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A review by bibliotea
Solitaire by Alice Oseman
3.0
Despite the back of this book making me hesitant to read it ("...I came out of the womb spouting cynicism and wishing for rain") I went ahead and read this book and found myself actually really enjoying it!
I thought the characters were interesting, the plot was interesting, and the writing style was good for the first-person perspective.
But I do have to admit, the ending has left me a little bit... lost? It wrapped up the story, but to me it seemed a bit rushed at the end? Like the author realised they should probably end it and rushed through the ending...
I haven't quite decided how I feel about it yet. I liked the majority of the book, but the ending felt like it was lacking something. No idea what, though.
Spoilers below:
- Michael is my favourite character. He's determined to be Tori's friend and I like his quirks and his tea.
- I'm very confused about Charlie's condition because it was never explained properly, only in bits and pieces. I found that confusing to read about because I just wanted to know exactly what had happened and what was wrong with him, but Tori kept on skirting around the subject. Maybe that was done on purpose? I'm not sure. I hope he's okay though...
- Is it just me or is Tori depressed? Everything about the way she sees the world and the way she's tired all the time and doesn't want to bother trying to be friends with people, makes me think she has depression. It felt like a missed opportunity not to bring that up and address it? Maybe that's what I thought was missing from the ending of the book. But I was getting really mad at everyone around her just yelling at her and never actually saying "hey, you're always tired and always sad, maybe you should get help". Especially her parents. UGH.
- Lucas being Solitaire. Because he's in love with Tori. Um, what? That was a bit weird... Like, the catalyst for the whole plot ended up being some guy who isn't even in love with her anymore? Of all the people who should have told Tori to get help, why didn't Lucas?? He knew her in the past and could see that she'd changed. Instead of being like "wow Tori you're so depressed now, I don't like you anymore" maybe he should have said "hey Tori you're so depressed now, did you know there are things out there to help with that?"
- Yeah I'm pretty bitter about no one helping her, I guess.
- Michael was my favourite. I just wanted him to show up all the time. I like him a lot.
- Sorry but if it was just three dumb students who formed Solitare (Lucas, Evelyn, Aaron) how did they manage to hack into everything and buy so many fireworks etc? I need this explained to me. Because it DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.
- Solitaire not being an epic underground organisation was pretty disappointing I guess.
- This book was better before I got to the end lol
- I rated it 4 stars at first but now changed it to 3 because the more I think about it the more frustrated I am becoming
- When Tori called Becky to say she was on her way to the school and Becky FLIPPED, I was convinced Becky was in on it and knew what Solitaire was planning. Why else would Becky be so afraid of Tori going there? Unless she knew something terrible was going to happen? But- no! Becky is just... a concerned friend???
- Okay that's all for now before I deconstruct the entire book.
- I loved that Tori and Charlie spoke a lot though. About everything. Close sibling relationships <3
I thought the characters were interesting, the plot was interesting, and the writing style was good for the first-person perspective.
But I do have to admit, the ending has left me a little bit... lost? It wrapped up the story, but to me it seemed a bit rushed at the end? Like the author realised they should probably end it and rushed through the ending...
I haven't quite decided how I feel about it yet. I liked the majority of the book, but the ending felt like it was lacking something. No idea what, though.
Spoilers below:
Spoiler
- Michael is my favourite character. He's determined to be Tori's friend and I like his quirks and his tea.
- I'm very confused about Charlie's condition because it was never explained properly, only in bits and pieces. I found that confusing to read about because I just wanted to know exactly what had happened and what was wrong with him, but Tori kept on skirting around the subject. Maybe that was done on purpose? I'm not sure. I hope he's okay though...
- Is it just me or is Tori depressed? Everything about the way she sees the world and the way she's tired all the time and doesn't want to bother trying to be friends with people, makes me think she has depression. It felt like a missed opportunity not to bring that up and address it? Maybe that's what I thought was missing from the ending of the book. But I was getting really mad at everyone around her just yelling at her and never actually saying "hey, you're always tired and always sad, maybe you should get help". Especially her parents. UGH.
- Lucas being Solitaire. Because he's in love with Tori. Um, what? That was a bit weird... Like, the catalyst for the whole plot ended up being some guy who isn't even in love with her anymore? Of all the people who should have told Tori to get help, why didn't Lucas?? He knew her in the past and could see that she'd changed. Instead of being like "wow Tori you're so depressed now, I don't like you anymore" maybe he should have said "hey Tori you're so depressed now, did you know there are things out there to help with that?"
- Yeah I'm pretty bitter about no one helping her, I guess.
- Michael was my favourite. I just wanted him to show up all the time. I like him a lot.
- Sorry but if it was just three dumb students who formed Solitare (Lucas, Evelyn, Aaron) how did they manage to hack into everything and buy so many fireworks etc? I need this explained to me. Because it DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.
- Solitaire not being an epic underground organisation was pretty disappointing I guess.
- This book was better before I got to the end lol
- I rated it 4 stars at first but now changed it to 3 because the more I think about it the more frustrated I am becoming
- When Tori called Becky to say she was on her way to the school and Becky FLIPPED, I was convinced Becky was in on it and knew what Solitaire was planning. Why else would Becky be so afraid of Tori going there? Unless she knew something terrible was going to happen? But- no! Becky is just... a concerned friend???
- Okay that's all for now before I deconstruct the entire book.
- I loved that Tori and Charlie spoke a lot though. About everything. Close sibling relationships <3