Carmen's Reviews > Heartstopper: Volume Two
Heartstopper: Volume Two (Heartstopper, #2)
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by
Carmen's review
bookshelves: british-author, graphic-novel, fiction, m-m-romance, published2019, self-published, she-says
Jun 22, 2021
bookshelves: british-author, graphic-novel, fiction, m-m-romance, published2019, self-published, she-says
M/M romantic fiction written by a woman and as far as I can tell, mostly consumed by women who go "Awwwwww, this is so CUTE!" *squeals*
Kind of baffling to me. The majority of m/m is written by (mostly) straight women and consumed in great quantities by straight women.
It also plays to these tropes. You know. Charlie agonizes about falling for a 'straight boy' but BING! Magically the boy isn't straight. He 'thinks he's bi.' He enjoys kissing Charlie, and after a few weeks is totally fine coming out. He ditches his rugby friends and starts hanging out with Charlie's group. He (relatively) easily and (relatively) comfortably defends Charlie, not only against sexual assault but he stands up to his cruel rugby friends when they make comments about Charlie being gay. I doubt this is what would actually happen if Charlie developed a crush on a straight guy.
Nick is a 'big and strong' rugby player and Charlie is 'so light' and 'so small' and Nick frequently picks him up and runs around with him. Often comments are made about how 'small,' 'weak' and 'light' Charlie is.
The boys just kiss a little bit. Nobody fucks. It's very cutesy, very romantic, and very 'aw, I'm shy' and etc. Nobody consumes porn and it's obvious the boys are going to be a monogamous, cutesy couple that embraces heterosexual norms and heterosexual romantic/sexual values.
It's fine. You love it? Great. I don't have a problem with it being written nor do I have a problem with it being read and widely loved, but it's pretty obviously heterosexual-washed. It's ostensibly about two boys 'falling in love' but it's obviously a woman's interpretation of that. That doesn't mean people can't read it and love it. I just think it's funny we #OwnVoices everything except gay romance. Then it's women writing their fantasies 95% of the time.
Besides that issue.
It's monochromatic – I notice a deluge of monochromatic LGBTIA+ graphic novels lately. I'm not sure why. I find using shades of one color only to be kind of boring.
The art is okay. It's not gorgeous, but it's not ugly like I've heard some claim.
It's pretty cutesy and sweet – so if saccharine books annoy you you might want to avoid this series. It's quite shonen-ai (I guess people no longer use this term? I'm not an anime/manga expert) and fluffy. Even though some of Nick's friends may make some offensive remarks about Charlie being gay, and discussions are held about Charlie being bullied in the past, Charlie is accepted as gay now and everyone's family members are very accepting and calm about the boys being non-hetero. It's not a complete 'gay utopia' or 'LGBTIA+ utopia' like many that are created nowadays (see also The Hideaway Inn (written by a gay man)) in which almost everyone in the main characters life and city/town is LGBTIA+ in some capacity. Akin to Queer as Folk where, watching it, the show would have you believe 90% of Pittsburgh's male population is gay. However, Heartstopper may be headed that direction, unclear at this time.
TL;DR – Not the book you want to read if you want gay male voices. Obviously female-written and heterosexual-washed. Which is ok. Romance genre is a fantasy by its nature. Certainly my m/f romance novels which I devour with gusto are not accurate nor authentic to real life and heavily involve both romantic and sexual fantasy. But if you're looking for #OwnVoices, gay male authors writing gay male love stories this isn't it. Cute, fluffy, monochromatic, a book to read if you want to think 'Oh, these boys are adorable!' and squeal. No sexual content, just some light kissing.
P.S. Books by gay male authors:
Basketball Jones by E. Lynn Harris
The Hideaway Inn by Philip William Stover
You could say Call Me By Your Name, but André Aciman says he's not gay. Still has a more authentic flavor than this.
Kind of baffling to me. The majority of m/m is written by (mostly) straight women and consumed in great quantities by straight women.
It also plays to these tropes. You know. Charlie agonizes about falling for a 'straight boy' but BING! Magically the boy isn't straight. He 'thinks he's bi.' He enjoys kissing Charlie, and after a few weeks is totally fine coming out. He ditches his rugby friends and starts hanging out with Charlie's group. He (relatively) easily and (relatively) comfortably defends Charlie, not only against sexual assault but he stands up to his cruel rugby friends when they make comments about Charlie being gay. I doubt this is what would actually happen if Charlie developed a crush on a straight guy.
Nick is a 'big and strong' rugby player and Charlie is 'so light' and 'so small' and Nick frequently picks him up and runs around with him. Often comments are made about how 'small,' 'weak' and 'light' Charlie is.
The boys just kiss a little bit. Nobody fucks. It's very cutesy, very romantic, and very 'aw, I'm shy' and etc. Nobody consumes porn and it's obvious the boys are going to be a monogamous, cutesy couple that embraces heterosexual norms and heterosexual romantic/sexual values.
It's fine. You love it? Great. I don't have a problem with it being written nor do I have a problem with it being read and widely loved, but it's pretty obviously heterosexual-washed. It's ostensibly about two boys 'falling in love' but it's obviously a woman's interpretation of that. That doesn't mean people can't read it and love it. I just think it's funny we #OwnVoices everything except gay romance. Then it's women writing their fantasies 95% of the time.
Besides that issue.
It's monochromatic – I notice a deluge of monochromatic LGBTIA+ graphic novels lately. I'm not sure why. I find using shades of one color only to be kind of boring.
The art is okay. It's not gorgeous, but it's not ugly like I've heard some claim.
It's pretty cutesy and sweet – so if saccharine books annoy you you might want to avoid this series. It's quite shonen-ai (I guess people no longer use this term? I'm not an anime/manga expert) and fluffy. Even though some of Nick's friends may make some offensive remarks about Charlie being gay, and discussions are held about Charlie being bullied in the past, Charlie is accepted as gay now and everyone's family members are very accepting and calm about the boys being non-hetero. It's not a complete 'gay utopia' or 'LGBTIA+ utopia' like many that are created nowadays (see also The Hideaway Inn (written by a gay man)) in which almost everyone in the main characters life and city/town is LGBTIA+ in some capacity. Akin to Queer as Folk where, watching it, the show would have you believe 90% of Pittsburgh's male population is gay. However, Heartstopper may be headed that direction, unclear at this time.
TL;DR – Not the book you want to read if you want gay male voices. Obviously female-written and heterosexual-washed. Which is ok. Romance genre is a fantasy by its nature. Certainly my m/f romance novels which I devour with gusto are not accurate nor authentic to real life and heavily involve both romantic and sexual fantasy. But if you're looking for #OwnVoices, gay male authors writing gay male love stories this isn't it. Cute, fluffy, monochromatic, a book to read if you want to think 'Oh, these boys are adorable!' and squeal. No sexual content, just some light kissing.
P.S. Books by gay male authors:
Basketball Jones by E. Lynn Harris
The Hideaway Inn by Philip William Stover
You could say Call Me By Your Name, but André Aciman says he's not gay. Still has a more authentic flavor than this.
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Reading Progress
June 22, 2021
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Started Reading
June 22, 2021
– Shelved
June 22, 2021
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Finished Reading
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Kandice
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Jun 23, 2021 10:46AM
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I'm interested in your thoughts on this.
Thank you so much, Lisa!
I appreciate your comments! Of course love, marriage, kids, etc. etc. are things (usually) wanted and celebrated by all people. My interest is in female (majority straight) authors using gay men as characters to write romance novels, which is surprisingly overlooked and almost never commented on. Gay male voices in romantic gay male fiction are harder to find and IMO not alike to what women write about gay men.
I don't object to people writing what they don't know. White women can write a Black character, a white man can write an Asian woman, a straight Black male can write a white transgender girl if he wants to. I don't give a fuck, it's fiction. People can write what they want. I don't avoid books that aren't written by people with personal life experience about a subject. I read almost anything. I welcome people stepping into other worlds they are unfamiliar with. It can still make good fiction.
But people tend to ignore this huge, glaring area and when someone mentions it they seem to get attacked for... I don't know. Mentioning that it's a woman writing it? We're not supposed to care or notice, but IMO it seems like saying authentic gay male voices, describing gay male experiences, and etc. just doesn't matter. "Any representation is good representation, who cares that it's a woman defining a gay male experience...." is kind of the pushback I see. I don't agree. I know women who read m/m fiction copiously and are are really into it and think m/m is the most romantic and sexy thing ever... but they've never read a m/m fiction by a gay man. Only by other women. *shrug* They seem surprised when I bring it up.
Just something I've noticed that is an anomaly.
Ha ha ha, I'm still being dragged, Joseph. My mouth is full of seawater.