A review by readingqueerly
Solitaire by Alice Oseman

dark mysterious sad 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

3.0

Normally by the end I start forming my opinion and what I wanna say about the book. But I have to be honest, I have no clue here. I don't think I get it? Like it wasn't bad. I enjoyed it. It read quite fast, but I feel like whatever message it was trying to send just fell flat for me. 
I get Tori is deeply depressed, as was I when I was a teenager, but damn she is also kind of awful to the people around her. The self hatred is relateable, the low energy, even the picking apart of (groups of) people (tho this screams ND to me, but that's neither here nor there). But the way she talks about people, even those she's supposedly friends with is kind of terrible.
The plot was a little too chaotic for me to follow. I think the mix of plot focus with character focused story felt a bit awkward to me. Having read some Alice Oseman books before, it's not her best if you ask me.
Also spoilers here I guess, but tbh I would have liked it better if they had stayed just friends. To me there was little romantic chemistry. I don't know if this was a choice of the auther themselves, or if her publisher/editor asked for this, but I think it felt forced. 
Anyways.
The ending was nice though. I do think Tori evolves and realises that it's not ok to act and think the way she is doing. But fucking hell man, the start of this book really made me dislike her. 
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