Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - Solitaire

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Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

jessyhayward's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective relaxing 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

5.0

Trying too hard at this point is a waste of energy that might otherwise be spent on lovely things such as sleeping and eating and illegally downloading music.

Alice Oseman’s Solitaire is an utterly poignant, relatable, and intriguing contemporary fiction novel. Like many of you, I read Heartstopper first and loved it. This is different in that it is much more serious and tense, but still heartwarming and a well done coming-of-age story.

It features Tori Spring — Heartstopper Charlie Spring’s older sister — and her battle with mental health as she goes about her daily life/investigates a weird school group called Solitaire. Her perspective is hilarious and depressing at the same time, which I feel is fitting for her personality. She is deeply relatable, too, despite my more romantic outlook on life. Mental illness was represented very well here, both with Tori and Charlie. I absolutely loved reading about her struggles and her connection with her brother Charlie. I also like Micheal Holden who is an intriguing and loveable character. He was important to the story but not to the point where it revolved around him, which was refreshing. Tori’s character growth is amazing in this.

Honestly, I have no criticism. I can’t wait to read the rest of the Osemanverse books!

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emminkirjakasa's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted sad 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

2.5

This book really has the 2014 vibe, so now reading it almost 10 years later feels nostalgic.

I sadly didn't like Tori, our main character, at all. I liked her in Heartstoppers, but in this one she just bums me out. No matter how much I tried, and I did try, I couldn't connect with her negativity or her personality. Other characters felt a bit two-dimensional, but I did hope for Tori and Michael to end up together. If something, those two were fun together.

I didn't connect enough with the book to actually be in the edge of my seat to find out what happens with solitare who or what is behind it.

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rachelditty's review against another edition

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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? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I wish we had gotten a little bit more about Michael's life outside of school and skating--what things were like at home and what other things he enjoyed outside of reading.

I was also a bit thrown off by the ending, specifically the last few chapters.

But I really enjoyed the first half, and I thought Oseman did a great job of writing from the perspective of a teenager who was suffering mentally in silence.

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frqnc22's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

don’t have the words right now, but can’t leave this empty: i feel that alice’s books speak right to my soul. as if my brain can’t even comprehend what happens, but i feel it.

needless to say, i love solitaire, even if it’s a bit messy and all over the place, this is how tori’s mind is. i love seeing the world through her eyes, and i love to see her navigate it and work on her relationships and do better. i cried at the end, and mostly because charlie showed up. their relationship means so much to me, just two people who love each other, but feel like they’re failing each other and that’s the last thing they want.

don’t even get me started on michael and how much love i have for this dork and his spontaneous personality. the world isn’t fair to these characters, they’re sometimes not fair to each other, people are unfair, but maybe that’s not always true, kinda depends on your perspective. you’re not alone, there are people who feel just what you feel, and there are people that are gonna stick by your side because they care. might be hard to believe, but you’re worth it, and tori tries to see that.

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robinks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-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

4.75

As someone who read/watched Heartstopper first, I always appreciated Tori’s presence, but we never get to know what’s going on with her. Tori’s thoughts and feelings as she’s working through them are communicated very well. The last 70 pages flew by really quickly. I want to know what happens next!

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signebrum's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense 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

4.25

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icarusandthesun's review against another edition

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reflective sad slow-paced

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

1.0

the delulu is strong with this one♥
lemme tell you what i think—tori spring is insufferable.

i guess i'm just too old for these books, i really believe that. because 12-year-old me would've eaten this up for sure. melodrama and excruciating self-pity, and "i'm so different", and "everyone else is stupid and immature but not me."
i shared these thoughts with tori once, and maybe that's why i hate her so much. because i used to be insufferable, too. the only difference is, i was insufferable at 12, she's still insufferable at sweet 16.

seriously, if i were this advice-resistent and on top of that incredibly rude to my parents (ignoring their questions for no reason other than being an absolute asshole) they would straight-up disown me for sure. at one point, tori's dad sighs and mutters "teenagers" under his breath and she goes on that tangent that her being a teenager doesn't explain everything about her, ... but it really does though.
i literally chuckled at her dad's remark because man, that's what i was thinking for the whole 390 pages this book sports.

i believe this behavior comes from a place of deep narcissism and lack of empathy. tori is incredibly close-minded and i understand that depression can do that to someone. it makes you selfish and self-centred and short-sighted. but the older you get the more you're able to put it into perspective. you realize that you're in fact not the only person who suffers, and you realize that the people you called "stupid" or immature for liking "basic" things have a complex internal life just like you do. they're simply not being as insufferable as you.

i also really don't understand why the characters in this book kept trying to become friends with tori. she's boring, she's no one, she's got no personality at all. she's not passionate about anything, and again, i understand depression can do that to you, but worse, everything her friends suggest or ask her about, it's always just "i hate it." i hate this, i hate myself, blah blah blah.

what's interesting about a person who hates everything, who keeps running away, who keeps shutting everybody out, who keeps venting without permission, who keeps seeking pity from herself and everyone around her?

this whole book was just so excruciatingly boring. literally a bad fanfiction. the diary of a thoughtless, selfish teenage girl. the ending felt like a fever dream and was more than unrealistic (it was literally "and then everybody clapped"). so many bad choices. remarks on depression and suicidal thoughts were thrown around like they mean nothing. pretentious ahh quotes.

i feel no pity towards tori, i'm really sorry. i can't muster up any pity for someone who desperately tries not to get better, who's an inactive, inanimate charity case, who can't say a single smart thing, instead pulling the whole "i hate myself, i want to die so bad, i'm nothing, i'm horrible" spiel on the reader over and over and over again. she's so delusional, it hurts.

i agree, she does need to seek professional help, and not only because of her depression.
maybe look into sociopathy, too.

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