In retrospect I think I read Alice Oseman’s catalogue of work in completely the wrong order.
I read Heartstopper volumes 1 & 2 shortly after falling madly and deeply in love with the show on Netflix. After that I didn’t want to continue on without the show to back it up, so I picked up Loveless, the most recent Alice Oseman novel to come out.
It was lovely and rich and so full of friendships I loved, but it was such a departure from the love story I’d been mainlining that it was surprising. I was a little off-balance.
After that, I put Solitaire, Oseman’s first novel, on hold at the library and waited and waited for it to come up. It’s the one blurbed on every novel thereafter, it’s a debut hit, and of course I wanted to read things in order, I just didn’t have access to it right away. So in the meantime I read Radio Silence, another fantastic friendship and so much teen angst. Then (although I was less confident I’d like it based on the blurb) I Was Born For This. Parasocial relationships are fascinating and incredibly present in my life (hello many, many podcasters), but I wasn’t sure the story would be as satisfying. Thankfully the “friends we make along the way” vibes held strong.
Finally after waiting ages, Solitaire came through on my holds at the library. I read it and felt so much teen angst, it oozed attitude. There was something raw and sweetly painful to this one. It felt like a first novel. Because it was… kind of.
Although published first, the events of Solitaire actually come along on the timeline at the end of (and overlapping with) Heartstopper volume 4, which I’d been trying to hold off reading, until I could companion future seasons on Netflix. Although written after, the events were set before, and subverting any chronological expectations publication order would suggest. I’d accidentally spoiled myself for some of the next bits by unintentionally jumping down the timeline in the story!
I’d assumed that Solitaire took place before the events of Heartstopper, that Tori’s story would precede Charlie’s on the timeline. Oops. Because of the small character crossovers in previous books I thought it would be its own standalone story (which it is) but what with Tori being Charlie’s sister, there’s a lot more overlap of character and plot than I’d anticipated. Oops again.
So finally, seeing as I was already spoiled, and (at the time) had no sense of how long it would be before season 2 arrived, I went back and kept reading Heartstopper volumes 3 and 4. Then picked up Nick and Charlie, and last but certainly not least, This Winter.
Talk about a jumbled mess!
At the end of This Winter is a preview: chapter one of Solitaire. As I came to the end I kept reading, and realized this was a natural follow up to the novella I had just completed. Almost like they were designed to follow one upon the other, and for the first to be an introduction to Tori’s inner monologue and the second to pick it up and run with it for a whole novel. This Winter acted as a passing of the narrative torch from brother to sister.
I found myself feeling closer to Tori reading Chapter 1 again, with the Christmas that just past fresh in my mind as the book begins, and wondered how I would have felt had I come to the story the right way round.
The other books are far less intertwined, but Loveless would not have felt a shock after the clear themes of asexuality and the significance of friendship repeated and built on each other through each novel on offer.
I can only conclude that chronological order in this reading experience are wholly worthwhile.
I officially recommend this reading order:
- Heartstopper 1-4
- This Winter
- Solitaire
- Radio Silence
- I Was Born For This
- Nick and Charlie*
- Loveless
*Can be added anywhere after Solitaire, but I recommend saving for when you want to get back to the love story
