Madison Meeks
Editor-in-chief
mvm7037@psu.edu

(SPOILER WARNING; WARNING OF MENTAL HEALTH AND EATING DISORDER DISCUSSION)
If you love a good mystery or young adult novel where a love story is not the main focus, then ‘Solitaire’ is the book for you. ‘Solitaire’ is a novel written by famous young adult author Alice Oseman. Oseman is the writer of the popular YA graphic novel series ‘Heartstopper’, which follows the love story between Nick and Charlie. ‘Solitaire’ is Oseman’s first novel, which follows the story of Tori Spring. ‘Heartstopper’ fans will know Tori as the older sister of Charlie Spring, one of the main characters of the graphic novel series. But ‘Solitaire’ is Tori’s story, which allows readers to get to know her character more in depth than her character in the ‘Heartstopper’ series. The novel was published in 2014 by HarperCollins in the UK, and in January 2023, it was published in the United States.

The story takes place in the same universe as the rest of Oseman’s books, called the Osemanverse. The book starts right after the ‘Heartstopper’ novella called ‘This Winter’ and overlaps with ‘Heartstopper vol. 4’ without going into the main plot of the graphic novel.
The plot follows sixteen-year-old Tori Spring as she embarks on her 12-year journey, which is the equivalent of a junior year in the US while making and breaking relationships and balancing mental health and family, as well as the uprising of a prankster group at her school. Tori reluctantly joins eighteen-year-old and 13-year-old student Michael Holden on his investigation into the prankster group ‘Solitare’ whose acts are becoming dangerous. The main characters of the story, which are seen in some of Oseman’s other books, including ‘Heartstopper’, are Tori Spring, Michael Holden, Charlie Spring, Nick Nelson, Becky Allen, and Lucas Ryan.

The novel is told from the first-person point of view by the character Tori Spring. Her pessimistic point of view helps make the story even more interesting than it already is. Throughout the novel, readers can sense that, even though it is not diagnosed or treated, Tori suffers from depression. During the last part of the novel, Tori starts to question why everyone is fake. How come people, including herself, haven’t stopped the prank group since their pranks could put people’s lives in danger? Everyone seems to take the pranks as a laugh, but it does not sit right with her.

Tori meets Michael Holden at the beginning of the novel, a 13-year-old student who is from the all-boys school Truham Grammer but transferred to her school, Harvey Greene Grammer School for Girls, or Higgs for short. Truham is an all-boys school up until 11 years old, then any student can go there for the sixth term. Higgs is the same as Truham, but it is an all-girls school up until year 11. Tori is drawn to Michael, but she does not know whether it is as a friend or if it is something more romantic. But this question is not only for her friendship with Michael but also for her friendship with Becky, Evelyn, Lucas, and Lauren.

Throughout the story, the reader gets to see Tori’s point of view on her brother Charlie’s eating disorder. This is the only time that we, as readers, get to see Tori’s fear, worry, and love for another person. She is shown to love her siblings, but especially Charlie, whom she can relate to. In one scene of the novel, Tori is at a party with Michael. She gets a call from her youngest brother Oliver, who states that Charlie has locked himself in the kitchen and that Nick, Charlie’s boyfriend, left after they had gotten into a fight. Tori, who is worried about her brother, tells Michael, and they leave to get back to Tori’s house. Michael drives her back to her house on his bicycle. Once she gets back and is finally able to get her brother to open the kitchen door, she is able to figure out what happened and call Nick. Nick and Charlie then apologize to each other. The whole scene allows the reader to understand just how much she really does care for her family and wants to help her brother.

Readers also get to see a glimpse of Charlie’s past with fellow student Ben Hope, who had a secret relationship with him. This allows the reader to get a better understanding of Charlie’s past and how the trauma that came from his relationship with Ben has affected him in the present.

‘Solitaire’ is a slower-paced book, but Oseman’s writing style allows readers to get hooked and not really feel the slower pace of it. The unpredictable nature of the novel allows people to keep guessing about what is going to happen. Tori, throughout the book, starts to realize that Solitarie’s pranks have something to do with her. As she tries to stop the prank group, the school does end up catching fire, which is a nail-biting moment of its own.
I recommend this book to any reader who wants to find a new book to get hooked on. The book has so many interesting and unpredictable moments that, in my opinion, readers will love. So pick up a copy of ‘Solitaire’ by Alice Oseman for your next read.