Since it is now June, I felt it was an appropriate time to get together a post that has been mostly written for several months at this point.
During a trip to London in January, I was able to visit a Waterstone's Bookstore. After fangirling at the Nick and Charlie cutout that I briefly considered how I could smuggle out of the store and back to the United States, I bought The Heartstopper Yearbook. I had been trying to restrict my purchases to things I could only get in England, but it was half off and seeing my favorite boys in full color was just too exciting.
This finally prompted me to get around to watching the Netflix adaption of Heartstopper. I have a tendency to put off watching things I am really excited about. I want to have time to watch as much as I want to at once, but am also afraid of getting through it too fast. I want to be in a good mood so as not to taint the experience, but if it doesn't meet my expectations I don't want it to then bring me down. Send help when Percy Jackson airs. I am also always torn between giving it my full attention, or doing something a bit mindless to allow me to send longer watching it, as I have a difficult time only watching something for more than an hour or so.
After buying the Yearbook, I wanted to reread the books again to refresh my mind and, of course, read them all in one day. The Yearbook was really cool; I like Alice Oseman's take on it being her story over the years, even though I (like others it appears) was expecting it to be a bit more of an actual school yearbook from the Heartstopper universe.
And then I was finally hooked enough that I could not put off watching the show any longer. Thank goodness, because it was stunning.
Previously, I was of the opinion that The Thief Lord was the best book-to-screen adaption I have seen. I would have to give them another read and watch to make a definitive decision but I think Heartstopper may have replaced it. The tipping point might be that most of the big "changes" are just expansions that make absolute sense and that truly add to the universe, instead of just creating something to fill more time or make it more marketable to a viewing audience. There are scenes that did not happen in the books, and character developments that were not explored, but they all stem directly from the novels. Nothing felt inorganic; everything just had more of the spirit and heart of the books. There were many exact lines, even exact shots that were pulled directly from the books and I was in heaven seeing them all. I think it made me join the side of feeling that books should be made into shows instead of movies.
It was so beautifully done that I felt like I could make a list of the changes and be able to look back and see why each of them was made and not be upset. And so as soon as I watched the entire season (in two days) I watched it again and did exactly that.
Obviously, just about everything that follows will be a spoiler for the books/show/both. This is in no way an attempt to nitpick either, more just my way of processing this amazing universe more deeply and sharing why I think the adaption was so well done. I absolutely adore both the books and the show both as individuals and together.
The first big change that I noticed was that Aled was exchanged for Isaac. My only thought for why was that it had something to do with Aled being in Radio Silence, another book by Alice Oseman. A very easy Google search showed that was correct. Given this, I still loved Isaac and I felt his presence was fairly similar to Aled's in the books.
The second big change (though it came up later than Isaac's) was the addition of Imogen. But I understood this was to add content for the show and a bit of drama to a subplot. If the show didn't add any extra scenes etc. there wouldn't be enough to have an entire season based on just the first two volumes. And it is an addition that makes sense. It fell into Nick and Charlie's story naturally. I found Imogen significantly annoying, but I figure this was kind of the point. And I did appreciate how well she took being eventually rejected by Nick.
Third was just the amount that we see some of the characters. Elle, Tau, Tara, and Darcy all get more time on the screen than their characters get on the page. And I cannot emphasize enough how much I support this. Their characters and personalities were rooted in the books and just took a flying leap right from there. The one that felt the most different to me was Tau. He gets (in my opinion) much goofier, much more outspoken and aggressive (in the best way). But even reading the books again after watching the show five times (yes I did this all in a row) I found I wanted to see more of that Tau in the books. I could see in his quips and loyal remarks that it was there in his character, we just get to see it explicitly in the show.
A change I was not as happy with when it comes to Tau is that, in the show he was not the one who accidentally outed Charlie the previous year. Or if he still was, it was not said outright. Of course I am not in favor of close friends being the one to hurt the main character in this way, I liked the dynamic it gave the two, as well as the weight to the message of forgiveness. The show put more weight in Tau feeling replaced by Nick as well as the situations with Harry's bullying. This essentially got Tau and Charlie to the same end result, I just felt the book version on a deeper level. Additionally, Tau spends a lot more time being angry with Charlie, whereas in the books it is just a fairly short chuck of time in volume 3 when he finds out how long it took Charlie to tell him, and that he tells Tau last of all their friends. He is only vaguely frustrated with Charlie when he just thinks Charlie has a crush on Nick all the time before that. Adding those emotionally charged scenes really pulls you in to the story, and I did like getting to experience both scenarios between the books and the show.
To touch on the Harry thing regarding Tau, I (although I feel strange saying this) loved that Tau and Harry got into the fight. The verbal spars leading up to it were quite entertaining and the fight really showcased how far Tau would go to defend himself and his friends.
Harry himself was somehow just even more rotten and I loved it. I will say it again, all of the characters were just more and I could not get enough of that.
A character that was not a new addition for the show but showed up a lot earlier was the art teacher at Truham, Mr. Ajayi. In the books Mr. Ajayi isn't introduced until Volume 3 on the Paris trip. But in the show he is not only very present in Charlie's life, being an important support system both in the present time as well as through Charlie's period of severe bullying the previous year, but it is also readily acknowledged that he is openly gay. Even in Volume 3, if the students were aware of this it was never mentioned. Readers only become informed of this in scenes with just him and Mr. Farouk. Again, I loved this change. Having an adult, and in particular a teacher, who could be this role model for Charlie and the others was so heartwarming. Plus, my gosh, he is hilarious. I cannot wait to see him interact with Mr. Farouk.
Tori is spectacular. She was spectacular in the books, and although she didn't get too much more screen time, everything about her and her presence was perfect. The one significant addition I did see was her real talk with Charlie where he confides that he wonders if others would just be better off if he weren't there. It was such a touching scene, especially to see such an aloof and mysterious character give Charlie such a sweet hug. It also really set up the start of exploring Charlie's mental health which I am so looking forward to seeing in upcoming seasons because I know it will be so well done and I know I will cry.
I think just about the entire "Girls" episode was new? The concert that takes place in this episode is alluded to in the book but we actually see more of the time expanded around it. As well as the milkshake triple date. I did notice also that the show used this to have Nick tell Elle that he and Charlie are dating. Since Tau also finds out about Nick and Charlie dating from Elle, whereas in the book Charlie tells him in Paris, I have a feeling there will need to be some additional dramas added to the Paris trip. With any other adaption that would make me nervous but now I am just excited to see where they will go with it. I absolutely see why this was moved into season 1 of the show, it was a natural progression to end the season, even though it essentially just covers volumes 1 and 2. I think the fact that most of the final episode of the first season did not come directly from the books helped this as well.
Sports Day was added. Yet again, I liked this and it felt very natural. I loved the conclusion of how Charlie and Tau forgave each other, I loved watching Nick leave the game to go to Charlie, and perhaps most of all I loved see Charlie just verbally wreck Ben after the race. Although I guess he physically wrecks him too after winning.
In the show...
Charlie gives some attitude to his form teacher right at the beginning of the first episode? He's such a cinnamon roll it caught me a little off guard but after this scene I think I would have liked to see even a little more.
Ben pretends not to know Charlie at school. Aggressively so. It really shows that he needs to figure some stuff out with himself, and broke my heart to see Charlie just accept it (for a period of time).
Tau and Elle's relationship is much more distinct. In the books, Charlie, Elle, Tau, and Aled are painted as a foursome but in the show it is clear Elle and Tau have something special and it has been that way even before any traces of romance appear. And although it is hinted from the moment Elle is introduced at Charlie's birthday party in the books that there is something romantic starting between her and Tau, the show explores that much more blatantly.
Elle becomes friends with Tara and Darcy at Higgs. Again, this felt very logical and flowed very well into the original story.
After Nick intercedes on Ben and Charlie, and they are texting afterward, Charlie thanks Nick for being his "supportive straight friend". This adds another bump for Charlie in the show, whereas in the book he just has guessing to go off of as to Nick's sexuality. Since this wasn't blown out of proportion, I was in support of this change.
The St. Johns game. Rugby isn't super present in the books after Nick and Charlie become close outside of it. Also along the rugby line, in the show Charlie quits the team in the final episode. This is more to try and patch things over with Tau so he isn't tied to playing in the game for Sports Day, but I was a little sad that Charlie's rugby career was then really just tied to him trying to get closer to Nick. In the books it felt to me that he actually did end up enjoying being on the team unrelated to Nick.
Ben approaches Charlie outside of the cinema. I believe after Charlie tells him off at Harry's birthday in the book he doesn't show up again. But although my stomach dropped in anticipation of what horrible thing he would say every time I saw him on my screen, I loved seeing Charlie gain the confidence to tell him off and not back down. But my gosh, I really don't know who was worse, show Harry or show Ben, they were both just disgusting.
Charlie sees Nick's black eye from fighting Harry at school, whereas in the book he sees it when he is at Nick's house. Maybe an inconsequential detail, but I did actually like the setup of the show version, since Charlie sees Harry first and then has to put together what might have happened to Nick before he sees him.
Nick's kinder rugby friends, Christian, Sai, and Otis. I did miss seeing them since they were the few of Nick's friends that had distinct redeemable qualities. Also, their conversations when Nick walks away in the books are amazing. I assume because they were taken out but this also took out one of my favorite scenes from the books where Coach Singh butts in to say that you can't tell if someone is gay just by looking at them.
Don't let anyone make you disappear. Immediately made me think of Dear Evan Hansen. And I love the offensive stance of this - taking situations where someone is trying to make you feel so belittling and actively not allowing that. Charlie is such a good representation of this, over and over again. I hope Alice Oseman had some say in the creation of this line because it really should have made it into the books.
A change that made me sad (to watch) but that I felt was a reasonable choice for the show was Charlie trying to break up with Nick. It made it more impactful when Nick voiced how much he wants to be with Charlie. Cue one of my favorite speeches ever...Nick, I believe you.
That line (Nick, I believe you) in itself really cut to the core for me. Because I could tell that Charlie really did believe Nick, and I could tell how meaningful that was that he truly did. After all that time of feeling like he was just making the lives of those around him worse, after all the abuse and intrusive thoughts Harry and Ben put in his head, Charlie was finally able to believe how much Nick loves him. And that is so incredibly beautiful.
In the books...
Nick isn’t friends with Ben. This was an interesting change that I didn't pick up on until I reread the books after watching the show. I think they made them "friends" for the show so that there was more reason for Ben to show up and give he and Charlie more scenes together.
Charlie is popular. The show really leans into Charlie being the "gay nerd" which is still true but in the book it is mentioned several times in the whispers of other Truham students that Charlie is popular, and the opposite is said for the show. It also gives Nick's "friends" more ammunition for not wanting Charlie around.
Charlie was invited to Harry's party before Nick invites him. This goes along with Charlie being popular in the books. I did like this scenario better since it showed Charlie as more of an individual instead of most of his choices being based on Nick's influence.
Nick sees Ben talking to Charlie at school. In the show when Charlie even just says hi to Ben in the hallway, Ben way overcompensates in his denial that he and Charlie even know each other.
Nick swears at Ben when he sees him force himself on Charlie. I don't think I picked up on any swearing in the show but there definitely was some in the books. I did like seeing what brings it out in the characters but I also liked seeing teenagers being depicted that didn't need to swear.
Oliver exists! There was no big impact on the story in the show without him but I was a little sad to miss seeing the absolutely precious scene in the conservatory where Oliver runs in and jumps to Nick. That conservatory scene was entirely taken out to a similar effect, no huge impact but would have been cute to see through Kit Connor and Joe Locke.
At the cinema scenes, a small detail that was changed was that Harry asks Charlie about mentioning Zayn Malik instead of Harry Styles. I'm not sure why this was made and would be interested to hear if there was any significance to it.
The concert had much more of a backstage seat. A lot of the episode "Girls" was new, including the expansion of Tara and Darcy getting locked in the closet again. The book shows the time before they got together and the show depicts the (new) mirror moment when Tara struggles with the realities of being out.
Very long story short, go read and watch Heartstopper immediately if not sooner, and then repeat (over and over and over...).
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