Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Solitaire by Alice Oseman

240 reviews

tetrootz's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Medical trauma, Homophobia, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Eating disorder, Drug use, Cursing, Outing, Mental illness, Dysphoria, Toxic friendship, Violence, Blood, Bullying, and Medical content

kajoreads's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

1.0

Solitaire is the embodiment of the I’m not like other girls trope, very reminiscent of the ”edgy” side of 2010s tumblr that romanticized mental illness. There’s barely any coherent plot and especially the more action-heavy scenes read like a wattpad fic.

I’m not saying Oseman is a bad writer, just that this book was published way too soon. It would’ve needed at least a few more rounds of edits to be good.

At it’s current state, it’s an authentic representation of the 2010s teenage mindset, but not a fully fleshed out novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness

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

Minor: Violence

musicalcows's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, and Eating disorder

Moderate: Violence, Homophobia, and Self harm

ritzyelephant66's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious fast-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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Violence

fanboyriot's review against another edition

emotional funny sad 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

🫶 Hurt/Comfort

💻 Anonymous Blog

☀️ Grumpy x Sunshine 

I don’t think there is ever going to be a book I dislike from Alice Oseman.  This book was fantastic.  Tori Spring has always been a favorite character of mine and her book was amazing.

This book dealt with a lot of heavy topics but it was written so nicely.  Tori dealing with undiagnosed depression, her complicated relationship with her mother, her brother’s mental health, the odd age of figuring life out only to find she doesn’t care about anything.

The asexual rep in this was lovely and I liked how the relationship with Tori and Michael was written.  This whole book was just so lovely in a hurt/comfort way.

Spice Level: n/a

Release Date: 02, May 2023

POV: First Person

Rep: Asexual (MC), Pansexual (SC), Gay (SC), Bisexual (SC), LGBTQIA+ characters, Depression 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Cursing, and Stalking

Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Minor: Vomit, Grief, Chronic illness, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Outing, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Blood, and Alcohol

yasidiaz's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

Solitaire explores Tori Spring dealing with undiagnosed depression after her brother Charlie Spring had to leave for treatment the year previous, and how a new mystery at school turns her life around.

This is a much heavier book than Heartstopper, and despite still expecting that, it still caught me off guard. I still enjoyed the book, but it also made me ache as it reminded me so much about my own struggles around that age and my own undiagnosed depression. The only difference is that while Tori didn’t want to accept that something was going on with her, I knew something was going on with me but most people didn’t believe me. 

It’s not my favorite book from Alice Oseman, and it has a couple of flaws, but it was still a nice read, especially seeing Nick and Charlie from the point of view of Tori was interesting. I think the main drawback from this book is that it is clear that this is Alice's first book and they still hadn’t developed their current writing style. From what I read she published this while still a teenager, and while the book is still well-written when you consider that, it doesn’t have the same growth and perspective as her most recent work. 

As noted by the edition I read, this is nothing like Heartstopper. It’s dark, it’s sad, and it gets heavy easily. So if what you liked the most about Heartstopper is how lighthearted and hopeful it is, this might not be right in your alley. 

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Violence and Homophobia

Minor: Misogyny

eyescanbecruel's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Cursing, Alcohol, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Self harm, and Violence

Minor: Medical content, Sexual content, Blood, and Bullying

codingclownofficial's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Vomit, Violence, Homophobia, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Self harm

Minor: Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Outing

mollymadworld's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense 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

This felt like an accurate look into a teenager as they fall into a depressive spiral and the effects of that on their life. It was very down to earth and it was beautifully written, my heart ached for the main character and their struggle as well as the challenges to the other people around them.

One of the best coming of age novels that I have read in a very long time

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, and Mental illness

Moderate: Eating disorder, Mental illness, and Violence

3amonline's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Violence, and Alcohol

Minor: Toxic friendship and Stalking