc. Because I was wrapped in this toxic relationship, I never understood who I was. Everything I was was him because I was too young to understand that what was happening was wrong. That, in truth, was the reason it was so hard to walk away from him: I never was my own person. For the last 2 years, I have been sort of avoiding trying to dig into the pit in which I buried my true self because I was scared of what I would find because I was not sure if it would surprise or confuse other people. Watching Nick and reading about Nick struggle with these same things as he finally discovered his true self gave me this immense amount of comfort. Nick made me realize that I should be me regardless if it does surprise or confuse other people because you do more harm to yourself and others doing the opposite of that. He really shed light on giving yourself as much love and appreciation as you give others. For that, Nick Nelson is by far my favorite character.... amongst many more little things like his humor and his golden retriever energy. I am the leader of the Nick Nelson fan club haha.
So all in all, Heartstopper made me who I am now. Right here. Typing this review. It has impacted me to the bones and is the only thing I want to think about, talk about, everything. Thank you Alice for creating this beautiful piece of art and for bringing it to the screen with so many amazing artists. This message, regardless of how long, does not even do this series justice. Please, if you are still reading this and have yet to read/ watch this series... please do it. You will not regret a single thing, trust me.
I had this book on my TBR since I stumbled upon BookTok in 2020. I have commitment issues with book series so I kept pushing aside the HS for that reason. During my 2 years on BookTok, HS was constantly spoken about and content was made surrounding it that I would stumble upon on my FYP. I remember seeing the series being announced by Alice and I nearly fainted! It was everywhere I looked. To have this representation on a massive streaming service was so utterly exciting. I, yet again, avoided committing to buying the whole series and got sucked into the world of my undergraduate. That brings me to close to two weeks after the show was released on Netflix. I have bought all the books (waiting for the 4th and getting the Novellas soon) and consumed them immediately.
The impact this series had on me and still has on me is something really personal to me. Something I do not feel completely comfortable sharing on the internet. But just take my word on it that it made me have a full-on crisis and in a good way. In this review, I will be talking about the series as a whole and not just this book in general. Let me zone in on some of the characters here to further develop my deep connection to this series.
Charlie Spring:
Charlie is a character that I really want to just hold and rock to sleep. Charlie's self-sabotage, body dysmorphia, suicidal thoughts, and an ED that really came from the bullying he endured are things that hit really close to home for me. Alongside this, the sexual harassment and sexual assault he encounters from Ben is something I, too, have experienced. I was bullied at a really young age for the way that I looked and the way that I dressed (very feminine and then very masculine) mainly in the context of my body. I became an outsider and had no friends. I let their words eat me alive and began believing everything they said to me. I never spoke to anyone about it which made it worse so it bubbled up to become these illnesses I could have avoided. I now desperately struggle with body dysmorphia, suicidal thoughts, and an eating disorder. Charlie experiencing these within the series was something I never anticipated encountering but seeing myself in that sense being represented was refreshing. Alice made it so Charlie wasn't "crazy" or "looking for attention". Something you do not see a lot of when speaking upon these topics. I think something that really stood out to me about mentioning all these things was how they work themselves into your life even at the subtlest of times. How the smallest things that seem like nothing to someone else are signs of these things. In terms of Charlie's ED is when he breaks up with Ben after finding out he had a girlfriend and he is in the kitchen picking at a bowl of cereal that we never see him eat. In relation to the body dysmorphia and self-sabotage, the scene after the movie when Nick and Charlie are in the parking lot and Charlie mentions that he is used to being picked on. This isn't the only time this happens, too. Just the subtlety of these issues adds to the realism of them. Shows and or movies that speak upon these topics always make it seem like it would be easy to recognize when someone else is dealing with these things when that is not the case at all. Also shedding light on the impact of being bullied and never really speaking about it to anyone. It is something I have tried to talk to so many people about but they do not understand the depth of the situation. Charlie really is a version of me that I wish I could hug and make feel better.
Nick Nelson:
Nicholas Nelson. Where do I even begin? He is a character that I never thought I would find a piece of myself in, but I think I connected to him most out of the two. One of the biggest things that I took away from Nick was the concept of doing things just because everyone else is so you lose who you really are and just shove it so far down that you aren't even sure who you are anymore. This was something that made me spiral. I was a part of a very toxic 'relationship' from the ages of 13 to 17 with a man who was 5 years older than me. The ages of 13 to 17 are your formative years in which you really begin to understand yourself and who you are and what you want to be, etc. Because I was wrapped in this toxic relationship, I never understood who I was. Everything I was was him because I was too young to understand that what was happening was wrong. That, in truth, was the reason it was so hard to walk away from him: I never was my own person. For the last 2 years, I have been sort of avoiding trying to dig into the pit in which I buried my true self because I was scared of what I would find because I was not sure if it would surprise or confuse other people. Watching Nick and reading about Nick struggle with these same things as he finally discovered his true self gave me this immense amount of comfort. Nick made me realize that I should be me regardless if it does surprise or confuse other people because you do more harm to yourself and others doing the opposite of that. He really shed light on giving yourself as much love and appreciation as you give others. For that, Nick Nelson is by far my favorite character.... amongst many more little things like his humor and his golden retriever energy. I am the leader of the Nick Nelson fan club haha.
So all in all, Heartstopper made me who I am now. Right here. Typing this review. It has impacted me to the bones and is the only thing I want to think about, talk about, everything. Thank you Alice for creating this beautiful piece of art and for bringing it to the screen with so many amazing artists. This message, regardless of how long, does not even do this series justice. Please, if you are still reading this and have yet to read/ watch this series... please do it. You will not regret a single thing, trust me.
guakim's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
socolorfull's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
I loooooooooved it almost as much as I loved the show (but I think the show, expanding the storyline to friends and some other small changes was better).
Omg but it's so freaking cute. So so so so so so cute. Just adorable. Nothing too deep, and definitely full of cheese, but if you're into a feel good story, give it a go. I got through the whole thing in just a few hours, so it's not a huge time investment either.
Omg but it's so freaking cute. So so so so so so cute. Just adorable. Nothing too deep, and definitely full of cheese, but if you're into a feel good story, give it a go. I got through the whole thing in just a few hours, so it's not a huge time investment either.