Embrace The Chill This Fall and Winter With Solitaire
By: Morgan Ritter
Brian Butler via Printerval (Creative Commons)
This past summer, I picked up a book that made me fall in love with reading again. Despite its dark and depressing themes and the fact that it takes place while snow is falling, I found it to be strangely heartwarming. Within the universe of the world–famous series “Heartstopper,” allow me to introduce you to Alice Oseman’s 2014 novel Solitaire.
The story follows Tori Spring, an antisocial and slightly misanthropic teenager, as she goes through sixth form (the UK equivalent of 12th grade). Her typically monotonous life is turned upside down when she finds herself enthralled by an anonymous student social rebellion known as “Solitaire,” in which the members organize pranks and protests against what they see as a rigid school.
On top of Solitaire, Tori deals with an intense disillusionment with her identity and what she wants out of life. She cares deeply for her best friend Becky, but finds herself becoming increasingly detached from her and their friend group. She loves her younger brother Charlie, but she struggles to support him through his ongoing eating disorder and mental health issues. A childhood best friend reappears, but he wants to be in her life more than she wants him in it.
In the fast-moving and ever-changing world of adolescence, Tori is lost and alone. That is, until she meets Michael Holden, a quirky and eccentric boy unlike anyone she has ever met, and he forces her to look at life in a completely new way.
I have read my fair share of books depicting teenagehood, even before I was a teenager myself. However, I have never read a book that portrays adolescence as realistically as Oseman does in this novel. The throes of social outcast, heartbreak, and general confusion at this age are displayed in the best way they could be - ugly.
Many teenage-focused books romanticize adolescence to a ridiculous degree. These authors’ attempt at relatability comes across as a beautiful fantasy for teenagers, a story that they wish their life reflected. Solitaire, on the other hand, does not tell a pretty tale. It is real and gritty, and may even call to mind some real memories from our own teenage years that make us a little uncomfortable.
A key moment of teenage angst comes early in the book when Tori recounts how she decided to cut her hair short over the summer. She was supposed to buy school supplies, but when she looked in a mirror and saw how her long hair consumed her face and body, she felt trapped by it, and impulsively decided to cut it to her shoulders.
In teenage media, a girl cutting her hair is typically portrayed as empowering or as a makeover to bring about a new sense of self. Tori’s experience, however, displays the reality of “makeovers” that we give ourselves as teenagers - an impulsive change that is, at its core, a way to escape our former selves.
Solitaire also very thoughtfully depicts the impossible rollercoaster of maintaining relationships as a teenager. Tori is a caring person and loves those around her, but she is too consumed by her loneliness and self-loathing to communicate to anyone what she is truly feeling, and therefore allows resentment to build in her relationships. Sound familiar?
While what I’ve described may sound like a turbulent and sad tale, I think that is why I find this book to be oddly heartwarming. It is dark, uplifting, depressing, nostalgic, and disheartening - I can’t think of any better adjectives to describe being a teenager. This book felt like a hug, a reassurance that teenagehood was hard and great at the same time, and that’s okay.
It gives me immense relief to see that teenage media is becoming more geared towards real teenagers. Even 10 years after its release, Solitaire opens doors for writers to write honestly about adolescent life, warts and all.
Pick up a copy of Solitaire to read this upcoming chilly season, and allow yourself to be comforted by the confusing world of Tori Spring. Speaking of Tori Spring’s world, check out Alice Oseman’s novellas, Nick and Charlie and This Winter, which take place in the same universe as Solitaire. Plus, the third season of the Netflix adaptation of “Heartstopper” comes out next month, just in time for the leaves to start falling.