Book Review | Heartstopper Volume Three by Alice Oseman

While the characters of Heartstopper are having fun in the City of Love, not everything in this volume is sunshine and rainbows.

It's so crazy to think that season 2 of Heartstopper has wrapped! I have a strong feeling that it'll be coming out sometime in the late spring or early summer so I went ahead to read the book first before the release of the Netflix adaptation.

As a fan of the show, I went into volumes one and two with a brief idea of what was going on. But since the show did not cover Volume Three, I went into this one mostly blind to the plot.

About Heartstopper Volume Three

Charlie didn't think Nick could ever like him back, but now they're officially boyfriends. Nick even found the courage to come out to his mother. But coming out isn't something that happens just once.

Challenges arise while the gang is off to Paris for a school trip. There's Nick's pestering older brother and nosy classmates. Things get difficult even with your partner by your side.

As their feelings for each other get more serious, Nick and Charlie will need each other more than ever before.

Heartstopper Volume Three Review

Honestly, this volume did not hit the same as the first two books.

There were heavier topics discussed in this one such as eating disorders, self-harm and bullying. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing to talk about these things but as someone who has experienced such things before, it was heartbreaking for me to read about what these characters had to go through. Hence, I would strongly urge anyone who wants to read this to approach it with caution.

Heartstopper Volume Three also focuses on the other characters, besides Nick and Charlie, more. It explored Tao and Elle's relationship. There were also more scenes of Aled, Tara and Darcy, Nick and Charlie's best friends. There was an introduction of a new character called Sahar (though I find it weird that we didn't see her much, to be honest).

From left: Aled, Nick, Charlie, Darcy, Sahar and Tara.

The teachers also played a bigger role in this volume, even going as far as to explore a relationship between Mr Ajayi and Mr Farouk, teachers from Higgs Girls School and Truham Boys School respectively.

With these new characters, I felt that we didn't get as many wholesome moments with Nick and Charlie alone. They were always surrounded by friends or facing some dilemma.

I did appreciate their communication with one another because they were always open and communicative about their feelings. This was a very refreshing perspective since YA books usually involve the miscommunication trope in their stories.

I also have to say that I was pleasantly surprised to see a classmate who wore a hijab. It's not often that I see Muslim representation so I appreciate that very much.

Look at her! She is gorgeous and she is perfect! It's a bit questionable that she was at a party but I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and hope she wasn't doing anything I wouldn't do...

My Recommendation

★★★★☆ (4/5)

While I still enjoyed Heartstopper Volume Three, I didn't like it as much as the first two volumes.

There was just something missing from it that I can't quite put my finger on. Maybe it was because of some friendships falling out, or the lack of chemistry and tension between Nick and Charlie, or the deeper topics being discussed. I couldn't connect to this volume like I did for volumes one and two.

I would recommend this one for the older ones since there are more serious topics in this volume which might be triggering for some. Make sure to check the trigger warnings before picking this one up.

I cannot wait for the second season of Heartstopper to drop on Netflix this year! In the meantime, I will be diving headfirst into Volume Four.