Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Solitaire by Alice Oseman

212 reviews

ttlymental's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring medium-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

4.5

I have found that I love Alice Osemans books. In Solitaire I quickly fell in love with Tori and Michael. Tori is fighting her undiagnosed depression as she feels undeserving of other people worrying about her, while her younger brother made a suicide attempt last Oktober. She also feels like her mother doesn'  like her. But that's okay since she doesn't particularly like her mother either. Her father though is the character who really got me angry and despairing as he actually takes the time to ask about her and then leaves when it becomes obvious that she can't find the words or the nerve or anything to explain herself. He just leaves her alone, huffing, puffing and sighing like his only daughter is a problem in his life, just there to annoy or test him.
Michael on the other hand got this really interesting personality where he just throws himself into her life because he finds her interesting. At the same time, you just don't get to learn much about him because he also seems to fight with stating his own wants and needs. He also got anger issues which could also be undiagnosed IED from his outbursts for all anybody knows.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Bullying, and Mental illness

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Homophobia

writewithapendragon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-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

4.0

FANS OF HEARTSTOPPER be warned this book takes on some of the heavier topics alluded to/addressed in the series.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Mental illness, and Self harm

elisabethc01's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, and Self harm

Moderate: Violence, Bullying, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Biphobia

lavenderviolin's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious sad fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, and Mental illness

fernash's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.75

 4.75 because

they kissed

5 stars otherwise

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide attempt, Violence, Bullying, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Blood

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Misogyny

missemmacrabtree's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This was a great book for what it was. It was difficult for me to read because my former self related so heavily to a lot of the dark thoughts and negative self image. (Not that I’m perfectly healthy now, but certainly not as bad as I used to be.) This book should definitely come with trigger warnings, but it is nice to read about someone else feeling similar things and somehow still getting through it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, and Suicide

Moderate: Bullying, Alcohol, Drug use, and Homophobia

mattyb's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Bullying, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, and Stalking

Minor: Blood and Alcohol

aino_maria23's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Eating disorder, Self harm, Violence, Stalking, and Bullying

Minor: Alcohol, Outing, and Medical content

cdoubet's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Cursing, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Minor: Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Vomit, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

bethsimone_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

4.0

"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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Eating disorder, and Mental illness

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Bullying, Suicide attempt, Violence, Blood, Self harm, Cursing, and Injury/Injury detail