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angelreadsthings's review
3.0
3 1/2 Stars. As far as short story collections go, this one was neither especially spectacular nor especially awful. I appreciated the diversity of the stories in terms of characters, approach to bullying, and examples of bullying shown; however, I struggled to get deeply emotionally invested in the stories and to fall into the overall tone of the collection.
aly_bu's review
3.0
Most of these stories were touching.
But some were vulgar. Disgusting. I failed to understand how anything small as intimidation could turn into a bullying story, and give reason for the protagonist to turn into a monster.
The small amount of backstory in some of the stories made them into less of a story and more of a jumble of words that left me confused.
Others were poignant stories that entertained me greatly.
I guess that's a bit of a mixed review, but it's honestly how I felt.
But some were vulgar. Disgusting. I failed to understand how anything small as intimidation could turn into a bullying story, and give reason for the protagonist to turn into a monster.
The small amount of backstory in some of the stories made them into less of a story and more of a jumble of words that left me confused.
Others were poignant stories that entertained me greatly.
I guess that's a bit of a mixed review, but it's honestly how I felt.
angelcarmie2's review
5.0
I love books like these..with several stories in them! I love the diverse writing styles. I think this book is good for EVERYONE! there's at least one story everyone will like. and it's a very serious topic to talk about. I may have skipped 2 or 3 of the stories because they didn't catch interest but overall it was a great book!
5hadow_girl's review against another edition
5.0
It does not necessarily take a fist to create a punch in the gut.
"This fourteen-story YA fiction anthology delves into the experience of being bullied—socially, emotionally, physically, psychologically, and sexually."
I originally had this shelved as 'ya-general', but I had to add it to 'ya-horror' as well. [b:Cornered: 14 Stories of Bullying and Defiance|12661669|Cornered 14 Stories of Bullying and Defiance|Rhoda Belleza|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1334265983s/12661669.jpg|17776042] is pretty far out of my genre comfort zone, but it horrified me on a different level.
I've read a lot of (IMHO) outstanding fictional books about bullying - (just to name a few...)
THE 8th by Matt Shaw, JEREMY by Matt Hickman, MY BEAUTIFUL SUICIDE by Atty Eve, and most recently [b:Rage|22299348|Rage|Kimberly A. Bettes|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1400807844s/22299348.jpg|18230091] by [a:Kimberly A. Bettes|5196896|Kimberly A. Bettes|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1453589309p2/5196896.jpg]. I think [b:Cornered: 14 Stories of Bullying and Defiance|12661669|Cornered 14 Stories of Bullying and Defiance|Rhoda Belleza|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1334265983s/12661669.jpg|17776042] hurt a little deeper because the stories lacked the gratifyingly bloody revenge from the victim(s).
* Click here to view full post. (http://wp.me/p37DRX-1vh)
** I have the outline prepared, so BOLO for the full review & author info.
*** I came across an article I posted in 2013 when I searched on BBB for keyword word ‘bully’, and I wanted to share it again now. It's linked from the same post, so please check it out if you have the time.
"This fourteen-story YA fiction anthology delves into the experience of being bullied—socially, emotionally, physically, psychologically, and sexually."
I originally had this shelved as 'ya-general', but I had to add it to 'ya-horror' as well. [b:Cornered: 14 Stories of Bullying and Defiance|12661669|Cornered 14 Stories of Bullying and Defiance|Rhoda Belleza|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1334265983s/12661669.jpg|17776042] is pretty far out of my genre comfort zone, but it horrified me on a different level.
I've read a lot of (IMHO) outstanding fictional books about bullying - (just to name a few...)
THE 8th by Matt Shaw, JEREMY by Matt Hickman, MY BEAUTIFUL SUICIDE by Atty Eve, and most recently [b:Rage|22299348|Rage|Kimberly A. Bettes|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1400807844s/22299348.jpg|18230091] by [a:Kimberly A. Bettes|5196896|Kimberly A. Bettes|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1453589309p2/5196896.jpg]. I think [b:Cornered: 14 Stories of Bullying and Defiance|12661669|Cornered 14 Stories of Bullying and Defiance|Rhoda Belleza|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1334265983s/12661669.jpg|17776042] hurt a little deeper because the stories lacked the gratifyingly bloody revenge from the victim(s).
* Click here to view full post. (http://wp.me/p37DRX-1vh)
** I have the outline prepared, so BOLO for the full review & author info.
*** I came across an article I posted in 2013 when I searched on BBB for keyword word ‘bully’, and I wanted to share it again now. It's linked from the same post, so please check it out if you have the time.
rosepetals1984's review against another edition
3.0
Initial reaction: Compared to other story compilations on bullying that I've read, this really paled in comparison. I did not like the fact that some of the stories lacked resolution or were truncated on awkward notes in that it seemed to go against the very message it was trying to put across. However, there are some good stories in this collection that I enjoyed, and I'll expound upon those when I post my full review.
Full review:
It's been almost a full year since I've returned to review this particular compilation of stories, but I remember it well enough to say that I was quite overwhelmed by the collection as a whole, offered by Rhoda Belleza.
Quite many of you know how I feel about bullying and I've read quite a few compilations of strong narratives offered on the topic. What bothered me about this was the fact that many of the narratives came across as incomplete or with a lack of direction/distinction.
Chris Clutcher wrote an interesting preface on the collection in terms of highlighting the fact that bullies themselves can be those that are "among the bullied", and tells the story of a kid named Kevin who picked on the weakest girl in the class because he couldn't stand the sight of weakness. Rhoda Belleza also introduced the collection, with thoughtful reflections on her experiences with bullying and what inspired the respective collection - a measure to connect.
I'm going through this collection story by story just so that you guys can have an idea of what I thought were pros and cons of each story, and that you can have a gauge for what stories may work/not work for you.
1. Nemesis by Kirsten Miller This story all too reminded me of what happens when people try to combat bullying by "bullying the bullies." It never goes well and stereotyping by affixing a label to what the "bully" encompasses is destructive to seeing it as a problem and the measures of addressing solutions for stopping it. I don't know what the point of it was - the sense of vengeance and helplessness a person feels when they're bullied? To illustrate that no one deserves to fight alone. That may be true, and I could see that the motivation behind the character's actions was because her former best friend bullied her, but it kind of leaves the idea hanging.
The story tells of a young woman who fronts a secret group called "NEMESIS" - videotaping incidents of bullying and blackmailing the "bullies" as it were - sending links and the footage of recorded incidents to the bullies, their parents, and authorities like the schools. But then she also doxxes the identity of the bullies on her website if the incidents escalate. She operates under an anonymous handle, and makes statements like this in her mantra:
"We’ll ruin their careers, friendships, and love lives. We’ll have our revenge. And we’ll teach them all that payback is hell."
It lends on to the measure that the young woman gets a plea from Olivia, her former bully. She decides to go watch to delight in the fact that Olivia's getting her just deserts, but ends up feeling stricken upon seeing the bullies torment Olvia so she decides to help her "fight." But I still feel like nothing in this story was ever "resolved." It just ended abruptly. I didn't like the story personally because it hits too close to home in a wrong way.
Score: 1.5/5 stars
2. On Your Own Level by Sheba Karim
*still writing, long review*
Full review:
It's been almost a full year since I've returned to review this particular compilation of stories, but I remember it well enough to say that I was quite overwhelmed by the collection as a whole, offered by Rhoda Belleza.
Quite many of you know how I feel about bullying and I've read quite a few compilations of strong narratives offered on the topic. What bothered me about this was the fact that many of the narratives came across as incomplete or with a lack of direction/distinction.
Chris Clutcher wrote an interesting preface on the collection in terms of highlighting the fact that bullies themselves can be those that are "among the bullied", and tells the story of a kid named Kevin who picked on the weakest girl in the class because he couldn't stand the sight of weakness. Rhoda Belleza also introduced the collection, with thoughtful reflections on her experiences with bullying and what inspired the respective collection - a measure to connect.
I'm going through this collection story by story just so that you guys can have an idea of what I thought were pros and cons of each story, and that you can have a gauge for what stories may work/not work for you.
1. Nemesis by Kirsten Miller This story all too reminded me of what happens when people try to combat bullying by "bullying the bullies." It never goes well and stereotyping by affixing a label to what the "bully" encompasses is destructive to seeing it as a problem and the measures of addressing solutions for stopping it. I don't know what the point of it was - the sense of vengeance and helplessness a person feels when they're bullied? To illustrate that no one deserves to fight alone. That may be true, and I could see that the motivation behind the character's actions was because her former best friend bullied her, but it kind of leaves the idea hanging.
The story tells of a young woman who fronts a secret group called "NEMESIS" - videotaping incidents of bullying and blackmailing the "bullies" as it were - sending links and the footage of recorded incidents to the bullies, their parents, and authorities like the schools. But then she also doxxes the identity of the bullies on her website if the incidents escalate. She operates under an anonymous handle, and makes statements like this in her mantra:
"We’ll ruin their careers, friendships, and love lives. We’ll have our revenge. And we’ll teach them all that payback is hell."
It lends on to the measure that the young woman gets a plea from Olivia, her former bully. She decides to go watch to delight in the fact that Olivia's getting her just deserts, but ends up feeling stricken upon seeing the bullies torment Olvia so she decides to help her "fight." But I still feel like nothing in this story was ever "resolved." It just ended abruptly. I didn't like the story personally because it hits too close to home in a wrong way.
Score: 1.5/5 stars
2. On Your Own Level by Sheba Karim
*still writing, long review*
library_brandy's review
3.0
Picked this up as an ARC, as something to consider for the 8th grade summer reading We Want Something About Bullying requirement.
No.
I'm not saying it was bad--like any anthology, it had its ups and downs. Some stories are fantasy-based, others are realistic--and props for the realistic ones actually addressing teens considering suicide, and I think that's where my sticking point is--I respect the choice but it's not something I'm going to hand to an 8th-grader when they'll be reading without much guidance. (I say this because this year's rising 8th graders are last year's rising seventh graders, who took the wildly wrong message from James Preller's amazingly realistic Bystander.)
An additional purchase at best, in part because not many teens read anthologies anyway (which is a shame). (but not a shame when it comes to this one.)
No.
I'm not saying it was bad--like any anthology, it had its ups and downs. Some stories are fantasy-based, others are realistic--and props for the realistic ones actually addressing teens considering suicide, and I think that's where my sticking point is--I respect the choice but it's not something I'm going to hand to an 8th-grader when they'll be reading without much guidance. (I say this because this year's rising 8th graders are last year's rising seventh graders, who took the wildly wrong message from James Preller's amazingly realistic Bystander.)
An additional purchase at best, in part because not many teens read anthologies anyway (which is a shame). (but not a shame when it comes to this one.)
alsobymalia's review
5.0
This book was great. I read all of the stories in about four hours and the reading went fast. All of the stories handled bullying sensitively and deftly. There were a few common themes like suicidal feelings and people being taunted with the words "fag" and "lesbo" but it never got repetitive. Lots of diversity in this book, in writing style, in characterization, in sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, plot as well as if the story was about the bully or the bullied.
Some stories really stood out. My favorite was The Truest Story There Is by Jaime Adoff. Utterly haunting, hopeless but still full of heart. I loved the voice of the story and the impossible life found in the most unlikely of places. I wish there was a whole book about those characters. Also, I wish there was a novel based on The Ambush by Matthue Roth. Like Adoff's story, it features a character who is sort of forced into a bleak situation and I need to know more. But I find the whole thing about Russian immigrants really interesting and I wanted to read more of their voices and their story. Another story called On Your Own Level by Sheba Karim also stood out to me because it featured a timely issue of growing up seen as being part of that "terrorist" other in America and also because that plot was juxtaposed by the very teenage problem of liking a boy you can't have.
Inside the Inside by Mayra Lazara Dole was a really weird story, very surreal... literally. But I enjoyed it. Most of the other stories stayed pretty contemporary. Like Kicking a Fence by Kate Ellison was quietly powerful. There was such violence in that story, more than any other, but at the same time a strong tug of compassion for the bullies who had been bullied before. Everyone's Nice by David Yoo used the second person which was oddly surreal but I could still feel the frustrations of the character coming to a head right before the sad ending. Sweet Sixteen by Zetta Elliot had a great way of showing two parallels lives that don't look at all similar on first look.
The only clunker in the anthology for me was We Should Get Jerseys 'Cause We Make a Good Team by Lish McBride. I just didn't really get it. There was a ghost & stuff happened and I felt like I was dropped into some world that I should already know, like it was a spin-off of some other book. So I didn't really get it. But that was the only one. The rest I really enjoyed.
I find most YA Short Story anthologies to be surprising robust, entertaining and full of great writing. Check this book out today!
Some stories really stood out. My favorite was The Truest Story There Is by Jaime Adoff. Utterly haunting, hopeless but still full of heart. I loved the voice of the story and the impossible life found in the most unlikely of places. I wish there was a whole book about those characters. Also, I wish there was a novel based on The Ambush by Matthue Roth. Like Adoff's story, it features a character who is sort of forced into a bleak situation and I need to know more. But I find the whole thing about Russian immigrants really interesting and I wanted to read more of their voices and their story. Another story called On Your Own Level by Sheba Karim also stood out to me because it featured a timely issue of growing up seen as being part of that "terrorist" other in America and also because that plot was juxtaposed by the very teenage problem of liking a boy you can't have.
Inside the Inside by Mayra Lazara Dole was a really weird story, very surreal... literally. But I enjoyed it. Most of the other stories stayed pretty contemporary. Like Kicking a Fence by Kate Ellison was quietly powerful. There was such violence in that story, more than any other, but at the same time a strong tug of compassion for the bullies who had been bullied before. Everyone's Nice by David Yoo used the second person which was oddly surreal but I could still feel the frustrations of the character coming to a head right before the sad ending. Sweet Sixteen by Zetta Elliot had a great way of showing two parallels lives that don't look at all similar on first look.
The only clunker in the anthology for me was We Should Get Jerseys 'Cause We Make a Good Team by Lish McBride. I just didn't really get it. There was a ghost & stuff happened and I felt like I was dropped into some world that I should already know, like it was a spin-off of some other book. So I didn't really get it. But that was the only one. The rest I really enjoyed.
I find most YA Short Story anthologies to be surprising robust, entertaining and full of great writing. Check this book out today!
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