Heartstopper Season 1 (2022)

Whenever my friends are excited to tell me about a film or series or even a book. I listen and usually go out of my way to read or watch their recommendation. Not only because I love chatting about these things but also because we are friends for a reason. There is usually a bit of overlap between what you like and what your friends like. We do look at the world through our own lens but I love and value their opinions. This recommendation though was a no-brainer. I had seen the heartstopper books in every shop I went into on holiday. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read it mainly because I was wondering if it was a bit too young for me. In most shops, the books were displayed on a single table or column thus I couldn’t deduce the age range of the books. I could have looked it up but I wasn’t that pressed at the time. As I said before reading books or watching a show or film that is meant for a YA audience is not bad at all. We have all been young and truly I remember high school very clearly I can thus relate to stories focusing on that a lot more than stories about a 30-something with children as that is in no way me at this moment in time. My point was I never bought the books, I did wonder though. And then I thought, shall I watch the series? I always wonder if I should read books first or watch a series or film first. My friend had however told me the books and series were both so good. I asked him if I could watch the series first or if reading the book first would be better. He told me to just watch the series. So I did, I started and finished it all in one night… Let me tell you what I thought.

The series in short Teens Charlie and Nick discover their unlikely friendship might be something more as they navigate school and young love in this coming-of-age series. The show contains 8 episodes of roughly 30 minutes each.
I got this information here.

The trailer

If the trailer does not work, click here.

My thoughts
When I started this series, I just watched it in one go. It was so much fun. It was the absolute cutest thing I have seen in a long while. I think this is one of those series that works wonders for the younger crowd especially but is still fun for older people. If you have quite an age gap with a sibling I think this is so much fun to watch together or for parents to talk about with their teenage children. I thought the love story was so well done. The character goes through this development but they also learn so much about themselves and each other. I think the core friendship group in the story is so good too. I love strong friendships in the series. I think it is good that we are moving beyond the friendships seen in Gossip Girl, where you wonder why they are even friends. With this series, you can feel why these people are friends which is wonderful.

It is also such an interesting take on the way people find out their sexuality and the way they express this. The bullying also was well, realistic. In a lot of series or films (specifically American ones), the bullying is so exaggerated that it makes you think that nothing like that happens (maybe it does but that is how it feels). The way this series portrays how bullying happens feels very realistic. The girl who plays Elle (Yasmin Finney) is wonderful she was my favourite charachter, I really enjoyed her performance. I hope we can see a lot more of here in the next season.

I enjoyed watching the season and I am buzzing for the next one. In addition, I might give graphic novels a go. When I do, you’ll know.