Contemporary Author #2- Alice Oseman

Alice Oseman: How one author inspires readers to be unapologetically themselves.

Alice May Oseman is a popular YA Fiction writer, most known for her series Heartstopper which is now a three season TV show, and movie installment series that was released on Netflix in 2022 (4). What few people don't know is that the six volume series was not the first time we met some of our favorite characters in Osemans' literary universe.

Who is Alice Oseman?

    Alice May Oseman was born on October 16th, 1994 in Chatham, Kent (1). The 31 year old author attended Rochester Grammar School with her younger brother William for her youth (2). Once graduated, She attended Durham University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in English Literature (3).

    Alice is an author that knows the importance of LGBTQIA+ representation in her young adult novels. She herself identifies as asexual and aromantic, and prefers to go by She/They pronouns(3). Something that separates Oseman from other UK authors is that she not only can create novels, but also graphic novels. All of the writing and illustrations featured in her different books are completely created by her.

    Oseman's first novel was written when she was only 17(1). This novel was titled Solitaire where we follow Tori Spring, a pessimistic teenager who tries to uncover the people behind a prank group at her school(4). This is where we meet many characters that can be seen through the rest of Alice Oseman's literary and illustrative works.

Solitaire and Heartstopper: How one novel can launch a best selling series.

    As mentioned before, Solitaire was Alice's first novel ever published. This novel was created when she was only 17 years old, which then was picked up for publishing when she was 19(1).

    This novel follows the story of Tori Spring, a pessimistic teenager that becomes unlikely friends with a classmate named Michael, who is the direct opposite of her. Together, they work to uncover who is behind Solitaire, a group of people that are behind pranks at Higgs Grammar School for Girls(4).

    While this novel is technically considered a standalone, it is what led to the success of the Heartstopper series that has accumulated a cult-like following. Even though this series as a graphic-novel was posted first on a fan-following app titled Tumblr. It soon became a classic of Oseman and went on to have six volumes within the series.

    In Solitaire, we meet Tori Springs younger brother Charlie, who is depicted as having a severe eating disorder, along with Charlie's boyfriend Nick, who is best described in the series as a "Golden Retriever"(4).

    While the popularity of Oseman's debut novel grew, people were very interested in the story of Nick and Charlie (7). This caused Alice to create her best selling graphic novel series, Heartstopper.

    Heartstopper tells us the love story of Charlie Spring and Nick Nelson(4). This series was a significant shift from Solitaire as it deals with mental health in a serious tone. While Heartstopper does deal with significant mental health and identity struggles, it focuses mostly on romance, and how during all of these bad things, there can still be good.

    This series has accumulated a large following, so much so that it was picked up by SeeSaw to adapt into a Netflix original series (4). This series was released in 2022, and Alice Oseman had a hand in the entire creative process of the show (4). This became an instant success for Netflix and won multiple TV awards for its depiction of LGBTQIA+ youth (4).

Deep into the novel Solitaire

    For the focus of my blog, I wanted to dive deep into the story Solitaire. This book tends to have some glowing reviews, The Guardian states that, "Oseman has created characters that really punctuate the plot.(6)" and "a refreshing window into something other than a Romeo and Juliet situation(6)." This novel focuses heavily on Tori and how she sees the world as an asexual and aromantic identifying character. She sees everything with a clouded perspective which is what makes her so different from Michael Holden.

    When Tori meets Michael, it's the classic black-cat and golden retriever dynamic. If she sees the glass half-empty, he sees it half-full, which is what makes them great partners in figuring out who solitaire is, and what their next plans are(4) Solitaire as a group eventually causes a fire in Higgs school, which is where the final showdown between Solitaire and Tori takes place. This is when we learn the groups true identity and who's behind it, which I won't spoil in case you want to read it!

    K-Books depicts the book as "gritty and raw(5)." She states that it, "shows such a true picture of what life for teenagers is like now(5)." While this book can get into serious topics, It also has a light-hearted way of going about heavy issues to make it more digestible for young audiences while reading. It's not only informing a reader of teenage life, but it also is teaching a reader about something they may have not yet been exposed to, such as LGBTQIA+ representation in a high school setting.

My Thoughts

    In my opinion, Alice Oseman is an incredible writer and Illustrator. To have so much success at this young age is astounding and inspiring. I think that the best thing about her books is not only the real insight we get into teenage life, but also the representation we get in her characters that you don't get anywhere else. You can see yourself in multiple of her characters, which is what makes reading her work so addicting. I have read almost everything she as an author has published, once I was introduced to her, I simply couldn't get enough of what she had to say. This is what makes her so captivating and how she earned so much success in such a short amount of time.

        Solitaire is a book that I thoroughly enjoyed. As I am typically a romance reader, being able to explore something without a romance aspect while also getting in that mystery was really entertaining for me. It kept my attention and I didn't want to put the book down. I would highly recommend looking into her other works beyond Heartstopper and Solitaire such as Radio Silence, I Was Born For This, and Loveless.

*For Reference:Alice Oseman uses She/They pronouns. For article consistency, She/Her pronouns are used*

WORKS CITED

(1) Rumbelow, Helen. “Alice Oseman: A Literary Sensation at 16 Years Old.” Thetimes.Com,  The Times, 11 Aug. 2014, https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/alice-oseman-a-literary-sensation-at-16-years-old-3m3b3wbp0x7. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026. 

(2) Leonard, Sue. “Alice Oseman.” Sue Leonard, 29 Dec. 2014,   https://suejleonard.com/articles/beginners-pluck/alice-oseman/. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

(3) “Alice Oseman.” Rcwliteraryagency, 2023, https://rcwlitagency.com/clients/oseman-alice. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

(4) Oseman, Alice. “Alice Oseman.” Alice Oseman | Creator of the million-copy bestselling Heartstopper books, Bookswarm, 2026, https://aliceoseman.com/. Accessed 12 October 2026.

(5) Kayleigh. “Early Review: Solitaire.” K-books.co.uk, K-Books, 31 July 2014, https://www.k-books.co.uk/2014/07/early-review-solitaire/. Accessed 12 October 2026.

(6) Oseman, Alice, and Alan Gibbons. “Solitaire by Alice Oseman - review | Children's books.” The Guardian, 5 October 2014, https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2014/oct/05/review-solitaire-alice-oseman. Accessed 12 October 2026.

(7) Kelleher, Patrick. “Heartstopper Creator Wanted to Show Queer Teens That the Future Is Bright.” PinkNews | Latest Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans News | LGBTQ+ News, 22 Apr. 2022, https://www.thepinknews.com/2022/04/22/heartstopper-netflix-alice-oseman-interview/. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.