ok i am super interested in the edits! what was the biggest change, and were there any that suprised you, or any you were upset about the change?
this got so fuckin long iâm sorry lol
OK SO: all edits either fell into one of four categories:
taking out toriâs internalised misogyny, especially towards becky
removing some otherwise problematic statements
a more realistic portrayal of mental health
making the story more in line with heartstopper
there were no major changes to the storyline, just to the way itâs told. most changes were single-line changes, with a few exceptions.
the biggest changes were hands down the way becky is viewed. tori in the original text tends to look down on becky for liking boys and parties, and often feels like sheâs acting dumber than she is and is very much annoyed by it. in the edits, the main reason tori doesnât like becky very much is because sheâs everything tori wishes she could be: outgoing, sociable, happy. they were once equals, but then becky moved on and became this whole new bright person while tori is still completely lost in life.
thereâs very little text added to the book (most of it is either removed or single changed), but when it is, itâs almost always in relation to becky and the way tori views her.
i guess this is the closest the book gets to actually changing the story. although it is made clear in the end of the original text that at least a part of toriâs dislike for becky (and other girls) does ultimately stem from envy, i donât think it always reads that way. it mostly just reads as her looking down on other girls for being girly.
the otherwise problematic statements were mostly things like taking out references to celebs that turned out to be massive dicks in the past few years, and changing words like âinsaneâ and âsociopathicâ to âweirdâ and âridiculousâ. same goes for the internalised misogyny, parts where tori talks down or slut-shames other girls are either completely taken out or edited.Â
the portrayal of mental illness also ended up changing a lot of the text. a lot of charlieâs illness is less explicit/triggering and more accurate. (i donât know enough about EDs/charlieâs other mental health issues to say too much about it, though). it still isnât sugar-coated, though-- solitaireâs dark tone is still VERY much present. itâs just less intentionally terrifying and violent.
some interactions between nick and charlie were also changed, mainly nickâs personality to make it more in line with heartstopper. nothing major, though!
i think solitaire as a book still works with the original text, but i can totally see why alice wanted to edit it, if that makes sense. the edits to the portrayal of mental illness were necessary imo, but as for the rest? teenage girls ARE misogynistic (i sure as hell was!) and teenagers do sometimes use language thatâs entirely inappropriate. we AREÂ dicks, usually. doesnât mean we have to be, though, and i feel like thatâs the main difference between the two texts:Â post-edit tori sets more of an example than pre-edit tori.
basically: i wasnât upset by any of the edits! as like... everyone who follows this blog knows solitaire is a story very close to my heart and i enjoyed reading it the best it could be :) i think if 15-year-old me had read this version of the novel, i would have loved it all the same.,and maybe even gained some more insight into the way i viewed other girls. maybe. probably not, i was very stubborn.
in short 10/10 am listening to tori amos, radiohead and bon iver as we speak
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