BOOKS
HERE’S WHAT ORDER TO READ THE BOOKS AND NOVELLAS
While you eagerly await Season 2 of this hit series, here’s our guide to the four Heartstopper graphic novels and novellas By Christopher Turner
JULY / AUGUST 2022
By now you’ve probably already seen Netflix’s breakout hit series Heartstopper at least once. Based on British author Alice Oseman’s graphic novels of the same name, the heartwarming story follows Year 10 student Charlie (Joe Locke) as he falls for his Year 11 form seatmate, Nick Nelson (Kit Connor). Netflix’s adaptation of the queer coming-of-age series launched on April 22 with eight 30-minute episodes, all based on Oseman’s beloved Tumblr web-comic-turned-graphic-novels. The show became an instant sensation around the world, ranking on the streaming platform’s top 10 list in an impressive 54 countries and becoming one of the few series to score the coveted and incredibly rare 100 per cent score on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics universally praising the show. Then, in a testament to the supremely joyful story checking all the boxes as a Netflix success story, the streamer made the rare move – less than a month after it debuted – of renewing Heartstopper for not one but two seasons. There’s no official word yet on a release date for the second (or third) season, but if you’re looking to take your Heartstopper obsession to the next level or are looking for a little preview of what might be in store, you can dive into the source material.
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IN MAGAZINE
Oseman initially crowd-funded a limited self-published print run of the online comic in 2018, which reached its target in two hours. This led to Hachette Children’s Group stepping in and acquiring the rights to publish the comic to the masses, with the first official volume of Heartstopper being published in the spring of 2019. There are now four volumes of Heartstopper (as of July 2022), and the fifth and final volume of the series is expected to be released in early 2023. A companion book, titled Heartstopper Yearbook, is scheduled to drop on October 13, 2022. Then there are Oseman’s novellas, some of which feature the beloved Heartstopper characters. Ready to get reading? Here’s our suggested reading order to get you into the swing of things. Heartstopper: Volume 1 Netflix’s adaptation of Heartstopper is based on volumes one and two of Oseman’s bestselling graphic novel series, and this is where it all began. As the description reads, “Charlie and Nick are at the same school, but they’ve never met…until one day when they’re made to sit together. They quickly become friends, and soon Charlie is falling hard for Nick, even though he doesn’t think he has a chance. But love works in surprising ways, and Nick is
