From the critically acclaimed creator of the Heartstopper series comes a vivid, clever, and heartfelt portrayal of what it’s like to be a teenager today. Alice Oseman’s stunning debut novel Solitaire—which the Times (London) called “The Catcher in the Rye for the digital age”—is perfect for fans of Melina Marchetta, Stephen Chbosky, and Rainbow Rowell.My name is Tori Spring. I like to sleep and I … Rowell.
My name is Tori Spring. I like to sleep and I like to blog. Last year—before all that stuff with Charlie and before I had to face the harsh realities of exams and university applications and the fact that one day I really will have to start talking to people—I had friends. Things were very different, I guess, but that’s all over now.
Now there’s Solitaire. And Michael Holden. I don’t know what Solitaire is trying to do, and I don’t care about Michael Holden. I really don’t.
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Alice Oseman’s first book, written when she was eighteen, is about Tori Spring, who doesn’t care much about anything. That is, until she befriends a strange boy named Michael Holden and a mysterious group called Solitaire starts doing pranks at her school.
While I do think Alice Oseman has a way of getting inside the head of a teenager that most writers can’t manage, this book felt like a not-as-good version of Radio Silence, which has been one of my favorite reads of this year so far. I found Tori to be a rather annoying narrator. Her cynicism was clearly meant to be criticized and seen as typical teenage angst, but it got a little tiresome to hear about how much she hates everything. I almost wanted to count how many times she said “I hate x” because it started to get ridiculous at a certain point.
For me, this was a bit disappointing to read after Radio Silence, since I couldn’t stop comparing the two, and Solitaire felt less polished and cohesive. I was interested in the story and the characters, since I do really think Oseman does a wonderful job with getting the reader invested, but the whole time it felt like it was missing something. Still, I did really love seeing Nick and Charlie from Heartstopper! I think Alice Oseman has come a long way in her writing and I’ll just stick with her later works, thanks.
2 stars – It was ok
Trigger Warnings (taken from the authors website): References to suicide and suicide attempts, Suicidal ideation, Self-harm, Depression, Eating disorders, Obsessive-compulsive behaviors, Narrator has implied undiagnosed depression, Brief incidents of homophobia, Unchallenged misogyny and ableism.
Tori Spring likes to sleep and blog. She doesn’t really like people or putting an effort into most things, especially after everything that happened with Charlie. School this year is different though because of Solitaire and Michael Holden.
Well this book was ok. Tori is a depressed teenger who is struggling with her feelings, or lack thereof, and life in general. I could relate to that and remember feeling that a lot as a teenager myself. My problem with Tori was that I found some of her views annoying and contradictory, like refusing to read because books were fiction but would watch movies, which are the same thing.
Michael Holden felt like a kid who was also suffering from some form of mental illness but I did like him. He was weird but a very interesting character. I also really enjoyed all the Nick and Charlie scenes we get, even the sad ones with Charlie relapsing.
My other issue was the amount of teenage drama going on in this book. Yes, it’s a YA book but man it felt like it was never ending. I think that was the main reason this book didn’t work for me. I probably would have liked this more if I had been a teenager or in my early 20s but I am not and it all felt petty and annoying. Much like high school drama is.
I LOVEDDDDD THIS BOOK!! I totally recommend you read this book.