• Author / Artist: Alice Oseman  
• Publisher: Hodder Children’s Books / Hodder Books  
• Publishing year: 2019
• Pages: 320
• Cover: Alice Oseman
• ISBN: 978-1444951400

https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/alice-oseman/heartstopper-volume-2/9781444951400/

Review:

After the kiss

Both Charlie and Nick are still reeling from their kiss at the party the night before. Text messages from Charlie stay unanswered and he thinks he just ruined their friendship. But then Nick is ringing the bell and is standing in front of Charlie… it’s time to talk! Although Nick still hasn’t figured out his sexuality and although he doesn’t really know where he’s at, he does know he liked kissing Charlie and has feelings for him. They both realize there’s no escaping their feelings for each other but want to keep it a secret, for now. Only a few friends are kept in the loop. Charlie’s afraid Nick will be bullied like he was. Nick’s afraid he won’t live up to Charlie’s expectations, by not being out and really knowing who he is. But then there’s his friend Tara, who has a girlfriend, who gives Nick some advice. The friend’s group is expanding but there’s also trouble on the horizon, when Harry, one of the bullies at school, decides to ruin a fine evening out at the cinema, with the rugby lads. Nick and Harry end up in a fight. Will this be the end of Nick and Charlie?

For everyone who has ever struggled with their sexuality or their questions about their gender, this volume in the Heartstopper comics will be very recognizable. Questioning yourself is bad enough, trying to figure out who you are and who you love is hard enough but if that all is met with someone bullying you, things get even harder for that person. Alice Oseman perfectly demonstrates the questioning of ‘oneself’ and the way people can be inconsiderate towards others. Also, in this volume, friendships are tested when the boys have to deal with hiding their true feelings for the ones closest to them. This part of being queer is also very recognizable, living a kind of double life where you have to act differently towards the people closest to you.

I do love how Alice has a way of bringing the big problems of growing up and the issues of realizing being different in a sweet, lovely way. Love and friendship are the main reasons teenagers (and admit it, a lot of grown ups as well, it is very universal) survive in a very hard and harsh world.

Heartstopper has won so many hearts (and they are not only the queer hearts, I can tell you!) and though it ended in 2026 (with Volume 6) these comics are here to stay and are sure to be discovered by more people (young and old-er) in the future. And for us who have read them, we will definitely rediscover them from time to time (didn’t I just reread all the five volumes before the sixth?).

This volume also contains a mini-comic with the story of how Tara and Darcy met!