I’ve been reading the Heartstopper webtoon for years, and read several of Alice Oseman’s books, so this review might be a little biased. Yesterday, 22/04 at the time I’m starting to write this review, the new Netflix show for Heartstopper was released, and let me tell, the expectations were high. I will note that before writing this review I re-read all the graphic novels, so you know I’m legit.
For those of you not familiar with Heartstopper, it began as a webtoon by (the fantastic) author and illustrator Alice Oseman. Heartstopper, along with the rest of Alice’s works, follows the student of Truham and Higgs schools, but Heartstopper focuses on Nick and Charlie. There currently three volumes for the Heartstopper graphic novel, and the webtoon is also going strong. Osemans works tell the stories of queer teens growing up and give us a variety of different identities and situations, and they are all handled so well. The Heartstopper books are probably the sweetest, most romantic, of all Osemans works.
A few months ago, the Netflix series was announced, and every queer teen and young adult, me included, was thrilled to hear the news, but also worried whether the show will do justice to this beloved story. I’m going to tell you right here, it did. Alice Oseman was very involved in the production and the casting, so it definitely makes sense for the show to be as closed as it is to the original comic, and as an extension of that to also make a lot of fans happy. Briefly, the plot follows the blossoming relationship between Charlie — an out gay kid, and Nick, a rugby player and very popular student. The boys are accompanied by their friends and families, as Nick explores his bisexuality and falls for Charlie (and vice versa). I do have to mention that some parts can be triggering, as there are some mentions of violence, bullying and maybe sexual assault.
Let’s get down to business! I’ll begin with the incredible cast — everyone understood the assignment. Joe and Kit are the perfect Nick and Charlie, even if they weren’t how I imagined them. Every actor is so spot-on, it was lovely to watch. Elle? Amazing. Darcy? Just how she should be. And that is pretty much relevant to the rest of the cast. I also almost cried after seeing how similar the set is to how those places were illustrated in the books, so many little details that show you how loyal the show is to the books. See, the show isn’t an exact copy of the books, in fact in many parts it has completely different events. Even though, it kept a lot of iconic moments and executed them to perfection.
It’s a little hard to talk about the show as if it’s a different work to the books, considering there are so many direct quotes, and the plot is very close to the one in the graphic novels. As I mentioned before, many iconic scenes were almost copied to the word, so it is hard to criticize. Instead, I’ll continue do describe the specific similarities that I liked, and the differences that I found a little less exciting.
A main thing I love about the books, is the way conflict never comes from the actual relationship of Nick and Charlie. What I mean, is that Alice was determined to portray a healthy queer teen relationship, and that also appears in the show. The kindness, the affection and adoration that Nick and Charlie have for each other, is as clear in the show as it is in the books. On the other hand, I was a little disappointed by the changes made to Nick’s friends. While in the books it was clear who was a shit person and who was just wrong a few times, and still loved Nick very much, in the show all of them were assholes. None of them even mattered apart from Harry, so that wasn’t a choice I would’ve made.
All in all, I obviously adore the show and the books, and Alice Oseman in general. 5/5!!!
