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heo1000's review against another edition
So heartbreakingly well written. There were times where I shouted at Alex, but I really did love the story overall. Review to come
margenotbutter's review against another edition
3.0
I thought this was well written and I could see where Jennifer Brown was meant to be going with the plot, but what I couldn't get over was how it was handled. Alex would get beaten by Cole, then there would be a couple of pages telling us why it was bad and she was aware that it was bad, and some psychoanalysis about the situation (all from Alex's point of view). Then Cole would apologise and we would get some more psychoanalysis about why she shouldn't go back to him, and then she would say that everything was okay and they were in love. I understand that is how abusive relationships work, but Alex was just too self-aware and clued in to the fine details for it to work properly.
Have to say that I thought all the characters were excellent - I might be a little in love with Zach! - but I found their relationship disappointing because of how they were hurt that Alex didn't confide in them and it destroyed their friendship a bit. It didn't make sense to me, because such a big deal was made of about how great friends they all were and then suddenly her best friends were sulking because she was being beaten up and not telling them?!
Have to say that I thought all the characters were excellent - I might be a little in love with Zach! - but I found their relationship disappointing because of how they were hurt that Alex didn't confide in them and it destroyed their friendship a bit. It didn't make sense to me, because such a big deal was made of about how great friends they all were and then suddenly her best friends were sulking because she was being beaten up and not telling them?!
autumnchrunik's review against another edition
1.0
I thought it was boring. It was slowly paced, I get why but It was boring. Good story though to show the stages of what could happen during domestic abuse.
bookishgeek's review against another edition
5.0
I have now read two books by Jennifer Brown (this one and Hate List), and I have fiercely loved both. She does not sugarcoat issues that teenagers are experiencing, or try to pretend they do not exist. Instead, Brown goes out of her way to make these things relatable - in Hate List, we develop a slow-burning empathy for a young man who performs a school shooting, the exact sort of person we're expected to never understand. And in Bitter End, we see the side of many relationships that we'd prefer to pretend doesn't exist: partner abuse.
Alex is your typical high school senior. She has a part-time job at a local cafe, loves to write angsty poetry, and spends her free time with her two best friends since diapers, Bethany and Zack. Her mother died when she was very young, on her way out the door to soul search in Colorado, and her father has been a shell of a man ever since. Determined to find answers, Alex, Beth and Zack have concocted a sweet coming-of-age-story road trip for right after high school - have been planning it for years. They are thick as thieves, and nothing is going to get in their way.
Until Cole moves into town, that is. A basketball star, intelligent and well-mannered, when Cole is assigned to Alex's tutoring session her heart races involuntarily. Even better, he likes her poetry! He stands up when she enters a room, he opens her car door for her, he teaches her to play the guitar. She is so very in love, so very smitten, and so, so confused when he clamps his hand around her wrist one day, anger streaking across his face as he calls her a slut. She is in love with Zack, Cole just knows it, and he refuses to share. Alex is overcome with sadness, but when Cole comes around later with apologies and tears in his eyes ... well, how can she stay mad at him? He said it won't happen again, so it won't.
Right?
There were a couple of moments in this book that really took my breath away. I've been in an abusive relationship before, and Brown really nails Alex's internal monologue on the head. She doesn't skimp on details - lets us see exactly how this poor girl is feeling - how in love, how confused. She doesn't want to be "the abused girl," she doesn't want to tell her sisters who are distant at best and cruel at worst. She can't let her father know, and her best friends who have been slowly distanced from her via the wedge Cole is driving between them ... it would all fall apart like a house of cards. Alex has met Cole's family, and she understands him - she gets him. We see his broken home. We see Alex's love for him - that pure, unparalleled love only a teenager in puppy love can give another for the first time.
And that's what makes this book so hard, and so necessary.
I won't say anything else about the plot because it would do a disservice to Alex and her story, but please read this one. If you have a teenager, if you work with teenagers, get a copy of this for them, for your library. Kids need to read this, need to know they aren't alone. And sometimes we all need a reminder that love does not have to hurt.
How I'd Describe This Book to a Friend
Alex is your typical high school senior. She has a part-time job at a local cafe, loves to write angsty poetry, and spends her free time with her two best friends since diapers, Bethany and Zack. Her mother died when she was very young, on her way out the door to soul search in Colorado, and her father has been a shell of a man ever since. Determined to find answers, Alex, Beth and Zack have concocted a sweet coming-of-age-story road trip for right after high school - have been planning it for years. They are thick as thieves, and nothing is going to get in their way.
Until Cole moves into town, that is. A basketball star, intelligent and well-mannered, when Cole is assigned to Alex's tutoring session her heart races involuntarily. Even better, he likes her poetry! He stands up when she enters a room, he opens her car door for her, he teaches her to play the guitar. She is so very in love, so very smitten, and so, so confused when he clamps his hand around her wrist one day, anger streaking across his face as he calls her a slut. She is in love with Zack, Cole just knows it, and he refuses to share. Alex is overcome with sadness, but when Cole comes around later with apologies and tears in his eyes ... well, how can she stay mad at him? He said it won't happen again, so it won't.
Right?
The Bottom Line
There were a couple of moments in this book that really took my breath away. I've been in an abusive relationship before, and Brown really nails Alex's internal monologue on the head. She doesn't skimp on details - lets us see exactly how this poor girl is feeling - how in love, how confused. She doesn't want to be "the abused girl," she doesn't want to tell her sisters who are distant at best and cruel at worst. She can't let her father know, and her best friends who have been slowly distanced from her via the wedge Cole is driving between them ... it would all fall apart like a house of cards. Alex has met Cole's family, and she understands him - she gets him. We see his broken home. We see Alex's love for him - that pure, unparalleled love only a teenager in puppy love can give another for the first time.
And that's what makes this book so hard, and so necessary.
I won't say anything else about the plot because it would do a disservice to Alex and her story, but please read this one. If you have a teenager, if you work with teenagers, get a copy of this for them, for your library. Kids need to read this, need to know they aren't alone. And sometimes we all need a reminder that love does not have to hurt.
I loved Cole, but sometimes loving him just felt like I was on a roller coaster and I couldn't catch my breath between dips and turns. And sometimes I just wanted off.
He whispered things. Apologies. Excuses. Promises. They bounced off me, impossible to absorb. I believed him and I didn't. I hated him and I didn't. I loved him and I didn't. I hated me and I felt sorry for me. Words had no meaning. There was no past and no future. It was as if all I had to do was live through this moment and everything would be all right.
kkyulkive's review against another edition
3.0
I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I appreciate and admire Jennifer Brown’s choice of a topic which generally is shied away from, but on the other, in terms of reading and literary enjoyment, I had a few problems with ‘Bitter End’.
Character wise, Brown aced it. Having never experienced an abusive relationship before, Alex provided insight into the reason why someone would stay in an abusive relationship - she made the excuses, she felt the guilt, she tried to blame herself. All things I suspect an abused person would do. Likewise, Cole displayed many traits of, at least what I imagine to be, an abuser. He was hot and cold, possessive and aggressive, capable of being sweet one minute and terrifying the next.
In as sensitive a way as possible, Alex was an everyday girl. And Brown’s depiction of her as such resonated, in that, anyone can be a victim of domestic abuse. Typically, many people figure victims of domestic abuse are weak and incapable of defending themselves, but as shown in ‘Bitter End’, there’s a lot more going on in the relationship. There’s the fear. The love. The helplessness.
Zack and Bethany were perfect examples of people who don’t understand. I loved them at the beginning, but when it really mattered, they didn’t understand, and because of that, I was just really disappointed. I understand that they represent the people in victim’s lives who don’t understand the situation, having never been victims of domestic abuse themselves, but I had hoped, for Alex’s sake, that they would have played a more active role in helping her, as opposed to letting their own anger result in her feeling even more alone and helpless.
So, like I said. Characterisation in this book was perfect. It was realistic and powerful. And, I particularly liked the ongoing issue of Colorado and Alex’s mum - it not only added a layer to Alex’s character and her relationships with her friends and family, but it also provided a potential reason for her being drawn to Cole, and persisting with their relationship.
But, from a purely reading point-of-view, it was hard to be surprised, and to an extent, connect. From the beginning, just by reading the blurb, I knew it was going to be about domestic abuse. And so, the whole beginning of the book; when Alex fell in love with Cole, and everything appeared to be wonderful, I was just waiting. Waiting for everything to stop being so wonderful, and for Cole to become the monster.
As such, I couldn’t fall in love with Cole as Alex did, and I couldn’t understand her reasoning, because I knew, as an outsider, and someone who understood what their relationship was going to become from the start, that he was going to be abusive, and she was going to be hurt.
Despite all this, I want people to read this book. Maybe the plot and the events aren’t surprising, but Alex’s commentary, and seeing things unravel through her eyes, helped me to, at least to a certain extent, understand and I think, the ability to empathise and understand is so so important.
Character wise, Brown aced it. Having never experienced an abusive relationship before, Alex provided insight into the reason why someone would stay in an abusive relationship - she made the excuses, she felt the guilt, she tried to blame herself. All things I suspect an abused person would do. Likewise, Cole displayed many traits of, at least what I imagine to be, an abuser. He was hot and cold, possessive and aggressive, capable of being sweet one minute and terrifying the next.
In as sensitive a way as possible, Alex was an everyday girl. And Brown’s depiction of her as such resonated, in that, anyone can be a victim of domestic abuse. Typically, many people figure victims of domestic abuse are weak and incapable of defending themselves, but as shown in ‘Bitter End’, there’s a lot more going on in the relationship. There’s the fear. The love. The helplessness.
Zack and Bethany were perfect examples of people who don’t understand. I loved them at the beginning, but when it really mattered, they didn’t understand, and because of that, I was just really disappointed. I understand that they represent the people in victim’s lives who don’t understand the situation, having never been victims of domestic abuse themselves, but I had hoped, for Alex’s sake, that they would have played a more active role in helping her, as opposed to letting their own anger result in her feeling even more alone and helpless.
So, like I said. Characterisation in this book was perfect. It was realistic and powerful. And, I particularly liked the ongoing issue of Colorado and Alex’s mum - it not only added a layer to Alex’s character and her relationships with her friends and family, but it also provided a potential reason for her being drawn to Cole, and persisting with their relationship.
But, from a purely reading point-of-view, it was hard to be surprised, and to an extent, connect. From the beginning, just by reading the blurb, I knew it was going to be about domestic abuse. And so, the whole beginning of the book; when Alex fell in love with Cole, and everything appeared to be wonderful, I was just waiting. Waiting for everything to stop being so wonderful, and for Cole to become the monster.
As such, I couldn’t fall in love with Cole as Alex did, and I couldn’t understand her reasoning, because I knew, as an outsider, and someone who understood what their relationship was going to become from the start, that he was going to be abusive, and she was going to be hurt.
Despite all this, I want people to read this book. Maybe the plot and the events aren’t surprising, but Alex’s commentary, and seeing things unravel through her eyes, helped me to, at least to a certain extent, understand and I think, the ability to empathise and understand is so so important.
melbsreads's review against another edition
3.0
Trigger warnings: domestic violence, physical abuse, verbal abuse, slut shaming, car accident (in the past), death of a parent (in the past).
Well. That was...not the most cheerful of reads. I mean, I knew it wasn't going to be. It's about a teenage girl who ends up in an abusive relationship. But I think I'd convinced myself it was going to be more along the lines of [b:The Girl Who Fell|22864430|The Girl Who Fell|S.M. Parker|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1428377532s/22864430.jpg|42431495], which is more along the lines of psychological abuse than physical abuse.
Anyway. To sum up the plot of this book: cute boy moves to town. Main character crushes on cute boy. Cute boy asks her out, they date, he tells her he loves her, then starts acting like a douchecanoe. You know, that old chestnut.
I definitely think it's important for YA literature to include stories like this. However, I had a few little issues with this one:
1. It's predictable. Maybe it's only predictable as an adult, but I could tell pretty much from the get go how the story was going to end.
2. At times, it felt very "he's like this because his father is the same way", and it was a liiiiittle too heavy handed.
3. Alex's lack of responsible parents seemed...very convenient.
4. I really didn't like Zack? Don't get me wrong, I liked that he defended Alex time and time again. But oof. He was just so...boob and fart jokes-y and it was exhausting to read his dialogue.
All of that said, I felt for Alex and her constant uncertainties, her feeling that she'd be a social pariah if she said anything, that her friends wouldn't want to be friends with her if they knew the truth. And there were a LOT of moments in this where I was like "Oof. That is...accurate" based on a friend's previous abusive relationship.
So...it balances out to middle-of-the-road territory for me.
Well. That was...not the most cheerful of reads. I mean, I knew it wasn't going to be. It's about a teenage girl who ends up in an abusive relationship. But I think I'd convinced myself it was going to be more along the lines of [b:The Girl Who Fell|22864430|The Girl Who Fell|S.M. Parker|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1428377532s/22864430.jpg|42431495], which is more along the lines of psychological abuse than physical abuse.
Anyway. To sum up the plot of this book: cute boy moves to town. Main character crushes on cute boy. Cute boy asks her out, they date, he tells her he loves her, then starts acting like a douchecanoe. You know, that old chestnut.
I definitely think it's important for YA literature to include stories like this. However, I had a few little issues with this one:
1. It's predictable. Maybe it's only predictable as an adult, but I could tell pretty much from the get go how the story was going to end.
2. At times, it felt very "he's like this because his father is the same way", and it was a liiiiittle too heavy handed.
3. Alex's lack of responsible parents seemed...very convenient.
4. I really didn't like Zack? Don't get me wrong, I liked that he defended Alex time and time again. But oof. He was just so...boob and fart jokes-y and it was exhausting to read his dialogue.
All of that said, I felt for Alex and her constant uncertainties, her feeling that she'd be a social pariah if she said anything, that her friends wouldn't want to be friends with her if they knew the truth. And there were a LOT of moments in this where I was like "Oof. That is...accurate" based on a friend's previous abusive relationship.
So...it balances out to middle-of-the-road territory for me.
hallie_hey's review against another edition
5.0
I haven't cried so much when reading a book since I read Jennifer Brown's other book "The Hate List". She is definitely my new favorite writer. She's genius at capturing emotions and describing situations better than you can even imagine. This book is one of the saddest books I've ever read and yet it's one of my favorites. I would recommend this book to pretty much anyone because it's just drop down fantastic. I've never read a book like it. Words can't describe how much I love it.
lpcoolgirl's review against another edition
5.0
Great book, it made me really mad at him, because he was a decent guy most of the time, but then he was an abusive jerk. So yeah, great book!
kelsamundo's review against another edition
3.0
I normally love Jennifer Brown novels, but this one fell short for me. I felt like Alex and Cole's relationship felt forced and not in a way that helped the plot. I thought this novel was subpar compared to similar.