A review by lybrarie
Solitaire by Alice Oseman

challenging mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

As with all of Alice Oseman's work, I really enjoyed this book. This author's writing style is really easy to read, even when covering difficult topics like this book does. I liked that it doesn't go into intense and graphic detail about some of those matters, but covered them in a way that still made them feel real - I would urge you to look up the content warnings if you think there is a potential for this book to contain triggering content for you. 

I did find the revelation towards the end of the book somewhat predictable, but I still definitely enjoyed the process of getting there. I could guess what was going to happen, but I wasn't one hundred percent sure on how the leading events connected to it. So it was definitely fun to read and find out how everything came to be. 

I didn't find any of the main characters (Tori, Michael, Becky, Lucas) to be particularly loveable, but I think, for this book, that is what made them good characters. They were all flawed and dealing with their own issues, which made them feel real. Tori in particular - as the book is told from her point of view - was definitely a characters I felt for despite not liking her all that much. I personally could relate to the way she was feeling, which I think is why I didn't really like her. I understood why she was thinking the way she was thinking and acting the way she was acting, which is why I think I found that some of her decisions were annoying me - because I knew what she needed to do to make things better for herself and she seemed to be doing the complete opposite. 

Overall, I really liked this book and I am looking forward to reading more of Oseman's works and getting to spend more time with these characters. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings