First Pages: Heartstopper

I’m a little spoiled for this series because I have already watched several seasons of the show. However, I think Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper is the perfect book to discuss for our First Pages series due to its immense popularity.

Little Lion and I agree that the first pages for Heartstopper really begin after the prologue that reads as backstory. Even though the backstory is important, I’d rather get to Charlie and Nick so you’ll see that I only included those pages above.

First off, the shades of green/black/white set such a sense of nostalgia for me. Little Lion and I discussed the beginning (at which time LL got sucked into reading the entire book again), and how Oseman signifies their immediate chemistry and meet-cute vibe on the title page, with just the tilt of a head and the way they are looking at each other. She builds their friendship and easy way with each other right away, even as we can sense Charlie’s insecurity about the relationship. In many sections throughout the book, Oseman does not even include dialogue in their speech bubbles—an exclamation mark and a look suffices to get the feeling of a scene.

Oseman has me ready to read Volume 2, even as I already know what happens. Honestly the entire first book is a fun and light-hearted read about teen love (note: the rest of the series handles heavy themes regarding mental health issues, so not as light-hearted).

If you haven’t checked out the series yet, find it streaming on Netflix. This is not an ad—the series is so well done and perfectly cast. (But while we are at it, I’m going to give a shout out for Joe Locke on Agatha All Along too—such a great series that is campy, witchy, mysterious, and fun.)

Side note: We got our miniature Heartstopper bookshelf from Storykeeper Studio’s booth at the L.A. Times Festival of Books. Too many great bookshelves to choose from.