Comic/Fan Cards Review - 'Heartstopper - Official Fan Cards' by Alice Oseman

I got the English version of this, and I seem to be the first and only person on Goodreads who has reviewed the English version of the 'Heartstopper' fan cards (ain't I special?).

'Heartstopper - Official Fan Cards' is a must for all 'Heartstopper' fans. It's a sweet, loving, cuddly, comforting, reassuring, inspiring thing to have. It's about info on all of the characters you know and love. It's also about empathy, education, understanding, allyship, activism, solidarity, and community. I'm positive it will be a great source of comfort to any children, young adults and older who are LBGTQA+. And to anyone who is struggling and suffering from metal health issues.

I adore all the characters (well, except for Ben, and "the lads", and I'm not sure how I feel about Tao and Charlie's parents), and it's fantastic that Nick's angel of a mum Sarah gets her own card here, and so do his dogs, Nellie and Henry*. They're so cute!

Even Alice Oseman has a card dedicated to her!

It's art and real life blending in together.

Some of the cards are a little strange and inconsistent in detail with each other (like, not everyone is listed with a "love language", and a few of their canon likes and dislikes aren't mentioned, or seem random), but it's all a warm bubble bath in card pack form (foam?).

I love how the series as a whole is primarily positive and uplifting - for the LBGTQA+ community, for the whole world - in spite of its darker subject matters, such as bullying, and mental illness. There is always light at the end of the tunnel. It is about people, and love and hope, which is exactly what Alice Oseman had always intended with her perfect, stellar creation.

Info on the Netflix series is included in the deck, too. Like the whys of its from-comic-to-TV-screen decisions, and Imogen and Isaac are present, sort of. I might give the show another go, another chance, now. Seasons 2 and 3 story consultant Lauren James - also the author of one of my favourite sci-fi books, 'The Loneliest Girl in the Universe' - has a card, and they sound like the best.

In conclusion, buy the cards, and feel better.

Love 'Heartstopper'. Always will.

Final Score: 4/5

*It's telling that Nick's shithead brother David doesn't get a card to himself, and neither does his mostly absent father.