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shaun_trinh's Reviews (126)
*DELUXE EDITION*
So I'm actually getting into reading again for the first time since the pandemic hit and this was the first book I've been able to read. So let me tell you that it was an amazing experience reading and has really sewed me back into books. Going in after reading the description of the book I assumed that the story was going to be a somewhat "typical" coming of age/LGBTQ+ story that had a love triangle and also dealt with grief. With the main plot point that would make this story unique was the Leteo Procedure to suppress memories. While it did cover those issues and more, the amount of depth is what blew me away.
Silvera took us in one direction for the first half of the book, we were on the path of a teenager who's going through the grief of his fathers suicide, while also coming to terms with who he was and what those feelings met. The story continued to deal with that throughout the entire book, but how it did changed completely after Aaron kissed Thomas. The tone completely changed and you could feel something was about to happen to Aaron or that he would do something radical which is what we saw when he tried to sneak his way into getting the Leto Procedure to forget that he was gay and had feelings for Thomas so that he could go back to being the perfect boyfriend. but then after he was told he had to wait for his procedure, it happened. Aarons "friends" saw him hugging Thomas. These people that he would always hang out with attacked and beat him nearly to death and then everything came undone, but also became so much more clear.
THE TWIST
When I read this twist, I didn't even realize or was able to process what Silvera had done. My jaw dropped when I realized that Aaron had already had the procedure and we got his backstory about being gay and his relationship With Colin. All of it was making sense. Why his mom and brother anted to get rid of his dads things, why Colin was avoiding Aaron, why his brother seemingly knew what was going on between Aaron and Thomas, and the list of details connecting goes on. While I can see why some readers may have seen this twist coming, I was completely thrown off by it. I had expected the story to go in the very predictable way of Thomas eventually coming out that he was gay and that there would be a love story between him and Aaron but something would happen that would make Aaron do the procedure. But that's not what Silvera did, he didn't take the less layered, easy route. He gave us a young, real character who is struggling to cope and process the reality and tragedies of his life in this world where he isn't widely accepted and that there's an option for him to take all that pain away and to make him "normal." The twist made sense, the motives leading up to it made sense and paralleled what had happened in the present. It was an amazing twist that shifted the story into a multi layered plot that went even more head on with Aarons mental health, grief, sexuality, and the internalized homophobia he faced due to the external homophobia he was beat with.
Silvera let Aaron fight through his pain in all the right and wrong ways that make Aaron feel human to the reader, he gave him real struggles, real grief, and real feelings for someone who's going through what Aaron was. But not only that he took what I had assumed to be a stereotypical LGBTQ+ love triangle and gave all three characters depth that we all loved despite the flaws they also carried. Genevieve wasn't made into the stereotypical, unlikable jealous girlfriend , and Thomas wasn't made into a character who was gay just so the plot could progress in a certain direction. Genevieve was a great, truly caring friend who loved Aaron despite what she knew about him while they were dating. She stood by and supported him through thick and thin because she knew the pain and hardships that he was going through. Thomas was a free spirit who grew to love Aaron as a friend for all that they did and didn't have in common and brought out the best in each other. But was still not forced into being an LGBTQ+ character for the sake of giving the main character a convenient love interest. Instead Silvera showed the strength of platonic, and family love throughout his entire story under the disguise of romantic love.
The original ending of the book left us with Aaron coming to terms with the reality of himself and his grief that he had struggled and fought to suppress during the entire story. Instead of focusing on avoiding the pain, and misdirecting the blame onto his sexuality, he had accepted who he was and who he wanted to be moving forward despite all of that. Which didn't mean he stopped hurting, it didn't mean he was just automatically better after deciding that the Leteo Procedure wasn't for him, he just decided to look at his life in a different perspective with people who did love him, and who did support him for who he was. He made a choice to choose pursing happiness despite the grief that he is still going through.
I will say though that I wasn't sure about how I felt about Aaron getting retrograde amnesia. I can see the connection and why it happened to Aaron, but it also to an extent felt unnecessary. Yes Aaron wanted to forget certain parts of the past and now him not being able to remember new things is paralleling that. I can also see that it's being used to show Aaron the consequences of trying to hide and change who you are can indeed leave permanent damage and change to you, but what did it actually serve for the plot that couldn't have been handled in the existing story without it? The amnesia helped lead Aaron to forgiveness and acceptance of himself, his family, and friends, but I feel as if Aaron could have gotten to that point without being hammered down by life even further. I do see the connections, but that doesn't mean it needed to happen. While reading it felt like extra, unnecessary damage that could have been used to focus more on building Aaron back up into his final mindset. This kid was facing real struggles, real pain that I can see many LGBTQ+ teenagers reasonably going through, but then I was taken out a little bit when the retrograde amnesia came in.
With that said I felt the retrograde amnesia plotline was still well done despite it not necessarily needing to be there. it still added depth and growth to Aaron, his family, friends, and the over arching theme in the book. It effectively fulfilled it's purpose.
Now lastly, the deluxe chapters. I loved this portion of the book. It undid Aarons retrograde amnesia, but still allowed us to actually see what it was like for Aaron, the fact that he had retrograde amnesia didn't just go away with no consequences of pain just for the sake of it. We saw Aaron struggle in a way that was realistic for an entire year, while also showing and maintaining the strong love and friendships he had with his family, Genevieve, and Thomas. So it was so incredibly rewarding to find out that Aaron might be all right. These chapters didn't tare down the consequences of the original ending, but more so refurnished it in a satisfying and deserved way for Aaron. I will say though plotline of Aaron meeting the other Aaron in a therapy group session for the Leteo Procedure patients was kind of tacky. My interpretation was that this Aaron after the story ended would become a love interest for our Aaron which I just felt was shallow. I didn't care for this new character and saw him as more of a friend who can relate to Aarons struggles, but I did not like the undertone implication of a love interest. Though maybe I was reading too much into his interactions with Aaron. Overall the added depth and character moments with Aaron and his social circle was well worth the deluxe copy and I am very pleased that Silvera decided to make this instead of leaving the story on the original ending. The original was great, but the deluxe edition brought it up even more and gave the reader a satisfying and Aaron a deserved ending to his story.
So I'm actually getting into reading again for the first time since the pandemic hit and this was the first book I've been able to read. So let me tell you that it was an amazing experience reading and has really sewed me back into books. Going in after reading the description of the book I assumed that the story was going to be a somewhat "typical" coming of age/LGBTQ+ story that had a love triangle and also dealt with grief. With the main plot point that would make this story unique was the Leteo Procedure to suppress memories. While it did cover those issues and more, the amount of depth is what blew me away.
Silvera took us in one direction for the first half of the book, we were on the path of a teenager who's going through the grief of his fathers suicide, while also coming to terms with who he was and what those feelings met. The story continued to deal with that throughout the entire book, but how it did changed completely after Aaron kissed Thomas. The tone completely changed and you could feel something was about to happen to Aaron or that he would do something radical which is what we saw when he tried to sneak his way into getting the Leto Procedure to forget that he was gay and had feelings for Thomas so that he could go back to being the perfect boyfriend. but then after he was told he had to wait for his procedure, it happened. Aarons "friends" saw him hugging Thomas. These people that he would always hang out with attacked and beat him nearly to death and then everything came undone, but also became so much more clear.
THE TWIST
When I read this twist, I didn't even realize or was able to process what Silvera had done. My jaw dropped when I realized that Aaron had already had the procedure and we got his backstory about being gay and his relationship With Colin. All of it was making sense. Why his mom and brother anted to get rid of his dads things, why Colin was avoiding Aaron, why his brother seemingly knew what was going on between Aaron and Thomas, and the list of details connecting goes on. While I can see why some readers may have seen this twist coming, I was completely thrown off by it. I had expected the story to go in the very predictable way of Thomas eventually coming out that he was gay and that there would be a love story between him and Aaron but something would happen that would make Aaron do the procedure. But that's not what Silvera did, he didn't take the less layered, easy route. He gave us a young, real character who is struggling to cope and process the reality and tragedies of his life in this world where he isn't widely accepted and that there's an option for him to take all that pain away and to make him "normal." The twist made sense, the motives leading up to it made sense and paralleled what had happened in the present. It was an amazing twist that shifted the story into a multi layered plot that went even more head on with Aarons mental health, grief, sexuality, and the internalized homophobia he faced due to the external homophobia he was beat with.
Silvera let Aaron fight through his pain in all the right and wrong ways that make Aaron feel human to the reader, he gave him real struggles, real grief, and real feelings for someone who's going through what Aaron was. But not only that he took what I had assumed to be a stereotypical LGBTQ+ love triangle and gave all three characters depth that we all loved despite the flaws they also carried. Genevieve wasn't made into the stereotypical, unlikable jealous girlfriend , and Thomas wasn't made into a character who was gay just so the plot could progress in a certain direction. Genevieve was a great, truly caring friend who loved Aaron despite what she knew about him while they were dating. She stood by and supported him through thick and thin because she knew the pain and hardships that he was going through. Thomas was a free spirit who grew to love Aaron as a friend for all that they did and didn't have in common and brought out the best in each other. But was still not forced into being an LGBTQ+ character for the sake of giving the main character a convenient love interest. Instead Silvera showed the strength of platonic, and family love throughout his entire story under the disguise of romantic love.
The original ending of the book left us with Aaron coming to terms with the reality of himself and his grief that he had struggled and fought to suppress during the entire story. Instead of focusing on avoiding the pain, and misdirecting the blame onto his sexuality, he had accepted who he was and who he wanted to be moving forward despite all of that. Which didn't mean he stopped hurting, it didn't mean he was just automatically better after deciding that the Leteo Procedure wasn't for him, he just decided to look at his life in a different perspective with people who did love him, and who did support him for who he was. He made a choice to choose pursing happiness despite the grief that he is still going through.
I will say though that I wasn't sure about how I felt about Aaron getting retrograde amnesia. I can see the connection and why it happened to Aaron, but it also to an extent felt unnecessary. Yes Aaron wanted to forget certain parts of the past and now him not being able to remember new things is paralleling that. I can also see that it's being used to show Aaron the consequences of trying to hide and change who you are can indeed leave permanent damage and change to you, but what did it actually serve for the plot that couldn't have been handled in the existing story without it? The amnesia helped lead Aaron to forgiveness and acceptance of himself, his family, and friends, but I feel as if Aaron could have gotten to that point without being hammered down by life even further. I do see the connections, but that doesn't mean it needed to happen. While reading it felt like extra, unnecessary damage that could have been used to focus more on building Aaron back up into his final mindset. This kid was facing real struggles, real pain that I can see many LGBTQ+ teenagers reasonably going through, but then I was taken out a little bit when the retrograde amnesia came in.
With that said I felt the retrograde amnesia plotline was still well done despite it not necessarily needing to be there. it still added depth and growth to Aaron, his family, friends, and the over arching theme in the book. It effectively fulfilled it's purpose.
Now lastly, the deluxe chapters. I loved this portion of the book. It undid Aarons retrograde amnesia, but still allowed us to actually see what it was like for Aaron, the fact that he had retrograde amnesia didn't just go away with no consequences of pain just for the sake of it. We saw Aaron struggle in a way that was realistic for an entire year, while also showing and maintaining the strong love and friendships he had with his family, Genevieve, and Thomas. So it was so incredibly rewarding to find out that Aaron might be all right. These chapters didn't tare down the consequences of the original ending, but more so refurnished it in a satisfying and deserved way for Aaron. I will say though plotline of Aaron meeting the other Aaron in a therapy group session for the Leteo Procedure patients was kind of tacky. My interpretation was that this Aaron after the story ended would become a love interest for our Aaron which I just felt was shallow. I didn't care for this new character and saw him as more of a friend who can relate to Aarons struggles, but I did not like the undertone implication of a love interest. Though maybe I was reading too much into his interactions with Aaron. Overall the added depth and character moments with Aaron and his social circle was well worth the deluxe copy and I am very pleased that Silvera decided to make this instead of leaving the story on the original ending. The original was great, but the deluxe edition brought it up even more and gave the reader a satisfying and Aaron a deserved ending to his story.
This was a fine manga, but it didn't really expand that much on Ito and Arimura from the last book. They practically stayed the same characters that we ended with in the Sayonara Games. The main conflict of this story was Ito and Arimura's old college friend, Hozumi, coming back into their lives to test their relationship. But Hozumi's interest in Ito is never developed or explained beyond a random scene of dialouge of him telling Arimura that's he's actually straight and will leave Ito to marry a woman. Reading the synaposis I was excited to see how this conflict would get laid out, but the story never really delivered on anything.
I don't dislike what I read, I just wish there was more substance in the sense that most of this manga felt liker fluff because nothing was built up. I don't expect to read the best literature of all time, but I hope that I can feel invested in whatever i'm reading, which I sadly wasn't with this volume.
I still look forward to the next installment of this serious, I just hope that it utlizes it's story better.
I don't dislike what I read, I just wish there was more substance in the sense that most of this manga felt liker fluff because nothing was built up. I don't expect to read the best literature of all time, but I hope that I can feel invested in whatever i'm reading, which I sadly wasn't with this volume.
I still look forward to the next installment of this serious, I just hope that it utlizes it's story better.
Once again Mariana Zapata has served me with another banger of a slow brun. I love the premise of this book using a unique format of having the first half be through emails/IM messages. I think the relationship between Ruby and Aaron is built beautifully and their banter was always a hit which isn't an easy thing to accomplish.
With that said though I did find myself not enjoying the book as much once we switched back to a normal reading format because we are just stuck in Ruby's head for so long. I get that Ruby is a shy person with trust issues, but she suffers from something that every Mariana Zapata book that I've read, which is the intense ability to gaslight themselves into oblivion. What made Ruby so annoying to sit through while she was in her internal monolouge is that she was just saying the same thing over and over but in slightly different ways and constantly second guessing herself. Which is fine to read in moderation, not when it feels like it's taking over the book.
I was also confused by the conflict and issues Ruby and Aaron had. Ruby acted like she was so entitled to every single aspect of Aarons life, like he owes it to her to tell her everything on her timeline and not his own. Even when it's about deeply personal parts of his life. She even aknowledges that he tells her almost everything and yet still acts hurt by it and that he should have told her. This type of mindset really pisses me off because that's not how trust and relationships work and she is expecting everything to happen on her timeline and not just making sure he knows that the door is open for him to talk to her about these deeply personal things.
When Ruby wasn't stuck in her head I thought that she and the story got tremendously better, honestly I wish we got to see her interact with Aarons friends more. Everyone in the story for the most part is great and the romance is worth the read, I just wish the story didn't drag so much in Ruby's head.
With that said though I did find myself not enjoying the book as much once we switched back to a normal reading format because we are just stuck in Ruby's head for so long. I get that Ruby is a shy person with trust issues, but she suffers from something that every Mariana Zapata book that I've read, which is the intense ability to gaslight themselves into oblivion. What made Ruby so annoying to sit through while she was in her internal monolouge is that she was just saying the same thing over and over but in slightly different ways and constantly second guessing herself. Which is fine to read in moderation, not when it feels like it's taking over the book.
I was also confused by the conflict and issues Ruby and Aaron had. Ruby acted like she was so entitled to every single aspect of Aarons life, like he owes it to her to tell her everything on her timeline and not his own. Even when it's about deeply personal parts of his life. She even aknowledges that he tells her almost everything and yet still acts hurt by it and that he should have told her. This type of mindset really pisses me off because that's not how trust and relationships work and she is expecting everything to happen on her timeline and not just making sure he knows that the door is open for him to talk to her about these deeply personal things.
When Ruby wasn't stuck in her head I thought that she and the story got tremendously better, honestly I wish we got to see her interact with Aarons friends more. Everyone in the story for the most part is great and the romance is worth the read, I just wish the story didn't drag so much in Ruby's head.
I'd rate this somewhere between a 3.5-4/5 stars.
This is a cute manga series that goes at a really fast pace. I actually watched some of the anime first before reading and I was shocked just how fast the manga was going compared to what season 1 and 2 of the adaptation went.
I like the dynamic between Masahiro and Kousuke, a lost kid who has a really shitty home life finding comfort a saftey with his friends family. Obviously real world applications of this relationship would be awful, but taking in the story within the context of it being a manga series makes it more endearing.
An issue I did have however was that there were a few points in the story where I was confused on what was happening, who characters were, and who was talking. Some pages felt so cluttered and I had to re-read some pages multiple times just to figure our who was who and what was going on. It doesn't help that some characters look incredibly similar to one another.
Overall though it was a nice, quick read and has me excitedly aniticipating the next installment.
This is a cute manga series that goes at a really fast pace. I actually watched some of the anime first before reading and I was shocked just how fast the manga was going compared to what season 1 and 2 of the adaptation went.
I like the dynamic between Masahiro and Kousuke, a lost kid who has a really shitty home life finding comfort a saftey with his friends family. Obviously real world applications of this relationship would be awful, but taking in the story within the context of it being a manga series makes it more endearing.
An issue I did have however was that there were a few points in the story where I was confused on what was happening, who characters were, and who was talking. Some pages felt so cluttered and I had to re-read some pages multiple times just to figure our who was who and what was going on. It doesn't help that some characters look incredibly similar to one another.
Overall though it was a nice, quick read and has me excitedly aniticipating the next installment.
I'd give this manga a solid 3.5
This installment was actually at a slower pace then the first book was which I was fine with. In the first book it felt like things were happening back, to back, to back to push Masahiro and Kosuke forward, but here we got to settle into our how our leading males were developing and see their characters progress a little slower. I think this approach was a good match for what volume 2 was trying to cover since it wasn't trying to bring our leading characters together, but rather show us how they compliment and contrast against each other for better and for worse.
While i adimitedly was confused in the first half about what the main story and conflict of this volume was, I did appreciate it once I realized what it was during Kouske's high school reunion. Masahiro has made his entire personality and world revolve around Kouske and is neglecting the world outside of their relationship, and I like that this book is making the attempt to challenge this mindset. At the same time of this Kouske has to come to terms with the power dynamics of their relationship, and how he is enabling Masahiro to do this to himself.
I also really liked the more subtly relationship development between Masahiro and Asaya, from not liking eachother to going to a frenemies relationship where Asaya did start to genuinely care for Masahiro in his own standoffish way. Unexpected, but welcomed development.
Overall I still enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading volume 3.
This installment was actually at a slower pace then the first book was which I was fine with. In the first book it felt like things were happening back, to back, to back to push Masahiro and Kosuke forward, but here we got to settle into our how our leading males were developing and see their characters progress a little slower. I think this approach was a good match for what volume 2 was trying to cover since it wasn't trying to bring our leading characters together, but rather show us how they compliment and contrast against each other for better and for worse.
While i adimitedly was confused in the first half about what the main story and conflict of this volume was, I did appreciate it once I realized what it was during Kouske's high school reunion. Masahiro has made his entire personality and world revolve around Kouske and is neglecting the world outside of their relationship, and I like that this book is making the attempt to challenge this mindset. At the same time of this Kouske has to come to terms with the power dynamics of their relationship, and how he is enabling Masahiro to do this to himself.
I also really liked the more subtly relationship development between Masahiro and Asaya, from not liking eachother to going to a frenemies relationship where Asaya did start to genuinely care for Masahiro in his own standoffish way. Unexpected, but welcomed development.
Overall I still enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading volume 3.
So far this is definetly my favorite Hitorijime My Hero book thus far. I feel like the story made more of an effort to delve into Masahiro and Kouske's relationship without trying to hard to push a story arch. I like that it focused more on developing Masahiro's character and letting Kosuke guide him into being more assertive. Reading this book felt less like a complete superficial read (which I am okay with and enjoy) and gave it the right amount of substance for this series.
I also really liked how Shige developed, while I didn't like him calling a gay relationship disgusting, I did like how the story made him a reflection of how Masahiro see's Kouske. I thought it was a nice touch to let Masahiro see himself and I hope they expand on this further in future installments.
This may have just been me, but I also like the eerie vibes about how Kouske has treated his relationships and how his friends view him. I kinda get the feeling that while the book has us rooting for him, it's also giving subtle hints to him not being as great as we see him through Masahiro's eyes. So i'm definetly hoping that gets expanded on as well.
Side note: I'm actually pretty appreciative of how Masahiro and Asaya's frenemie relationship is going along. They don't have that much page time together but I like the small details of Asaya sticking up for and listening to Masahiro.
Great installment and I can't wait to read the next one.
I also really liked how Shige developed, while I didn't like him calling a gay relationship disgusting, I did like how the story made him a reflection of how Masahiro see's Kouske. I thought it was a nice touch to let Masahiro see himself and I hope they expand on this further in future installments.
This may have just been me, but I also like the eerie vibes about how Kouske has treated his relationships and how his friends view him. I kinda get the feeling that while the book has us rooting for him, it's also giving subtle hints to him not being as great as we see him through Masahiro's eyes. So i'm definetly hoping that gets expanded on as well.
Side note: I'm actually pretty appreciative of how Masahiro and Asaya's frenemie relationship is going along. They don't have that much page time together but I like the small details of Asaya sticking up for and listening to Masahiro.
Great installment and I can't wait to read the next one.
Volume 4 finally arrived to the US and into my local Barnes n' Nobles the other day so I could read up on the latest installment of the Heartstopper series and it did not dissapoint!
While getting through every book I noticed how the series steadily started taking up a more serious tone and heavy topics, which has proven to be the most true with Volume 4. I adore that this installment didn't let the wholesome romance between Nick and Charlie, overshadow and glamorize the real issues that Volume 4 sets out to cover. It delved into the struggles of people who have an undiagnosed mental illness, as well as the loved ones around them, while maintaining a respectful light-hearted read that his been apart of this series since the beginning.
I also really liked how Oserman made a point of addressing how centering your life around 1 person, even if it's a person you love, is incredibly unhealthy. Regardless of age or maturity, this is something that anyone can fall into and I think this point went really well with Charlie struggling to tell his parents about his eating disorder, and Nick having a hard time figuring out how he can help Charlie.
Another part of the story I enjoyed was that it didn't romanticize psych wards or recovery. Oserman didn't paint a perfect, easily curable journey with Charlie's recovery. It was difficult for everyone involved and there were hicups, relapses in it, and the journey doesn't just suddenly end. Charlie isn't randomly cured and his recovery is over. One of my absolute favorite lines from this book is when Charlie says
"Geoff says im making progress, but im starting to realize now that there might never be an end."
"This could be something that will always be there in the back of my mind, waiting to emerge aain and bring all the bad feelings bad."
I love these quotes so much because i really draws attention to the fact that mental illness and really any trauma doesn't just go away. There's not a magical cure to it that will take the mental illness, pain, or memories away. A lot of the time these are things that people need to work to cope with, and not get rid of, which isn't often portrayed in media. So I give high praise to Oserman for how she handled this topic.
For the most part I had no complaints for the story besides some nitpicks. For the most part I was fine with the light-weight, corny approach to the dialouge, but sometimes I feel like Oserman beat us on the head with the messaging when it wasn't necessary. The reader doesn't need everything spelled out to them.
This next thing I have mixed feelings about and kind of circles back to the point above. In the last 3rd of the story after Charlie tells his family about his eating disorder, we get two giant info dumps through Nick and Charlie's journaling. We're told a lot of things about how they're handling Charlies recovery process, and it was just so much telling and beating us on the head instead of showing us through the plot. At a point I felt like I had stopped reading a story, and was just being recounted what had happened by someone who had already read the entire story. I like the idea behind it, and I think I would have been fine if it had just been Charlie who had journaled, but just having 2 giant info dumps was a bit much, and I think it could have been spaced out instead of having all of the journaling happening at once.
But with that said, this has definetly been my favorite entry in the Heartstopper series and i'm very excited to see what Oserman has in store for us in the future.
While getting through every book I noticed how the series steadily started taking up a more serious tone and heavy topics, which has proven to be the most true with Volume 4. I adore that this installment didn't let the wholesome romance between Nick and Charlie, overshadow and glamorize the real issues that Volume 4 sets out to cover. It delved into the struggles of people who have an undiagnosed mental illness, as well as the loved ones around them, while maintaining a respectful light-hearted read that his been apart of this series since the beginning.
I also really liked how Oserman made a point of addressing how centering your life around 1 person, even if it's a person you love, is incredibly unhealthy. Regardless of age or maturity, this is something that anyone can fall into and I think this point went really well with Charlie struggling to tell his parents about his eating disorder, and Nick having a hard time figuring out how he can help Charlie.
Another part of the story I enjoyed was that it didn't romanticize psych wards or recovery. Oserman didn't paint a perfect, easily curable journey with Charlie's recovery. It was difficult for everyone involved and there were hicups, relapses in it, and the journey doesn't just suddenly end. Charlie isn't randomly cured and his recovery is over. One of my absolute favorite lines from this book is when Charlie says
"Geoff says im making progress, but im starting to realize now that there might never be an end."
"This could be something that will always be there in the back of my mind, waiting to emerge aain and bring all the bad feelings bad."
I love these quotes so much because i really draws attention to the fact that mental illness and really any trauma doesn't just go away. There's not a magical cure to it that will take the mental illness, pain, or memories away. A lot of the time these are things that people need to work to cope with, and not get rid of, which isn't often portrayed in media. So I give high praise to Oserman for how she handled this topic.
For the most part I had no complaints for the story besides some nitpicks. For the most part I was fine with the light-weight, corny approach to the dialouge, but sometimes I feel like Oserman beat us on the head with the messaging when it wasn't necessary. The reader doesn't need everything spelled out to them.
This next thing I have mixed feelings about and kind of circles back to the point above. In the last 3rd of the story after Charlie tells his family about his eating disorder, we get two giant info dumps through Nick and Charlie's journaling. We're told a lot of things about how they're handling Charlies recovery process, and it was just so much telling and beating us on the head instead of showing us through the plot. At a point I felt like I had stopped reading a story, and was just being recounted what had happened by someone who had already read the entire story. I like the idea behind it, and I think I would have been fine if it had just been Charlie who had journaled, but just having 2 giant info dumps was a bit much, and I think it could have been spaced out instead of having all of the journaling happening at once.
But with that said, this has definetly been my favorite entry in the Heartstopper series and i'm very excited to see what Oserman has in store for us in the future.
Continuing to really like this series. This installment follows volume's 3 approach to the story and focuses on Masahiro and just why he thinks and behaves the way he does, which I like. With that said though it didn't go nearly as in-depth as I was expecting it too with his mother. I really liked how at the start we saw Masahiro question if he can really be this happy and if it's actually real. A lot of teens go through this because they grew up not being given love and support, but to me it just felt very watered down with how they involed Masahiro and Kosuke's relationship into it. Don't get me wrong it makes sense since it's Masahiro's upbrining that brought them together, but it just felt very, meh with how it was incorporated.
I'm interested in how Kouske's savior complex is going to play out beause it's been built up throughout the entire series thus far, and what Natsuo's backstory is.
I'm also continuing to love Masahiro's and Asaya's frenemie relationship. One of my favorite things to see.
I'm interested in how Kouske's savior complex is going to play out beause it's been built up throughout the entire series thus far, and what Natsuo's backstory is.
I'm also continuing to love Masahiro's and Asaya's frenemie relationship. One of my favorite things to see.
I'll give this a 3.5/5 stars
This installment continues it's semi-fast paced exploration of Masahiro and Kouske's relationship. The more I read the more I think some of these volumes could be combined to become more cohesive, but I also understand that it's just a light and fun read.
I had fun reading, but I was honestly pretty confued by why Masahiro was in a constant state of panic. I get the jealousy of Natsou, but he kept getting oddly upset at all interactions Kouske had with anyone. I guess he's obsessively possesive which leads to his jealousy with everyone around Kouske.
I liked how both Masahiro and Kouske were introspective about how they were feeling and why they felt the way they did, feels like actual progress happening in these volumes, even when the more obvious issues are still present.
I also liked that this story focused on Asaya, even though this series isn't about him and Kensuke, it was nice for the book to expand on him more since he's one of the lead supporting characters. I also love the drama and mess at the end, I know people probably don't like it but i'm not here to be a hater. I loved it and it makes me want to read the next volume asap.
Fun read, fun series.
This installment continues it's semi-fast paced exploration of Masahiro and Kouske's relationship. The more I read the more I think some of these volumes could be combined to become more cohesive, but I also understand that it's just a light and fun read.
I had fun reading, but I was honestly pretty confued by why Masahiro was in a constant state of panic. I get the jealousy of Natsou, but he kept getting oddly upset at all interactions Kouske had with anyone. I guess he's obsessively possesive which leads to his jealousy with everyone around Kouske.
I liked how both Masahiro and Kouske were introspective about how they were feeling and why they felt the way they did, feels like actual progress happening in these volumes, even when the more obvious issues are still present.
I also liked that this story focused on Asaya, even though this series isn't about him and Kensuke, it was nice for the book to expand on him more since he's one of the lead supporting characters. I also love the drama and mess at the end, I know people probably don't like it but i'm not here to be a hater. I loved it and it makes me want to read the next volume asap.
Fun read, fun series.
A nice 3.5/5 stars. Cute, fun, sadly not as dramatic as I was hoping coming out of how Volume 5 ended, but that's okay. Just looking at how other cliff hangers have turned out I wasn't that surprised.
While I really like that Hasekura (Asaya) is getting a lot of development because I enjoy his growing frenemie relationship with Masahiro, I am a little confused on why a focus on their story isn't done through it's own series, since Hitorijime My Hero is a spinoff of Hasekura and Kensuke's relationship manga. That said I still enjoed it, just wish that Masahiro and Kouske were still apart of the focus for the later half of this installment.
I'm very...interested to see where Kouske's proposal leads to considering just how absurd it is. But this series thrives off it's absurdity so i'm looking forward too it.
While I really like that Hasekura (Asaya) is getting a lot of development because I enjoy his growing frenemie relationship with Masahiro, I am a little confused on why a focus on their story isn't done through it's own series, since Hitorijime My Hero is a spinoff of Hasekura and Kensuke's relationship manga. That said I still enjoed it, just wish that Masahiro and Kouske were still apart of the focus for the later half of this installment.
I'm very...interested to see where Kouske's proposal leads to considering just how absurd it is. But this series thrives off it's absurdity so i'm looking forward too it.