Nick and Charlie, the protagonists and main couple.

Most people count their time in days, some in weeks, some in years. Ever since the news was released for the date of the “Heartstopper” TV adaption, I have counted my time in relation to how close I am to seeing that wonder. Now, I am expecting essentially none of you to understand my excitement around this series. While I have talked quite a bit about different books on this blog, I realized that I have failed to fully discuss “Heartstopper”, which is perhaps my favorite LGBTQ+ book series of all time, even though it has gotten a few minor mentions (here and here).

“Heartstopper” by Alice Oseman is a ridiculously adorable graphic novel/web comic series that follows the story of Nick and Charlie – two secondary school age boys in England who find themselves grappling with the whole “Do I like or like like him?” dilemma. The art of the series is simply wonderful (I mean just look at the little inserts I added!), and the characters are incredibly well developed over the course of the series.

One of the best scenes in the series.

The two protagonists meet in a homeroom type class where they sit next to each other, and everything evolves from there. Over the current seven (7!) volumes of the comic, their relationship has blossomed as they get over the initial confusion of teenage hormones and whacky emotions to tackle coming out to family, dealing with homophobic friends, the importance and support of mostly queer friend groups and found family, and other more serious issues such as struggling with mental health and eating disorders.

The beauty of this work emerges from its resemblance to real life for queer people in high school. For LGBTQ+ adults who maybe came out later in life, this series presents a chance to almost relive and share that experience. For LGBTQ+ teens, it presents cute, fluffy, and, in some instances, ideal romantic experiences to fawn over. This series ties a tight connection to everyone who reads it – they all are absolutely rooting and celebrating the queer love between a young couple. And when I discuss the cuteness of the book, especially as a little hopeless romantic, I will admit that I do squeal on occasion while reading it.

The significance of this series to so many people, especially LGBTQ+ individuals is delightfully illustrated in the creation of a TV adaption which will be coming out April 22 on Netflix. I cannot fundamentally describe my excitement for the moment I get to watch this series, but I can say that I am having a serious debate on whether to skip all of my classes that day to watch it immediately.

To briefly summarize, everyone should go read this series immediately (it’s available for FREE right here), especially if you are looking for something light and fluffy to read without a huge mental commitment (this is one of my go to rereads when I want to read something but school has drained my mental energy). The celebration of queer love, especially young queer love, is a personal top priority, and I think you should all share that belief briefly to go read the series. Any story about people continually becoming themselves and finding people who make them happy and loved and supported is so incredibly important, and I hope you all can find that for yourselves, either in a story or real life.

Some panels from the series.