Reviews with content warning for Self harm - 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

katieb94's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative lighthearted sad fast-paced

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

5.0

I loved Heartstopper so I wanted to read this book as it follows Tori (Charlie’s sister) and her struggles with who she is, as well as dealing with Charlie’s mental health struggles too.

Everything is normal and boring for Tori until Solitaire happens- a blog, posted anonymously, which starts to cause chaos around the school. No one knows who did it, but with Lucas Ryan re-entering her life and Michael Holden becoming a new friend, Tori isn’t quite sure who she can trust.

I was surprised how much I actually enjoyed this, I was hooked and couldn’t put it down. Tori is a great character and although there isn’t a lot of character development for her but I didn’t mind that as you don’t want her to change too much.

I did manage to predict who Solitaire was, but apart from that, I liked that we, as readers, found out what Solitaire was doing.

Each of the characters felt rounded and I like that I could link it to the events of Heartstopper too.

A really good book and I’d recommend it if you like Heartstopper but want to know more about the other characters!

5/5 stars!

Content Warnings

saomah5566's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

sacculent's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-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

4.0

The first half was a little slow, but when the panic after a certain event sets in it is palpable in a way that affected my life. I read it in a day. This is not a feel good story. This is a story that reminds me of 2020-2022, and the numbness that came with depression. It is a painful, emotional read, that did not make me cry mostly because it sent me back to a time when I couldn’t. All this to say, it made me feel. Which is what i want out of a book these days. I only hope i’ll sleep through this painful reminder and find tomorrow to be enjoyable. Im playing dnd tomorrow.

Content Warnings

beelzebub24's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad fast-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

i really liked the use of repetive thought. They may of not made any literal sense but it is something i relate to massively. Thoughts don't always make sense and it felt good to see that represented in literature.

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