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A review by nerdese
Nick and Charlie by Alice Oseman
4.0
My boys! It was so nice to see these two in print again as I await Volume 5 of the Heartstopper graphic novels and season 2 of the show (and yes, this did come before both of these but I'm now going back through the Oseman-verse backlist).
I imagine it would be a totally different experience reading this without the graphic novel context, and only knowing Nick and Charlie from Solitaire. The graphic novels fill in a lot of context in terms of how they met and fell in love, but I do also like seeing them grown up a bit, settled into their relationship, and having encountered new issues and hurdles (Charlie's prior mental health crises and hospital stay, and the new addition of Nick graduating and going off to university while Charlie is left behind for another year.)
What Oseman does so well is exploring real and realistic issues that teenagers face, and writing them as teenagers would experience them. There are moments in this book where Nick and Charlie fail to communicate, where they misunderstand, where things are blown out of proportion, but despite the strength of their relationship, they're still teens! They are still trying to figure themselves out, let alone a committed relationship. Getting to see Nick and Charlie as flawed and imperfect humans who, despite being meant for each other, still fight brings lots of depth to their story, and I hope this is something that will carry through to the later seasons of the adaptation since I think it's crucial that while there can be happy endings, no story is happy-happy-joy-joy EVERY single second. The graphic novels did a great job of showing that love cannot "fix" or "cure" mental illness or one individual's issues. Things are more often than not bigger than two people can handle, and as long as you're on the journey together and doing your best to support one another, sometimes that's all you can ask for.
It was nice to see a lot of the old gang in cameos (some more significant to the plot than others) and since this is just a novella, I couldn't expect them all to get their own narratives. This will definitely make you smile as an existing reader and follower of this world. And the adorable illustrations will absolutely satisfy comics fans :) Now, I just need to get my hands of a copy of This Winter!
I imagine it would be a totally different experience reading this without the graphic novel context, and only knowing Nick and Charlie from Solitaire. The graphic novels fill in a lot of context in terms of how they met and fell in love, but I do also like seeing them grown up a bit, settled into their relationship, and having encountered new issues and hurdles (Charlie's prior mental health crises and hospital stay, and the new addition of Nick graduating and going off to university while Charlie is left behind for another year.)
What Oseman does so well is exploring real and realistic issues that teenagers face, and writing them as teenagers would experience them. There are moments in this book where Nick and Charlie fail to communicate, where they misunderstand, where things are blown out of proportion, but despite the strength of their relationship, they're still teens! They are still trying to figure themselves out, let alone a committed relationship. Getting to see Nick and Charlie as flawed and imperfect humans who, despite being meant for each other, still fight brings lots of depth to their story, and I hope this is something that will carry through to the later seasons of the adaptation since I think it's crucial that while there can be happy endings, no story is happy-happy-joy-joy EVERY single second. The graphic novels did a great job of showing that love cannot "fix" or "cure" mental illness or one individual's issues. Things are more often than not bigger than two people can handle, and as long as you're on the journey together and doing your best to support one another, sometimes that's all you can ask for.
It was nice to see a lot of the old gang in cameos (some more significant to the plot than others) and since this is just a novella, I couldn't expect them all to get their own narratives. This will definitely make you smile as an existing reader and follower of this world. And the adorable illustrations will absolutely satisfy comics fans :) Now, I just need to get my hands of a copy of This Winter!