Solitaire is a young-adult realistic fiction novel written by Alice Oseman and originally published in 2014. It was Oseman’s first novel, though she has since become an award-winning author of young-adult fiction and graphic novels. Solitaire is its own story with its own characters, but it also falls into the Heartstopper universe and includes that series’ main protagonist, Charlie, who is the brother of Tori, Solitaire’s main character. Solitaire sees Tori dealing with mental-health struggles and Feigning “Normalcy” to Fit In in her last years of high school. Through a new and unlikely bond, Tori ends up Finding Light in the Darkness and Being the Start of Change.

This guide refers to the 2018 HarperCollins edition.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of death by suicide, suicidal ideation, disordered eating, mental illness, physical abuse, bullying, antigay bias, substance use, and cursing.

Plot Summary

Teenager Victoria “Tori” Spring returns to sixth form after Christmas with a continuous feeling of dread and disdain. She views her classmates as superficial and sees herself as empty and uninteresting. On the first day back, Tori follows a series of sticky notes to a computer showing an online blog called Solitaire. At the same time, she meets a boy named Michael Holden, who recently transferred. Michael is unusual and eccentric, and Tori finds him intriguing. Soon after, the Solitaire blog begins pranking the school. The people behind it disrupt an assembly to mock the teacher, Mr. Kent, and repeat songs on the speakers.

Tori runs into an old childhood friend named Lucas, who was apparently looking for her. He continuously tries to talk to her and become friends again, but Tori is uninterested. She also begins to feel out of place around her long-time best friend, Becky, who only seems interested in discussing boys.

At home, Tori’s brother, Charlie, struggles with mental illness and an eating disorder. Tori recognizes the issue but doesn’t have the motivation to step in, and she feels like her parents are apathetic toward her problems. At a get-together at a pizza place, Michael challenges Tori’s apathy and confronts her about her pessimism by warning that her indifference may isolate her in life. They walk home together, and he tries to tell Tori that they have a lot in common, but Tori is suspicious of Michael’s motives.

Tori grows suspicious of a boy named Ben when he acts strangely about knowing Charlie and starts dating Becky. Becky is excited about her new relationship, and Tori’s struggle to hide her doubts only pushes Becky further away. Meanwhile, Solitaire escalates its “pranks” by setting off the school fire alarm and posting increasingly dramatic messages online.

Tori reconciles with Michael and agrees to attend a Solitaire meeting with him on Saturday. After school one day, Ben punches Charlie after accusing him of exposing their secret—that they used to date. Tori wishes she had done more to protect her brother. The next day, Tori witnesses Michael’s explosive anger after he places second in a skating competition. Rather than dismissing his feelings or running away, she validates his passion and appreciates his authenticity, which deepens their connection.

At the supposed Solitaire meeting, which turns out to be a house party, Tori briefly allows herself to feel happy when she and Michael dance together. That moment is interrupted when she confronts Becky, who is still with Ben, and Solitaire publishes a blog post exposing Ben as a bully who’s biased against LGBTQ+ people. Violence ensues as students attack Ben; nobody intervenes, and Tori runs away. She accuses Michael of being fake and retreats once again into isolation.

Tori reflects on her childhood bond with Lucas and tries to find him to apologize after missing their date. She is desperate to repair things, but he avoids her. At school, Mr. Kent critiques Tori’s cynical essay on Pride and Prejudice and warns her that isolation leads to unhappiness. However, Tori only feels increasingly alone as she grows more estranged from Becky and struggles to maintain a conventional friendship with Michael. She also continues to feel guilt over Charlie and her failure to help him.

Charlie and his boyfriend, Nick, take Tori to a chaotic music festival, which gets taken over by Solitaire. The group sets off fireworks everywhere, and the field erupts in flames, leading to several injuries. Tori jumps away from a firework just in time, and Michael rescues her from the river. At this point, she begins to believe there may still be good in the world. She decides to stop Solitaire and becomes determined to find the truth about what it is and who’s behind it. Eventually, Lucas confesses that he created Solitaire to “save” Tori from her melancholy under the false belief that chaos would make her feel alive. He adds that he’s in love with her and blamed the school for her misery. Horrified by his selfish logic, Tori realizes how little some people think of others.

Tori and Becky arrive at school on Friday in response to a threat from Solitaire. There, they find Lucas and two other students in a computer lab. Becky stops a student with a lighter from threatening Lucas and tells them that their actions have been petty and useless. A fire starts anyway, and while everyone else runs out, Tori stays and tries to stop it. Michael attempts to pull her out, but she runs back in. Eventually, she realizes that she cannot hold back the fire.

Feeling like a failure, Tori goes to the roof, where she contemplates suicide. Michael reaches her in time, confesses that he loves her, and reminds her of how much she’s helped him. As the school burns below, Tori chooses to live. In the aftermath, surrounded by friends, she isn’t magically cured, but she feels alive and no longer entirely alone.