Alice Oseman’s Novellas Reviews

Hey readers! Last month I read Solitaire by Alice Oseman and since I’m up to date with Heartstopper (that I love soooo much), I decided to read the two novellas that are related to this book. They are “This Winter”, a prequel, and “Nick and Charlie”, a sequel. So, without further ado, let’s start!

*Beware, the following reviews contain spoilers from the novellas, Solitaire and Heartstopper*

Title: This Winter (Solitaire 0.5)
Author: Alice Oseman
Synopsis (from Goodreads): I used to think that difficult was better than boring, but I know better now… I’m not going to think about the past few months, about Charlie and me, and all of the sad. I’m going to block it all out. Just for today. “Happy Christmas, ” I say. The festive season isn’t always happy for Tori and her brother Charlie. And this year’s going to be harder than most.
Rating: 4/5 stars

This story was a little prequel of the main novel by the author. It introduces and follows the three Spring siblings and what happens to them at Christmas. I’m very interested in knowing more about Charlie and Tori, because they are two of my favourite characters of this fictional world (along with Nick).
I love how Tori is so protective with Charlie and she is always so good with him. After all he went through, Charlie deserves better, but his parents and relatives aren’t the best option right now.
For the first time I could experience what it is like to be in Charlie’s mind. I always read what he says in the graphic novel but I never got the chance to know more about his behaviour and his thoughts, but with this story I started getting a glimpse of them and I did enjoy them.

Title: Nick and Charlie (Solitaire 1.5)
Author: Alice Oseman
Synopsis (from Goodreads): Everyone knows that Nick and Charlie are the perfect couple – that they’re inseparable. But now Nick is leaving for university, and Charlie will be left behind at Sixth Form. Everyone’s asking if they’re staying together, which is a stupid question – they’re ‘Nick and Charlie’, for God’s sake! But as the time to say goodbye gets inevitably closer, both Nick and Charlie question whether their love is strong enough to survive being apart. Or are they delaying the inevitable? Because everyone knows that first loves rarely last forever…
Rating: 4/5 stars

If I got the chance to experience what it was like to be in Charlie’s mind with the previous novella, now I finally know what it is like to be also in Nick’s mind. And I loved it. Even if it’s based on a huge misunderstanding, this novella is the celebration of Charlie and Nick’s love. I can’t help myself but ship them, they are the best couple ever. I can’t stop loving them, whatever they do. Also, I was so happy to see that Charlie, two years after his relationship with Nick, was starting to feel better after his illness. It filled my heart with happiness and joy. This couple will (and has to) last forever and I couldn’t be gladder than that.

These are my opinions about these two novellas, hope you enjoyed reading them! If you would like to let me know your own thoughts about them or you would like to comment what I said here, leave a comment down below. Thank you!

Solitaire by Alice Oseman – Review

Title: Solitaire

Author: Alice Oseman

Synopsis (from Goodreads): In case you’re wondering, this is not a love story. My name is Tori Spring. I like to sleep, and I like to blog. Last year – before all that stuff with Charlie and before I had to face the harsh realities of A-Levels and university applications and the fact that one day I really will have to start talking to people – I had friends. Things were very different, I guess, but that’s all over now. Now there’s Solitaire. And Michael Holden. I don’t know what Solitaire are trying to do, and I don’t care about Michael Holden. I really don’t.

Rating: 4/5 stars

 

Beware, the following review will contain some spoilers!

 

I really enjoyed reading this book in the last few days. I didn’t expect the story to be like this, in fact I was quite surprised about what happened in there!

I think that the plot was pretty cool, I started it thinking it was just about Tori, her life, her struggles, her friends, Charlie and Nick and so on. But, in addition to that, there’s also a mystery! Not the kind of guess-who-killed-someone mystery, ok, but it’s still something that needs to be solved. I’m talking about Solitaire’s blog and the many things that happen around Tori. Someone is trying really hard to impress her by doing many different things. And the mind behind was none other than Lucas. It was a bit obvious; I was unsure if it was Michael or him, but in the end, I was 90% sure it was Lucas.

Talking about Michael, I loved him so much. He was so adorable and peculiar, I got along with him immediately. He was a bit funny sometimes, but still lovely. And I was so excited that he and Tori ended up together! They are one of my new favourite ships (even though Nick and Charlie are still in the first place, no doubts).

I have to admit that I started reading this book because I was curious to know more about Nick and Charlie. Heartstopper is such an adorable and amazing graphic novel, it’s quite obvious that I would be so interested in knowing more. Well, their story wasn’t all easy peasy lemon squeezy at all. In the graphic novel the author is still introducing the main challenge that Charlie will face in Solitaire. It was hard to read about his disorder, really hard. I hope he will feel better in the future. And with Tori on his side I’m sure he will have all the help he needs.

Last but not least, Tori. I got along with her really well since the beginning. Maybe because sometimes I feel like her or maybe it’s because of this quarantine, I don’t know, but I felt what she felt for almost the entire book. And her relationship with Michael was adorable. I so loved them!

So, these are my opinions about this book, hope you liked reading it! If you would like to let me know your own thoughts about the novel or you would like to talk about what I said in this review, leave a comment down below! Thanks.