Nick and Charlie - A Heartstopper Novella Review

As detailed on our club website the purpose of The Right Review will be ongoing reviews of books that are currently on bookshelves in public and school libraries nationwide that have questionable content. To offset those that are there will be others that contain a moral message. So far, the first book reviewed was Lawn Boy with one of an opposite message called A Compassionate Call to Counter Culture in a World of Sexual Immorality. These reviews are not opinion pieces, but a summarization of the books written by the authors.

Next up is Nick and Charlie ~ A Heartstopper Novella by Alice Oseman. The story is of two young males, 17 and 18, madly in love, who are inseparable. One of the boys, Nick, will be leaving for a university and his younger lover, Charlie, will be left behind. The book details the struggles that both grapple with as to how to navigate the impending separation. For a while, they had decided to separate temporarily to have an opportunity to clear their heads.

When Charlie contacts Nick to reunite Charlie realizes that he has not seen him for over two weeks and thinks to himself, "just the sight of him makes me want to run up to him and kiss him and hold him and not let go of him for at least twenty minutes. I clench my fists and stay very still as he walks up to me. God, everything about him is so perfect."

The story continues to highlight the ongoing struggle of a long-distance relationship and they both ponder whether it will survive. In the final concluding chapters, it describes their lovemaking as they both relish in the emotions that become apparent, vividly experiencing the physical effects of their sexual act and details their intimate conversations between the two of them.

There is no final outcome given as to Nick leaving for the university and how Charlie will be impacted. The author, Alice Oseman, born in England, is a full-time writer as well as an illustrator. She has also created the Heartstopper live - action TV show that streams on Netflix. She has authored other books namely, Solitaire, Radio Silence, I Was Born for This and Loveless.