Book 904: Heartstopper, Vol. 3 (Heartstopper #3) – Alice Oseman

Wow, just wow. I honestly don’t know how I haven’t re-read this one before now.

Re-reading this a second time showed me how much Oseman packs into these books. Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 both had their powerful moments, but Vol. 3 takes it to a new level between Charlie and Nick, but also with their friends and even their teachers! And the fact Oseman does it with so little dialogue and just a shift in perspective shading in her artwork is fantastic.

Vol. 3 finds Charlie, Nick, and most of their school friends on a week-long school trip to Paris. The build-up is to the trip is mostly about Charlie and Nick trying to figure out when/if they’re going to come out to more people since a few already know.

This is definitely the first Charlie AND Nick book not told from one of their perspectives more than the other. We see Charlie struggling to figure out how to tell Nick he loves him and that manifests in his eating disorder flaring up, and we see Nick showing Charlie how much he loves him by finding ways to care for him without being overbearing. It’s adorable how they navigate it and when they finally talk to each other (oh, heeeeyyyy MM Romance trope) they agree to be honest with each other and work together which let’s face it is 100x more mature than many of the full-ass-grown males I read about in my trashy ones 😀

For me, however, this book is about minor characters. From Nick’s dick of a brother to Tao and Elle finally getting together to the two teachers kissing in one of the final scenes and even Harry apologizing to Charlie and Nick with Charlie standing up to him and finally having his say. Oseman does a wonderful job of giving every character, no matter how short their appearance is an impactful moment in the spotlight. Seriously, I would read any mini-comic Oseman put out about any of the characters who appear in this story, especially those teachers and Aled and Daniel . . . GIVE ME ALL THE DETAILS!

Recommendation: Read this series! Seriously, I can’t say it enough. This is a delightful series and Charlie and Nick are so much more mature than many other couples I’ve about over the years and they’re still in their mid-teens!? I forgot where this story left us, but it really sums up where they are together and how they want their relationship to continue and I’m really interested to see where Oseman takes it next. I’ve only read one of her prose works, Solitaire, and wasn’t sold on it, but re-reading these now makes me think I should revisit her prose, especially if ANY of these characters make even the most minor of appearances! (I don’t think they do . . . sad.)