I can understand why a lot of readers, particularly teens, might enjoy the book for this reason: it is easy to get inside Tori’s head. Let’s start with a few things I liked! Tori’s stream of consciousness narration was jarring at first, but I grew to enjoy it. Meanwhile, an eponymous group keeps playing pranks on the school, and while Tori isn’t keen on investigating, Solitaire seems determined to amp up the pranks until she does. Her new potential best friend, Michael Holden, is, like her, somewhat of a social outcast by choice, and their tumultuous interactions form the backbone of Tori’s character development. Her old best friend, Lucas, suddenly resurfaces after many years’ absence. Her nominal best friend, Becky, is more absorbed in the boy du jour and mostly interested in pushing Tori to be more outgoing.

For someone so unfriended, though, Tori has no shortage of people in her orbit. She spends most of her time keeping to herself, reading blogs and doing worse on her coursework than she should be. Solitaire is about Tori Spring, a Year 12 student who doesn’t really have any close friends. Trigger warnings in this book for depictions of self-harm, eating disorders, and suicidal thoughts. I recognize some of that Alice Oseman in Solitaire, but reading this after reading the incredible Radio Silence was a real letdown. Radio Silence was one of the best books I will have read this year, hands down, even though it was like the second book I read this year. Honestly, still trying to work out how I feel about this book, so this review might be a little rough.

Alice oseman book