Book 739: Solitaire – Alice Oseman

I honestly have no clue how to respond to this one. I enjoyed it for the few glimpses I got of Charlie and Nick and am now both looking forward to and dreading the next two volumes of Heartstopper because of knowing some of their future. But, it was a weird book in that it is very much a tribute to angsty teenage-ness.

I like to think that I was an angsty teenager, but really, I was a toe-the-line don’t draw attention to yourself closeted teenager who was boring as hell. I’m sure I had a touch of anxiety, I always have, but I never let it take over my life so I couldn’t really relate to Tori losing all control over everything to her depression or Charlie to whatever he faces (it wasn’t explicit).

I really feel if I would’ve read this as a teenager I probably would’ve enjoyed this a bit more. I mean (hitching up my old man belt here) with a little life experience it definitely gives me a different experience reading this. That being said I didn’t particularly enjoy all the other teenage things my generation loved (Juno, Napoleon Dynamite, Garden State, etc.). They just felt like people were trying WAY too hard to be profound and meh.

Based on my experience with others who have faced severe depression I found Oseman’s story to be true-to-life and representative. The lethargy and total lack of interest in anything and the losing hours to nothing were spot on.

I did really like the Tori’s internal dialogue about blogs hilarious and slightly OMG is that me,

Over the past few months, I’ve come to realize that I am far more of a blog than an actual person. I don’t know when this blogging thing started, and I don’t know when or why I signed up to this website, but I can’t seem to remember what I did before and I don’t know what I’d do if I deleted it. I severely regret starting this blog. I really do. It’s pretty embarrassing. But the only place where I ever find people who are sort of like me is on these blogs. People talk about themselves here in ways that people don’t in real life. (27)

And thankfully realized a good portion of that was definitely me with all my first attempts at blogs, but once I sorted out I was going to keep a book journal and then stuck with it for 10 years.

The one teacher Tori interacts with was infuriatingly accurate and really cared and Oseman managed to write it in such a way that it both irked me as a teenager but also made me go awwwww as an adult.

Think about all the films you’ve seen. Most of the people who do well, and turn out happy, have friends, yes? Often it’s just one or two very close friends. Look at Darcy and Bingley. Jane and Elizabeth. Frodo and Sam. Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Friends are important. People who are alone are usually the antagonist. Like Voldemort. (248)

I was not the biggest fan of Tori’s hating on Austen constantly, but at the same time totally understand it from a high school perspective. I didn’t read Austen in high school, but did read Wuthering Heights and I HATED IT. I just didn’t get it or enjoy it, but then I went to live in Yorkshire less than 20 miles from where the Brontës lived and wrote and it just clicked.

Recommendation: I enjoyed this, but not as much as Heartstopper. I can see why a lot of people would really enjoy it, especially knowing that Oseman wrote it at 17, but it was just another one of those teen things that bypassed me even when I was a teenager.

Opening Line: “I am aware as I step into the common room that the majority of people here are almost dead, including me.”

Closing Line: “And I’m not alone.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)