Major Spoilers! Trigger Warning: Eating Disorder and Self Harm

“Heartstopper,” a Netflix show and novel series written by Alice Oseman, is about two British high school boys that go to school together and have to sit next to each other one day. One of the boys, Charlie Spring, played by Joe Locke, is an openly gay teen that struggles with bullying and loves music. Nick Nelson, played by Kit Connor, is a teen boy that loves to play rugby and is also struggling with his sexuality after he meets Charlie. 

“Heartstopper” just recently became a Netflix show and it covers “Heartstopper” Volume 1 and 2 from the novel series. Both the show and the books are really enjoyable. The show copies the book but the show added some new things to it. There’s a new character named Imogen, played by Rhea Norwood, who is one of Nick’s best friends and who has a crush on him too. She tries really hard to win against Nick and also tries to flirt with him a lot. Volume 1 and 2 are about Nick and Charlie becoming friends and spending time together while Charlie’s friends Tao Xu, played by William Gao, Aled (Isaac), played by Tobie Donovan, Elle Argent, played by Yasmin Finney. They all find it a bit odd that Charlie and a rugby lad are spending time together. Especially Tao because he finds it a bit odder about it and also tries to take care of Charlie since he helped Charlie when he was getting bullied for being gay from his other classmates. While Nick is spending more time with Charlie, he feels more differently about himself and how he feels about Charlie. Later on, in the show and book, Nick and Charlie have their first kiss and Nick tells Charlie about his feelings for him. They try to keep it on the down low but both Nick and Charlie are struggling with other situations, like when Imogen tries to ask out Nick. Charlie, on the other hand, is struggling with one of his bullies named Ben Hope, played by Sebastian Croft. Ben also happens to be Charlie’s old “lover” who likes to kiss him when no one else is around but acts like he doesn’t know him when there’s people around.

Almost everyone in the LGBTQ+ community loves “Heartstopper.” Whenever I scroll through my social media, specifically TikTok, it has all been “Heartstopper.” Most of the “MLM” (men loving men) group that are single, including me, have been feeling really sad about “Heartstopper,” because it’s our fantasy to be in a relationship with an attractive person who is closeted and come out of the closet for them. I heard about “Heartstopper,” on social media and I gave it a shot. After I finished the show in one day, I wanted more and I found out it’s a book series and I bought all four volumes. I watched “Heartstopper” about two more times and I realized that it’s foreshadowing volumes 3 and 4 because you could see how Charlie looks at food. “Heartstopper” volumes 3 and 4 is about Nick and Charlie going on a Paris trip with their classmates and they all find out about Nick and Charlie being together. All of a sudden, their relationship takes a turn when Charlie one day faints and Nick starts to get worried about him. Nick finds out that Charlie has an eating disorder and tries to convince Charlie to seek help. Nick is also struggling to tell his father that he is bisexual and is in a relationship with Charlie, his brother on the other hand is being really disrespectful about Nick and Charlie being in a relationship. 

“Heartstopper,” has not yet been renewed for season two but we can only hope. Alice Oseman said in an interview with Radio Times that she hopes there would be four seasons to follow up with the books and she has an idea for the episodes. I give “Heartstopper” a 10/10 series for the books and show because it was the first-ever show for me to make me want to watch more and made me impatient for the second season and also made me buy almost all the books. There are also other books that are also related to the “Heartstopper,” series which are Nick and Charlie, This Winter, and Solitaire. “Heartstopper” has skyrocketed and it is 100% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and 98% for the audience score. It was also Top 10 watched for Netflix and it was #5. I recommend everyone that loves romantic novels or shows to go read and watch “Heartstopper,” as it leads everyone with mixed feelings. I hope that “Heartstopper” gets renewed and the perfect timing would be during Pride Month.