A review by luananki
Solitaire by Alice Oseman

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

2.75

i‘m going to be honest, if it weren’t for alice oseman and the fact that i fell in love with tori in the comics, i would give this book a lower rating.

let’s start with the positive aspects. i appreciate the writing, it made reading the book much easier. i also loved nick & charlie as side characters and obviously getting to know tori and finding out how she is affected by charlie’s mental health problems. other than that i can’t seem to find anything else that made me not dislike this book. 

i just don’t get it? the solitaire plotline could’ve been cut out entirely
including lucas and everyone else that was a part of it.
it was very hard to find interest in it because tori didn’t care about it at all. 

the end felt out of place in every way.
the solitaire thing makes no sense. i don’t understand the point of the school being set on fire and everything that was followed by it. 
where did the sudden romantic attraction for michael come from? i’m glad tori finds herself to be more joyful with him and feels comfortable around him but the kiss came out of nowhere and they honestly could’ve stayed friends without it changing the message of the book.

i’m thankful that this one is about tori but i was painfully aware of how young she is. i get it, as a teenager you feel like it’s you against everyone. but she is so convinced of the fact that no one else feels like her and she is the only one suffering which is just not true.
one conversation that bothers me a lot is the one between nick and tori after charlie relapsed. i completely understand why she reacted the way she did but i hate the fact that she never talked to charlie about it because what she said was not okay nor true and probably made nick feel bad about himself in many ways. that was probably one of the aspects that reminded me how young she is.


i’m not sure how to feel about michael and becky as they both don’t seem to be their own characters but only exist to make tori’s life more exciting.

definitely not the one for me.
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