*spoiler-free*
Solitaire by Alice Oseman focuses on Tori Spring, sister of Charlie Spring from the Heartstopper Universe, a typical teenager dealing with school, family, and day-to-day life.
It was natural to compare this book to the Heartstopper series, but Solitaire is very different in tone, a more serious traditional novel, rather than a light-hearted graphic novel. We also meet Michael Holden, an intriguing and eccentric character very interested in Tori, very early on in the story, and so seeing their relationship develop was lovely to read about.
Tori is a typical ‘sad girl’ but still an interesting character with depth and detail. I did find her lack of communication with her family and friends to be frustrating, but this encompasses a teenager well. I loved seeing the different sides of Tori as this made it relatable to read. However, Tori did have a habit of physically running away from a lot of situations which did become a bit repetitive to read.
Solitaire consisted of many short chapters making the book easy to flow through. This was also helped by the similarity of events that happened in the Heartstopper series or the novellas. Having created this universe, it was refreshing to read about these events from a different perspective.
This is your typical Young Adult read and whilst it discusses more serious topics like mental health, self-harm, eating disorders etc. its readability is easy. It was a relatively predictable book, especially in the sense of who was behind Solitaire, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
I also had the privilege of attending ‘Alice Oseman in Conversation with Jenny Walser’, a book event hosted in London for Solitaire’s 10th anniversary. Being able to hear from the author and the actress who plays Tori was an amazing experience and made me appreciate the detail and energy that went into the book.
I was already a fan of Oseman from the Heartstopper books but I am definitely going to give her other novels a go now also!
4/5 stars
Soph's Library 