A Beat In the Beat tells the story of Nick and Charlie, two British teenagers attending a boys' grammar school. Charlie is an open love affair, very sensitive and always thinks too much; Nick is a sunny, soft-hearted rugby player. On one occasion the two were arranged to sit together and soon became friends, and soon after Charlie fell in love with Nick, even though he didn't feel he had a chance. But love always works in unexpected ways, and Nick's interest in Charlie is much greater than the two of them imagined. It's a story of love, friendship, loyalty, and mental illness that contains a variety of little stories from Nick and Charlie's lives that together make up a big story with deep meaning.
After being assigned to sit together in class, the two boys formed a friendship, and Nick invited Charlie to join the football team. With an inclusive storyline and a diverse cast, "A Beat in the Heart" has all the warm elements of a teen romantic comedy.
A Heartbeat Leaks is based on Alice Osman's comic book of the same name. But before it became a comic novel, it was a 2016 webcomic on Tumblr and Tapas, and to date, it has amassed more than 52.1 million views and a huge number of followers.
Author Alice Oseman said in an interview: "Nick and Charlie were characters in the first teenage novel I wrote, Solitaire. This book was written when I was in school and published in 2014. The book is about Charlie's sister Tori, so Nick and Charlie are supporting characters. But when I was writing stories, I fell in love with them, and I knew their stories were bigger than what we saw in Solitaire, so I wanted to tell their stories in some way.
Overall, Alice Oseman says, "A Beat In a Heartbeat" is about "magical moments in relationships." She said: "Initially attempts were made to tell the story of Nick and Charlie in the form of a novel, but without success. Eventually realized that Nick and Charlie's story was episodic, so it was more suitable for serial formats like webcomics. ”