Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Solitaire by Alice Oseman

240 reviews

doriiii13's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Bullying, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Physical abuse

leen's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I think I would have loved this book more if I read it when I was 15. It took me back to when I was a teenager and even though I don’t miss it I do think reading this validated some parts of me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Bullying, Eating disorder, Homophobia, and Fire/Fire injury

lindseyhall44's review against another edition

challenging emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Alice Oseman has been one of my favorite authors throughout my teenage years, and it’s only fitting that their first book is my last stop in the osemanverse. Although the plot was not my favorite, Tori quickly became one of my favorite characters of all time. She spoke to a part of me that has long since changed, but I will always remember. I cannot put into words how beautiful that representation felt.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

literallyjustjo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Bullying and Homophobia

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

jbenlop_'s review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Bullying and Homophobia

andrewhatesham's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This hooked me in easily! I was really into the first quarter or so. As a fan of Heartstopper (the books and the show), I was excited to read another book that takes place in the same universe, especially when I realized it centers on Tori and Michael, two characters from Heartstopper who I have been curious to know more about. Tori is a character I can identify with, as a former-angsty-teen, and as an adult who still struggles with mental health. As for Michael, I can relate to being seen as socially obtuse 🤷🏻 

At first, I was a bit annoyed by the pop culture references, I'd rather read something that feels timeless; but it sort of started to make sense as I read on. In addition to contemporary pop culture, Solitaire also references classic literature a lot, both in text and subtext. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it heavily references The Catcher in the Rye – it's like a modern retelling of it. Tori seems like your typical melodramatic teen on the outside, but once you start to peel back the layers, you find that there's more to her than meets the eye. She's a caring and sensitive person who deeply struggles to express herself and connect with others, as does Holden in TCitR. Also, Micheal's last name is literally Holden! Pride and Prejudice is referenced a lot too, but I'm less familiar with P&P as I've only seen the movie.

Around the halfway point, I began to lose interest a bit. The writing started to get redundant. I felt like it hit on the same few beats multiple times, messing with the pacing and plot structure. The tone had a bit of a strange shift as well. Things kind of fell apart in the last act. I'm still not a fan of the ending, but what I didn't know until afterwards, is that Oseman wrote this as a teenager! I didn't know going into this that it was her first publication. It's understandable that her first book isn't her best. I'm glad it exists, because without Solitaire, there would be no Heartstopper. I didn't realize that either, that Heartstopper is technically a spin-off of Solitaire, which is very interesting! And explains the timeline. I assumed Solitaire was a prequel but it actually starts not far from where Heartstopper does, so you're seeing some of the same events but from Tori's perspective.

So, while this has notable flaws, I still think this is worthwhile and would recommend it to Heartstopper/Oseman fans.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Bullying, Homophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

mars_bar123's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Eating disorder, Self harm, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Bullying, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Alcohol

gremlin24's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury

emaline_109's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Self harm, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Bullying and Homophobia

k_ri2206's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Aborde des sujets difficiles : dépression, solitude, troubles alimentaires… 
Lecture assez lourde même si on s’attache au personnage 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Eating disorder and Suicidal thoughts