There’s a time and a place for being normal. For most people, normal is their default setting. But for some, like you and me, normal is something we have to bring out, like putting on a suit for a posh dinner.” There comes a point, though, when you can’t keep looking after other people any more. You have to start looking after yourself. having tori hate on this particular girl the whole time for no real reason other than tori’s super judgmental and then revealing her be the antagonist really just ain’t the message we want to be sending

Solitaire is a story about mental illness told through an unreliable narrator. The presentation of mental illness in this story is sometimes sensationalised, underexplained, and may be harmful to readers who have experienced mental illness. Please read safely and responsibly. Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2022-09-23 12:14:32 Autocrop_version 0.0.14_books-20220331-0.2 Bookplateleaf 0008 Boxid IA40707324 Camera USB PTP Class Camera Collection_set printdisabled External-identifier I also think that Oseman has created characters that really punctuate the plot. Michael Holden has an interesting hobby (I'll let you find out, but for the record it's not an outdoors-y sport), Lucas Ryan has interesting dress sense and Tori has an interesting outlook on life. The fact that Alice also has the experience of how difficult it is to survive school, and the boring books and plays that come with it. So she throws away the number immediately. Then when she DOES see something, she doesn't have the number to call the girl. Then she decides not to tell her anyway. Yeah, stupid. She even kind of admits how bitter, pessimistic, and boring she is when she says this at one point:Solitaire is Alice Oseman's debut novel, and as such the place I decided to begin with her full length works. (I have already read some of her Heartstopper webcomic, but none of her books) I had heard pretty mediocre things about this one compared to some of her others, so decided it would be a good place to start, as to gently increase my expectations and not be too disappointed. Please also note that Solitaire is a much darker, more graphic, more serious book than the Heartstopper series, and may not be suitable for all readers who have enjoyed Heartstopper. The acclaimed debut novel by Alice Oseman, author of the YA Book Prize 2021 Loveless. Solitaire presents the characters who inspired the popular webcomic and graphic novel series Heartstopper, one of Netflix's leading series today. I know the main character is relatable for many and I hope that any of you who read this will understand that anything I say in this is nothing against your or your experiences. NOR is it anything against the author, as I know they were very young when the book was published. All the things that happen in the book are what lead to the ending. No matter if it’s the sudden appearance of Michael Holden and Lucas Ryan or the mystery about Solitaire that runs through the entire book like a golden thread. No matter if it’s Tori’s complicated relationship with her mother and friends or her closeness to Charlie and the things she had to witness. They all come together in the end and they collide. I guess you could say all those things and especially Michael Holden and Solitaire work as some sort of catalyst that inevitably leads us to the ending of the story. Just like a musical crescendo. It builds and builds until it finally explodes.

Let's talk about Tori's brother a little bit first because that is what I found most disturbing. I think I could have been okay with lots of things in this book but this pointed out how problematic it truly is. One day she meets angry boy Michael Holden. Angry at the world for expecting him to be someone he’s not. Angry at people for thinking him weird and not worthy of their attention and respect when he’s just being himself. Angry all the time. But hiding it. Hiding it because people would judge him even more, they would make him feel even more lonely than he is now. Michael Holden is the softest boy you will ever meet. He’s angry but that doesn’t he isn’t trying to make Tori happy, really happy, not fake. He’s not trying to save her, she doesn’t need to be saved, she needs to see she’s not alone in this world, that people like her exist. Michael Holden doesn’t want to save her, and he doesn’t need to be saved either. They just both need someone to help them. And their this person for each other. Alice made editorial changes to Solitaire in August 2020. The edited edition has an author’s note at the front of the book. There comes a point, though, when you can't keep looking after other people anymore. You have to start looking after yourself." This isn’t a book about happy people. I don’t even think this book was made for happy people, they would dislike it, say everything inside this book is utter bullshit. But it isn’t. It’s the absolute truth.

Diaries & Calendars

At one point, Tori gets recruited to be part of kind of a campus lookout type programme. Solitaire is pranking the school and they want students to patrol the school and be on the lookout for them (break-ins, suspicious behaviour, etc.). So the leader gives Tori her number just in case she sees anything while on her watch and... This has just become one of my favourite books. I do think that I liked Radio Silence a little bit better, but man this is right next to it. I just loved this book so much. I was a little bit hesitant going into this book since I've seen a lot of people saying that this book is not as good as Alice Oseman's other works but I personally really loved it. I know it's not a perfect book by any means, but it simply worked for me. I think this might have been the most frustrating part of Solitaire for me. Tori is bitter. She's pessimistic and judgemental. She doesn't seem to like people at all. She walks around with this "I'm better than you because I don't conform" attitude. I felt like she looked down on EVERYONE and it was exhausting.