Author: Alice Oseman
Rating: 2/5
Nick is leaving for university and Charlie feels quite upset about it, especially when he contemplates the future of their relationship.
Spoilers ahead.
Detailed Summary
Charlie is Head Boy and in Year 12. Nick is in Year 13 and has been accepted into the University of Leeds. They’ve decided they’ll do long-distance but Charlie is worried that they won’t last and he’ll be left behind. At Harry’s party, Aled tells him how Tao and Elle have broken up. Charlie becomes very drunk and breaks up with Nick because he thinks Nick doesn’t really want to be with him. They don’t talk for two weeks. Tori finds Nick’s camera and Charlie realises most of the pictures are of him. He sends them as texts to Nick but is left on read. Nick has only been receiving blank texts. Tao tells Charlie that he and Elle are going to try long-distance. Charlie sends the photos to Nick in the mail and tells him to meet him at the tennis court. Nick and Charlie DO meet and they make up and decide they’ll try long-distance too.
Review
Since this book was SO short (I believe the proper term is “novella”), I won’t be going into the usual plot and pacing etc. I don’t know how to feel about this book. On one hand, I love anything related to Nick and Charlie because the boys are so freaking adorable it makes me want to hike a mountain and scream. However, I felt like I had ruined Heartstopper for me in that this book was just spoiler after spoiler! In Heartstopper, Nick and Charlie are talking about sex and here, they mention several times that they’ve had sex and that the first time was awkward but really good. And there’s the fact that Nick wanted to go to the University of Kent but he obviously accepted a position at Leeds instead so now my stupid brain is going WHY WHY WHY??? DID HE GET REJECTED??? It’s not nice! Also, the two are usually so good at communicating with each other. To see them have an argument over something so…well, dumb was infuriating. They’re better than this!
Earnestly Eccentric 
I’m responding almost a year later, but a few things about your review.
1. I 100% agree with you about Nick going to Leeds. It is ABSURD! He is not in your run-of-the-mill typical high school romance. He is in a COMMITTED 2 1/2 year relationship and, at least for the first year, he could go to a much closer school so he doesn’t leave Charlie behind.
The first year of university you can, basically, get a lot of your BS classes out of the way. He could also choose to do it online for that first year. Or even a gap year while he waits for Charlie to graduate his final year of high school.
2. As far as ‘ruining’ Heartstopper, I don’t personally agree but keep in mind that the novella, ‘Nick & Charlie’ was written BEFORE Alice released the very first Heartstopper comic strip. That also explains why Nick and Charlie are both, basically, a bit more of an a-hole in this story vs the actual Heartstopper comic where it is almost all fluff between them.
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Thank you for your comment! I think you’re right in that both Nick and Charlie hadn’t been as well-fleshed out when Alice released this novella. I suppose I was most surprised that their relationship wasn’t as healthy in this book whereas in the comics, despite going through some pretty horrendous things, they are honest and supportive of each other. 🙂
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I absolutely love this book I have no complaints about it besides some spoilers on the 5th and maybe 6th one on Google when I just look up the book.
I just can’t I love this book so much that I dont want it to end.
There are some boring parts when they take half of the damn book talking about something kinda stupid…
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What do you mean by spoilers on the 5th and 6th one??
I don’t get it huhu hope you can clarify. 🫶
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I think they meant volumes 5 and 6, they’re available to read online on Tapas and Tumblr, if I’m remembering correctly 🙂
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