I think the themes this book handles are incredibly intriguing but I do think it just barely misses what it's trying to say. Like, the pieces are all there, but one or two aren't quite lining up, and it feels disjointed. However, I do appreciate it for what it is (and can you believe the author was only 18 when she wrote it?). What if everything you set yourself up to be was wrong? Frances has always been a study machine with one goal, elite university. Nothing will stand in her way; not friends, not a guilty secret – not even the person she is on the inside. The long answer: I write my books as if they are taking place in the present at the time that I am writing them. This obviously doesn’t technically work in the timeline of the books, because I wrote Heartstopper long after I wrote Solitaire, even though Heartstopper takes place before Solitaire!

This book felt a bit like someone asked, "what if manic pixie dream girls had layers?" Which is all fine and good, except when it still feels a bit like the manic pixie dream girl is only there to help the boy's plotline still? I'm pivoting between loving this as a tender book about friendship and caring so deeply for your found family and also wanting to leave it in the past with the other tropey YA of old.This was a phenomenal book! But uber depressing. I empathize so deeply with Tori, that this was both therapeutic and incredibly triggering so probably gonna need to process that later lmao. Delve into four acclaimed novels from Alice Oseman, the YA Prize winning author and creator of Netflix series Heartstopper. I mean, yes, Frances had her own aspirations, hopes, fears, dreams, heartbreaks... but she also just felt like a vehicle to explain, chronicle, and support Aled's life. As she starts university with her best friends, Pip and Jason, in a whole new town far from home, Georgia’s ready to find romance, and with her outgoing roommate on her side and a place in the Shakespeare Society, her ‘teenage dream’ is in sight.

It's a bit on the nose at times (the middle portion slogged a whee bit for me), but it was also so ground shaking at the same time to realize that yes, being a fan and fandoms can be such beautiful, wonderful things, but being a fan at the expense of being yourself is such a complex battle that many fans face at a certain point. Also, spoiler, but I feel really crushed that the only sapphic book Oseman has written wasn't a romance. She doesn't owe it, but reading all of the other books where all the queer characters get a HEA with their lover makes this one stand out even fiercer. Such a bummer.)

Creative Play

WHAT YEARS DO YOUR BOOKS TAKE PLACE IN? The short answer: They don’t take place in any specific year. For now, I'll just say it's a well written book, the plot kept me engaged throughout, and the characters were incredibly fleshed out and had great voice. 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.

I'll preface by saying there were certain scenes and lines I really enjoyed and I felt that this book is so, so important!