Reviews with content warning for Self harm - Solitaire

Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Solitaire by Alice Oseman

835 reviews

bekacrook's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Interesting story with complex characters but I just wanted a bit more. At times it felt a little repetitive and the lead up towards certain events felt very obvious.

I did think that Tori was a very distinctive character, she was pessimistic and a little surly but ultimately kind where she could be. She felt like a complete character, made from her experiences as well as her just natural inclination and personality. Her outlook was sometimes hard to listen to though as it was bleak the majority of the time.

Michael was also intriguing and I liked his initial contrast to Tori but how their commonality was shown as time went on and they got to know each other better. He wasn't what he was shown to be on the surface but I liked most of his interactions with Tori.

The Solitaire plotline was an interesting idea, it had moments of surprise but ultimately was quite obvious who was involved and why.

I will say that this book had really good mental health representation. At times, it wasn't even named but was just shown effectively through the characters actions and their thoughts even if they hadn't recognised it in themselves yet. I think it felt honest and integral to the characters without being their only personality traits.

It definitely differs from Heartstopper but it was nice to get to know Tori better.

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tetedump's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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charmarie's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-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

4.0

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samugranjo's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Teenage me would have loved this book. I still enjoyed it a lot. Its weak part is mostly the ending, and the writing is not a masterpiece. But the characters feel real and raw and incredibly lovable amidst their flaws.

Now, in honour of Tori's blog fever I am gonna finish this review with some emotionally vunerability.
I am going through a depressive episode and it was nice to have something that meant enough for me to go around a bookstore looking for the physical copy, while not stopping the audiobook because I just had to know what happened next. I see myself in Michael in a way younger me would not, and relate to Charlie in ways my younger self was not ready to admit.
Also, the relationship between Michael and Tori was something I wish I had read at a younger age, when I lacked the vocabulary to understand why no matter how many people i dated nothing clicked. I can't take back the choices made along the way trying to yield the assexual feelings away, but I can appreciate how far I have come.
I don't think my mental health will ever stop being something I struggle with, but I also know that things are constantly changing. Just as the bad times keep coming back, so do the goods, and sometimes all you can do is reach out to a friend and just exist. Without any pressures to be happy but also without forgetting that you won't fight depression away from standing in the same place.

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mapricot1's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

did it for the tori lore < 3333
this book is SOOO teenagers in high school like damn we were all teenagers in high school once......fr......
truly wasn't expecting getting THAT much tori backstory from this but she's truly going thru it huh. the stakes.....high. i liked that i finally understand the relationship between her and michael more now hahaha. also very interesting to read alice oseman's earliest work having read her later stuff bc it's so different. wild times

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