Heartstopper tells the story of Charlie Spring and Nick Nelson – two British teenage boys who attend the fictional Truham Grammar School – as they meet and fall in love.

[3] She initially released the e-book novellas Nick and Charlie and This Winter featuring the characters in 2015, but eventually realised that their story needed an episodic structure that was more suited to a webcomic or graphic novel format.

The webcomic gained a significant following, leading Oseman to launch a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the publication of a limited run of graphic novels covering the first two chapters of the series (retroactively now Volume 1) on 20 June 2018.

[13] Publishers Weekly said that the novels' "leisurely pace and focus on everyday events ... allows the characters' relationship to develop in a natural, relatable way" and stated that the art style complemented the tone of the story.

[14] Imogen Russell Williams in The Times Literary Supplement called Oseman's illustration style "loose and flowing" and said of the novels that they "[engage] directly with shame, fear and anxiety, bringing them sweetly into the light".

[18] Kirkus Reviews stated that the placement of panels and their bordering in Volume One "prevent the visual graphics from going aesthetically stale" and that the hand-written lettering reinforced the story's human tone.

[20] Kelley Gile reviewed Volume One in the School Library Journal, praising the dialogue, detailed facial expressions in the art, and "a font that mimics handwriting [that adds] to the adorkability factor".

[21] Alaine Martaus also reviewed Volume One in The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books in which she praised the "simple drawings" which she says "keep much of the focus on faces and phones, reinforcing a deeply interpersonal connection at the heart of the story".

[24] Sarah Rice reviewed Volume Two in Booklist and felt that Nick and Charlie's relationship was presented in a "heartfelt, gentle way" and praised the "loose art style [that] is full of lovely details, such as embarrassment and romantic blush lines".

Club praised the book's reproduction of the webcomic's art, its use of white space, and Oseman's handwritten lettering, which she says is "expressive ... in a way that feels both unique to her style and organic to the pacing of the comic".

[35] In August 2023, the novels were temporarily pulled from shelves in the Marion County, Mississippi library system pending review by its board of supervisors following complaints of their LGBTQ themes and inclusion of boys kissing.

[52] Production was greenlit in January 2021 by the streaming service Netflix as an eight-episode series written by Oseman and starring Kit Connor and Joe Locke as Nick and Charlie, respectively.