Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Solitaire

Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Solitaire by Alice Oseman

801 reviews

recovering_warriorcats_kid's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

I was really invested in this book all the way up until the end, which I found to be very out of place.
Especially considering this story is still canon in the Heartstopper universe finding out

Tori’s eventual boyfriend is also an arsonist that burned down Higgs out of spite

is a hard pill to swallow, particularly because

it was hypocritical of Tori to be so enraged when she found out Lucas was part of Solitaire only to instantly forgive Michael and kiss him WHILE THE SCHOOL WAS STILL ON FIRE. Not to mention none of the other characters seemed to care about holding him accountable even though Tori herself deemed the ‘prank’ to be “violent and pointless” and several people, including her, almost died.

I attribute most of this books flaws (the ending being the most notable) to Alice Oseman’s young age when writing it and they have admitted themselves to this book not aging particularly well but I still couldn’t give it any lower than a 7/10 due to how much I loved the prose. Though I definitely still prefer Tori as a side character, the rawness of her voice was absolutely the defining feature of this novel and what kept me so engrossed from beginning to flawed end.

I read and watched Heartstopper before reading this which definitely skewed my opinion of things and I also read it in a day which is certainly a testament to its entertainment value but also probably limited the amount of frustration I might have otherwise experienced because unfortunately the underlying mystery is essentially one big plot hole.

(How do a random group of teenagers have the tech mastery to not only hack the school’s system but also an entire concert? And why is the school building never locked?)

That said, I really enjoyed the romance, the pacing, the portrayal of mental illness and the prose, so I can forgive some of the nonsense (I certainly wrote a lot of nonsense when I was 17).

I have noticed a lot of people who didn’t like this book seemed to hate it because Tori was a bad person but personally I feel that that was the entire point. It’s about a girl who is equally disturbed and disturbing finding the one person in the world that makes her feel hope. And despite some its other failings it executes THAT story beautifully.

Overall I would only recommend this to very big Alice Oseman fanatics and Heartstopper/Osemanverse collectors who have a particular interest in Tori and certainly not anyone who is looking for something similar to Heartstopper because it simply is not anything like Nick and Charlie’s story.

Content Warnings

ylvamoon's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

madisonstarkov's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

doriiii13's review against another edition

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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

Content Warnings

hyperashley's review against another edition

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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

4.0

Content Warnings

anne_142010's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

One of the best books I’ve ever read

Content Warnings

josm11's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

renalexis01's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

lindseyhall44's review against another edition

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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.

Content Warnings

natashamonsta's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

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