Time for another round of Yvonne’s Shorties! This time a graphic novel I really enjoyed and a contemporary that was a bit of a slowburner for me.
Title: Heartstopper: Volume 1
(Heartstopper #1)
Author: Alice Oseman
Genre: YA, Romance, Graphic Novel
First published: October 2018
Publisher: Hodder Children’s Books
Finished reading: September 10th 2022
Pages: 288
“You can’t tell whether people are gay by what they look like. And gay or straight aren’t the only two options.”
I’ve been curious about the Heartstopper books for a while now. I don’t really read all that many graphic novels, but I needed one for the Beat The Backlist Bingo challenge and I decided it was the perfect excuse to finally try the first volume… Especially since I’ve enjoyed Alice Oseman‘s writing in regular novels in the past. And I definitely understand why so many people love this series! This is such an cute and fluffy read and I had a brilliant time getting to know Charlie and Nick. I really liked the style of the illustrations and how the story was portrayed in general. There is some high school drama involved and light bullying, but the main focus is on the developing bond between Charlie and Nick. They are both SO adorable and it’s very easy to connect to them. I was a bit surprised this first volume ended in such an abrupt way though; I will definitely need to find time to pick up volume 2 ASAP to find out what will happen next.
Title: The No-Show
Author: Beth O’Leary
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
First published: April 12th 2022
Publisher: Quercus
Finished reading: September 13th 2022
Pages: 341
“Sometimes we can’t tell a truth until we’re ready.”
I’ve enjoyed Beth O’Leary‘s work in the past, although her previous book was a bit of a miss for me… And I honestly wasn’t too sure what to make of The No-Show either with the blatantly cheating angle being presented in the blurb. Still, I was too curious to stay away for long, and I ended up giving in and reading this title anyway. I’m glad for those warnings to stick with this story even though it doesn’t immediately speak to you, because I don’t think I would have gotten to the good part otherwise. Oh yes, it took me a LONG time to warm up to this story, and I truly despised Joseph/Carter for a long time. I always hate a love triangle and/or cheating element in my stories, and there is a heavy focus on both for a long time. Strangely enough, The No-Show hardly feels like a romance read at all though; instead, it focuses on the three women (and Joseph as well), their struggles and the people close to them. It was all rather slow-paced and I was wondering if it would be worth it to keep reading, but then the plot twists came, the truth was starting to be revealed and I NEVER saw any of it coming. I’m not going into details because this is one of those books where it’s best to go in blind, but what I can say is that the plot development is so brilliantly clever! Trust me, even though you are not feeling the story initially (like myself), it is more than worth it to hang in there and discover what is really going on.
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Fab reviews Yvo! I gave up on the audio of The No Show as I couldn’t be bothered to keep going with it! 😂 xx
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Haha trust me, I almost threw in the towel more than once… I only kept going because I was promised the ending was worth it; which it is, but I do think it took the story way too long to actually get there.
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Great reviews, Yvo! Glad that you liked both the books despite a slow start in The No Show.
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I think the main issue with The No-Show is that the author was too focused on introducing a (I admit very clever) twist to realize that this same twist makes for a very unappetizing story until you get there…
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Great reviews, Yvo. I am so glad you stuck with it. I didn’t see it coming either.
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The twist in The No-Show was brilliant, but I do think the story took too long to get there… Before you reach that point, the plot is rather unappealing.
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You are right, Yvo. I know a lot of people gave up on it before getting there.
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I’m glad you hung in there and finished The No-Show. I was hating that book for quite a while before I got near the end! I hope her next one is a bit easier to read in the beginning.
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I know! I was exactly the same, actively hating him until everything was revealed… It definitely took the story too long to get there too; I would have never kept on reading if I hadn’t know about the big twist. She took a big risk, that’s for sure…
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Thank you for the amazing review of The No-Show💜 I’m ready for it now.
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Make sure to keep reading even if you don’t find the story appealing in the beginning! It takes a long time for everything to be revealed, but the ending is worth it. xx
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I will!
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Great reviews. I made the mistake of reading Heartstopper on my phone, something I do not recommend. Really should try to get a physical copy.
I very much enjoyed The No Show although definitely agree it takes a while to get going and some of the secrets take a little too long to be revealed. I seem to have decided I prefer O’Learys books on audio and thought the narrators were great in this one.
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Oh yes, I did the same with Heartstopper and I’m sure a physical copy would be even better…
And I agree about The No-Show taking too long to get to the good part; I would have never kept reading if I hadn’t known about a big twist because the majority was rather unappealing. That’s interesting to know about the audio! I tried The Switch on audio and I agree it was better than the book; the narrators were great there.
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Thanks for the warning about The No-Show to keep going. I bought an ecopy recently when it was 99p and I did enjoy her previous novels although The Flat Share is still no 1. I had a copy of Heartstopper in my hand last week but I hadn’t heard of it and I didn’t know what to think of it.. so both great reviews!
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It takes a long time for The No-Show to reveal its secrets, but in the end it was worth it for me. I hope it will work for you! My personal favorite is The Switch so far, although I enjoyed The Flat Share too.
Heartstopper was such a pleasant surprise for me! I normally don’t really read graphic novels, but this story was adorable and I really liked the illustrations.
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