Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - Solitaire

"I don't know what's going to happen to us. I don't know how long I'm going to be like this.
All I know is that I'm here. And I'm alive. And I'm not alone."

I haven't felt truly represented by a character until Tori. Her apathetic personality and the sensitive handling of her mental health is extremely well done.

You can physically feel Tori shine brighter when Michael is near, they have a beautiful relationship in which they are two halves making each other whole.
The dialogue between them on the roof made me tear up, mostly because Tori's feelings were extremely familiar to me (and anyone else that has experienced suicidal ideation) but largely ~~because I was holding my breath~~, feeling Michael panicking trying to get Tori to understand she needs to be here, she is important, to get her away from the edge no matter what. It's heartbreaking, because Tori truly doesn't understand what other people see when they look at her.

"You need to be here," he says.

I especially love the fact that Oseman doesn't 'fix' Tori or write a 'happy ending' that ties things into a neat bow. Mental illness is not something that can be fixed, and recovery in not a linear path, it'll likely shape your whole life.

What Solitaire does, is deliver not exactly an anti-suicide message, but hope. Hope that you can find the joy in life again, doing pointless things just to pass the time, laughing at nothing; being alive.
Throughout the book, Tori slowly 'defrosts' from her apathetic, numb state, not exactly melting by the end but opening up enough to allow herself to feel, and continue to grow. She isn't exactly changed, but she acknowledges that, and finally sees she isn't alone, she has people that love her for who she is, and they'll still be there when she doesn't.
Oseman writes friendship and chosen family in a really beautiful way, and is the real love story underpinning Solitaire.

Content Warnings

briaranne's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

enchantedsleeper's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I found this a very engaging and readable book. It's nearly a 4-star read but it did start to lose me about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way in when Tori's actions and the way she treats other people start to feel repetitive and frustrating. (I can roll with it for about half of the book but then it's like, okay, are you just going to run away again? Fair enough I guess). There were a weird number of scenes where a character would just get up and walk away from another character mid-conversation, without explaining why. On the whole I found this pretty realistic to being a teenager and I related to Tori a lot (or maybe I should say I could sense how I would have related to her at 17) but then some of the characters' actions and conversations felt unreal.

Charlie's characterisation is pretty odd in this. Even though I wasn't expecting it to be 100% consistent with Heartstopper, he still seems very... limp? Like when everyone was beating up Ben because of him and yet Tori was more concerned. Or the way he reacted to the fireworks at the concert. It didn't feel right - it felt like he should *do* more. Have more of an opinion. Very strange.

There was lots to like and find engaging about this, even though some bits lost me partway through. There were some really good lines and I felt like Oseman stuck the landing with the ending. No regrets about having picked this up to check out after Heartstopper.

Content Warnings

mbrogs2024's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

nemcphile's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

i finished this so quickly holy shit

Content Warnings

marleen02's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad tense

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

5.0

Content Warnings

cecilielaugesen's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-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

3.75

I really like Tori. Not necessarily who she is as a person, but the way she is described is just very real. I’m not saying I agree with all her choices, but I understand them. Honestly she is an asshole at times, but you can’t help but feel for her.
I loved the first half of this book, but I felt it was longer than it needed to be, and honestly it felt liked it just dragged on in the second part.

Content Warnings

iaiasreads's review against another edition

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reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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