Reviews with content warning for Panic attacks/disorders - Nick and Charlie

i got triggered.

this feels like a 4 star book, but personally i have to make it closer to the half way mark than that. i think the intended audience is teenagers, but i'm not sure due the choice of some adjectives being written in the 1st person that might've sounded better in the 3rd person. Hallelujah i've survived long enough & i'm growing.

It was a decent story & I appreciated the info explaining the british school system at the back of the book because holy shit that's been tripping me up for a while. they're a cute couple with strong relationship foundations.

that being said i got triggered with at the very least the photography plotline? i read heartstopper & then i read this book so i'm pretty sure i missed a lot because i don't remember the medical conditions.

personally, i would've preferred them to not have sex, but this book ain't alone in that distaste. like this book explicitly say it takes relationship scripts from the straights TM & amatonormativity. (tao & his girlfriend, along with the discussion of soulmates) seriously, the contrast of them being kids whose communication skills sucked about how to do long distance with ... look this book ain't alone in the problem & i was an outlier as a kid in being hostile to dating because i didn't think kids should have sex so. however, apparently sex is a thing that's done & IDK enough about sexology to not cringe about the common experience & I also don't trust a lot of sexology because of genital reductionism.

also the use of words like boyish & teenagers (as opposed to say kids our age)... the writing is written in the 1st person, like with the choice of boyish, what's that in comparison to? as someone in my late 20's it creeped me out, like i'm almost the age of the author, this needed better editing.

i read this book for a bookclub & this was considered positive lgbt+ representation, but obviously i got triggered.

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stevia333k's review

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emotional tense fast-paced

Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

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maddiep0114's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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diana_raquel's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

"Exactly. Two idiots in love. Couple goals."

Nick and Charlie is a Heartstopper novella that has been on my radar for quite some time. Heartstopper is one of my favorite graphic novels and I always planned to read the novellas related to the graphic novel. And when I saw this one in my bookstore, I couldn't resist. And I really liked it. It's a bittersweet story about the excitement of going to college but also the fear of leaving. It's a good addition to the series, with a good structure, an interesting plot, and the loveable characters that we know and love. It's also super short, so it's pretty easy to read.
I really recommend this novella and the main graphic novel.

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