Lin's Perspective

Right, so if this is not the cutest graphic novel I don’t know what else is.

Charlie and Nick will forever be my favourite couple, I just love them beans so much. The author has blessed us with not only great art but also with a great story and amazing characters that you find yourself so attached to that you wish you knew in real life. If I were in high school, I would definitely be hanging out with this bunch!

This is my second time re-reading these books and let me tell you, they just uplift me and make me feel good. Both our protagonists have amazing personalities and we see them dealing with a lot of things normal teenagers go through. This includes getting to know one’s sexuality, exploring different things, who their real friends are, what their values are, and so much more going on one cannot simply put into words. It is a series that has to be experienced.

THE GRAPHIC NOVELS SPOILERS

Let me start with Nick. He is a rugby player on the school team, and he is a jog. One might think he is the typical sports jerk. However, he is the sweetest guy, really. He does not know yet what his sexuality is, and we do see him struggle with this aspect of his life until he is at peace and has accepted it. In my opinion, his mother was amazing. When he confided in her, this is how every parent should react to such news and support their child no matter what their sexual orientation. It made me tear up, and I was so glad that we had such a beautiful moment between a mother and a son.

Nick’s brother and friends (some of them) were the real jerks, even though we had some redemption at the end of the last volume which was well welcomed. His father is pretty much not in the family picture, due to a divorce and you can see him struggle with this too What I really loved about the author is her ability to present us characters that could be real people, with real problems, sometimes not thought-through actions and sayings. This is a great human and character observation.

I just loveeeeeeee Nick’s dog Nellie! Let me throw this statement here and be clear!!

Charlie is our beloved quiet character. He suffered horrible bullying due to his sexuality and what is so amazing about his personality is his perseverance and not giving up attitude. He is nowhere near healed physically and emotionally. However, it only shows how strong a person can be regardless of the hardships they go through.

What I really appreciated was his family and sister, the way they supported him and his little brother is so cute.

Throughout the volumes, we see how the friendship between Nick and Charlie grows into something more and eventually ends up with them dating. Even though on the surface everything looks great and we root for them since the beginning we find that Charlie has been dealing with demons on his own, which Nick was not aware of and has only begun to notice. We deal with eating disorder and depression. And you just wish you could take out Charlie and give him a huge hug and tell him it will be alright, that he’s got Nick and his family and friends, and that they are there for him. It is a difficult and delicate topic, that Alice managed to deliver in such a beautiful way.

The novels are simply great, I had some minor issues with them but overall I gave them 4.5 stars!

I cannot wait for Volume 5 to come out already!

THE TV SHOW SEASON 1

Can we just stop and appreciate the cast, please?! I think they are simply amazing. The actors did a superb job at delivering it just felt like I was reading the books all over again.

The TV show was really well done, I finished season 1 and now will be binge watching season 2 on Netflix.

I only found some minor changes compared to the graphic novels, the rest was just great. To be honest I don’t think I would have cared even if it was different from the books, I just love the characters and the actors did an amazing job at portraying their essence.

Again the dog!!!

Anyway, have you read the books or watched the show? I would like to know what your thoughts are if you have!