Review by asourceoffiction - Solitaire

asourceoffiction 's review for:

Solitaire by Alice Oseman

4.0

dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I love Tori Spring, and I will read/watch anything in the Heartstopper universe. This goes much darker than Heartstopper but I was absolutely here for it. For Oseman to have written this when they were 18, and to so brilliantly highlight teenage mental health issues in such an intimate way (it's basically Tori's stream of consciousness) is just amazing. This is the kind of book that should be on the curriculum in Sixth Forms.

We've definitely all been through this phase in adolescence (and most likely in adulthood); feeling like we don't really fit in with any particular group, and desperately trying to convince ourselves that we don't care. The way Tori's relationships shift with her mood is so cleverly done, and I loved seeing how things ran their course, particularly with Michael Holden (the nod to Catcher in the Rye is not subtle, but it doesn't need to be).

I'm really interested to see how this ties in (if at all) with the last volumes of Heartstopper, since it's set around the time volume 4 finished. But however it's connected, this is a wonderful, and ultimately hopeful, story that is funny and unflinching in its subject matter. I loved it.

Content Warnings