Every Book Isaac Reads in Heartstopper Season 3

When Isaac Henderson – everybody’s favourite TV bookworm – wants to send his love to a friend in Heartstopper season three, he writes them a personalised list of book recommendations. It’s a simple, earnest and beautiful act that says a lot of things: I see you, I care about your inner life, I want to share these things with you, and no matter how difficult things may be right now, I firmly believe in your future.

Alice Oseman‘s Heartstopper sends fans the exact same message with each new season. Using Tobie Donovan’s character of Isaac as a sort of gameshow hostess to pose with them and show them off, the books featured in each season of Heartstopper are carefully curated and heartfelt recommendations. They’re not just props, but inform the show’s stories, offer both support and escapism, and nudge viewers towards their own book explorations.

Let’s look at what Isaac has on his reading list this season…

Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe

Isaac reading Maia Kobabe’s beautiful graphically illustrated memoir in Heartstopper season three’s first episode is more than just a recommendation, it’s also Heartstopper taking a political stand against bigotry. Author and cartoonist Kobabe’s 2019 book is one of several titles at the centre of well-publicised contemporary censorship battles involving US school libraries and political pressure groups who aim to narrow access to helpful and inclusive literature for young people.

You and Me on Vacation by Emily Henry

In season two, Isaac read Emily Henry’s 2002 novel Book Lovers, and he must be a fan because he’s gone back in her bibliography in season three to read You and Me on Vacation. With elements of When Harry Met Sally and David Nicholls’ One Day, it’s the elliptical story of a long friendship told over successive vacations together. Like Book Lovers, this one’s another witty, escapist rom-com that’s enjoyed huge success and a lot of attention on #BookTok.

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Let’s hope no important announcements are made in this school assembly, because Isaac is not listening and nose-deep in Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone’s celebrated 2019 LGBT+ sci-fi This Is How You Lose the Time War. It’s an epistolary novel (made up of letters written by the characters to each other) about two time-travelling agents engaged in their respective empire’s multiverse-skipping war, and a love story.

The Year I Didn’t Eat by Samuel Pollen, & Various

Heartstopper season three builds strongly on the theme of mental health, and in this Truham Grammar library display, James and Isaac have selected a number of books aimed at helping young people to understand their psychology. For obvious story reasons, there’s Samuel Pollen’s autobiographically inspired novel about anorexia, plus: Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models by Gabriel Weinberg and Lauren McCann, Your Mental Health: Understanding Depression, Anxiety, PTSD, Eating Disorders and Self-Destructive Behaviour by Chris Brady and Tony Westbrook, It’s Not OK to Feel Blue (and Other Lies): Inspirational People Open Up About Their Mental Health by various, Good Enough: A Novel: A Novel by Jen Petro-Roy, What Mental Illness Really Is… (And What It Isn’t) by Lucy Foulkes, and Stacey Dooley’s Are You Really OK?

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

On a text chat in episode two, Charlie recommends Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles to Isaac, and in episode four, we see Isaac’s taken up Charlie’s advice. Another novel inspired by classical Greek myth from the writer of Circe, it’s a reimagined story of Patroclus and Achilles set against the backdrop of the Trojan war. Be warned though – Charlie and Isaac are not kidding about it being sad.

Emma by Jane Austen

It’s hard to know if this hardback edition of Jane Austen’s Emma is Isaac’s reading material for the night or simply part of his Halloween costume. Seeing as he’s come to the party in dapper Regency style, let’s assume the latter and guess that Isaac’s dressed as Mr Knightley (?), the judgmental, bossy family friend who berates young Emma Woodhouse in the novel about the error of her ways until she’s repented and beaten down enough to be worth marrying (more romantic interpretations of Emma are available, see the Anya Taylor-Joy/Johnny Flynn movie version for one).

Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days by Jeanette Winterson

Novelist and short story writer Jeanette Winterson went down in the LGBT+ literary hall of fame for her autobiographically inspired 1985 novel Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, and for follow-ups Sexing the Cherry and many more. In 2016, Winterson published this Christmas-themed short story collection, which Isaac seems to be pairing with a delicious looking hot chocolate. Yum.

The Outsider by Albert Camus

Look, the boy’s 15, and if you can’t get away with a little pretention in your teen years, then when can you get away with it? Look closely at Isaac’s profile pic in Heartstopper‘s various group chats, and he’s holding up a copy of Albert Camus’ 1942 French existentialist novel The Outsider. It’s probably more a comment on how he feels in his loved-up friendship group than an endorsement of the novel.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Let’s say it again: Isaac has taste. Susanna Clarke’s 2020 novel Piranesi is baffling, beautiful and absolutely transportive. It’s also about 700 pages shorter than her previous but equally brilliant fantasy novel Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, so a good place to start with Clarke. It’s set in a parallel world of classical architecture and statuary with its own tidal sea, and the story unfurls through the research notes of the explorer who’s trapped there.

The Ethical Slut: A Practical Guide to Polyamory, Open Relationships, and Other Freedoms in Sex and Love by Janet W. W. Hardy

This guide to polyamory (sexual relationships involving more than two people, in various configurations) is definitely one from the advanced reading list for Isaac’s age group, but you can’t knock the lad’s ambition.

I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

Isaac brings Jandy Nelson’s I’ll Give You the Sun to the school fete, presumably expecting the event to lack its own drama – something this YA book has in spades. It’s the story of teenage twins, Noah and Jude, a pair of young artists who become estranged and competitive as their family life becomes complicated and they explore their own identities, but who eventually learn how to rebuild trust and communicate.

Can You Identify These Books?

Which books did Isaac bring to the zoo and to study hall? Any help in identifying these titles is appreciated. Happy reading!

Heartstopper season three is streaming now on Netflix.

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