Reviews with content warning for Blood - Solitaire

Yeah so this destroyed me. The perfect portrayal of depression and mental illness, as well as the aroace experience that Alice experiences and has conveyed through Tori’s character. Tori’s mental health journey being placed above a possible intimate relationship with Michael was beautiful and realistic because of just how much Tori needed to focus on herself before being able to commit to another person. This book also described Charlie’s mental issues being favoured and more focused on by their parents compared to Tori, which is what allowed her mental health to deplete unnoticed and being ignored by everyone including herself, as she felt guilty comparing her mental health to her brother’s. Seeing Tori’s parents’ neglect to her mental health and only focusing on Charlie was very heartbreaking, and with Tori being the oldest of her siblings she clearly feels responsible for Charlie and barely has time to look after herself when her parents clearly aren’t looking out for her. Tori has always been an intriguing side character I have loved in Heartstopper, so it was really nice she was given the attention she deserves and have her own story.

Also the scene where nick leaves Charlie to eat by himself just because they had a fight made me so sad and tori yelling at nick is exactly how I felt tbh

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I recently got into reading the heart stopper comics and even watched the show so I thought huh I should read the rest of Alice Osmen's works. This was not what I expected. Heart stopper definitely has its triggers but this was quite not what I expected. I initially didn't like Tori, she felt like an edgy teen who just wanted to hate the world with no other reason than everyone sucks but slowly it felt like looking at a mirror for when I was just her age. Cynical and hateful for everything and then regretting everything after i lost it. This story is not a love story, it's a story about reflection and being alive even if you don't want to. I loved the characters. I hope one day I can meet someone just like Micheal who is willing to be angry with me when I'm an asshole but still willing to pick up my calls and help me when I need them. Overall a story I would definitely suggest you read. A good read, can be a bit confusing sometimes. Also it has characters from other books so it might be a little confusing if you don't read in order but I didn't have that as an issue.

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