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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
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A book about cyber bullying (and slut-shaming) but from the perspective of one of the perpetrators. I found the stubborn resistance of taking responsibility by the main character to be an effective hook that kept me up past my bedtime reading. Overall, a very engrossing novel that is quite successful at what it's doing. There was talk in the book group discussion of wishing it would have delved deeper into why slut-shaming/rape culture is the way it is, and, I agree I agree we need a book about that too, but this is not that book and this book is a good book for what it is.
That said, the foil cover was really distracting as I was reading by lamplight. I had to hold to book a certain way so the light didn't reflect back into my eyes.
A book about cyber bullying (and slut-shaming) but from the perspective of one of the perpetrators. I found the stubborn resistance of taking responsibility by the main character to be an effective hook that kept me up past my bedtime reading. Overall, a very engrossing novel that is quite successful at what it's doing. There was talk in the book group discussion of wishing it would have delved deeper into why slut-shaming/rape culture is the way it is, and, I agree I agree we need a book about that too, but this is not that book and this book is a good book for what it is.
That said, the foil cover was really distracting as I was reading by lamplight. I had to hold to book a certain way so the light didn't reflect back into my eyes.
I like it, I like the little cliches and I like the way no one is actually guilty in the end. The way Maciel wrote the book, no one is pure evil at all. Dispite the bullying. Everyone had this thing inside, the fire in the pit of their stomachs that made them behave that way.
I hate this book more than Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover and White Fur by Jardine Labaire, and that's really saying something. This is just going to be me ranting and raving about this pile of rubbish so please don't expect a coherent review. If you're reading this, you probably have read the book and hated it as much as I did, or you'll never read the book and you just find rants amusing. I know I do.
This book deals with subjects such as bullying, suicide, friendships, relationships and is in the pov of a bully instead of the victim. "That's different", I thought. I was expecting this novel to be filled with personal growth, enlightenment, remorse, and compassion but this book had absolutely none of that!! A wet rag has more depth than this bound waste of paper! Plot holes, cardboard cut out characters, pointless dramatic scenes, no development at all be it character or plot, cringey dialogue! All telling no showing.
Let's start off with the characters. They're your typical high school clique. Brielle is the "Queen B", Sara (the protagonist) who is Brielle's side kick who doesn't have a mind of her own and will do and say whatever Brielle wants, Dylan/Jacob/Tyler who are the "cool guys" and love interests. I know Dylan plays some sport. I can't even remember what the other guys do. There's also a Kyle thrown in there, and a few random girls. Noelle becomes a pretty major character near the end, but she literally just pops up out of nowhere. I think she was dating Kyle before Emma stole him (they still hang out in the same friend group though. And apparently the guys trash talk Emma but still have no problem sleeping with her or supposedly at least. Everyone seems to think Emma is having sex with everyone but there's no evidence) Carmichael is the "bad boy with tattoos and black t-shirts" whom Sara develops a relationship with, despite her reservations because after all...she is a "cool girl". Lastly, there's Emma, the girl who committed suicide. These characters have no fucking depth WHATSOEVER! We don't get to know any of them! I finished the book not feeling any more connected with Sara than I did at the beginning.
The author introduced a few important plot devices that I thought would be big turning points, but they were never brought up and added absolutely nothing to the story! They are as follows:
1) We find out fairly early on that Brielle's bragging about losing her virginity to a hot older guy was a front (of course). It ended up not being nearly as romantic as she hoped and just "laid on top of her and did it" and that was that. She ends up having a major emotional breakdown in the car. I thought, "Great! This is where we are going to see the vunerable side of this typical mean girl! Here comes some depth." But nope! She wipes her eyes, drags her friend into VS to buy some underwear, and the whole situation is never resolved. It's never even brought up again.
2) Tommy, Sara's little brother, has been acting strange after summer camp, and the reader is left wondering why (it wasn't very hard to figure out though). Tommy and Sara sit down and have a talk. She finds out that Tommy was ridiculed at camp because his sister is a bully and she caused a girl to kill herself. Near the end, Sara is "concerned" because she glances out the car window after dropping Tommy off at school and she sees he's hanging out with a new friend named Liam who wears tough baggy clothes (????). She drives away and "tries not to worry about her brother". Again....Tommy's troubles are never brought up again....
Sara is the most annoying, whiny, and shallow character ever. Her whole reason for hating Emma and making her life a living hell is because she supposedly sleeps with everyone's boyfriend, including Sara's. When Sara finds Dylan making out with Emma at a party she gets so angry and her and Brielle devise all these ridiculous to try and get her transferred again. She wants Dylan back in the meantime because he's sooo perfect (even though he clearly cheated on her DURING A PARTY AT THE HOTEL WHERE THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO HAVE "ROMANTIC SEX") But nope...it's all Emma's fault. Sure, she should not have hooked up with Dylan knowing that he was with Sara...but how the hell is Dylan the saint in all this?!?)
This book is the same damn thing over and over again. It switches from past and present, but it's all still the same. The past tense is in a span of 3 months. Sara and Brielle bully Emma relentlessly and pulls a bunch of mean pranks on her. She gets called a slut and skank on the daily and even has a fake facebook page made about her. Sara's inner monologue is pretty much just "IhateEmmashehasruinedmylifesheissuchaslutohnomaybeI'mtakingallofthistoofarbutthisisallBrielle'sideaanyway". The present tense is her going back and forth to her lawyer and therapist where she adamantly denies any wrongdoing on her part. It's all Emma's fault, she killed herself and woe is me! My boyfriend was stolen. There is absolutely no fucking accountability which I suppose is the point because that gives the character a chance to grow and mature. Sara finally does in like the last 5 pages but we have no idea how or when she "sees the light". We don't see her thought process or anything at all. It was all telling and no showing.
Don't expect to learn anything anything about Emma. I realize the book is in the perspective of the bully and we aren't meant to see anything in the point of view of the victim, but we learn nothing about her at all! All we know is she is supposedly promiscuous, sensitive, and goes to therapy. it doesn't get any deeper than that. Her suicide happens so abruptly. It's basically just stated in the book that she committed suicide and everyone blames all of a sudden blames Sara and the gang. That's it. Boom. It's done. If that's not bad enough, there were two (or three...can't remember because all the characters blend together) statutory rape accusations that basically got thrown out the window. The first one nothing came of it because why....we don't know (???? Emma got grounded but the guy gets off scot-free) and the latter because there wasn't enough evidence. Fair enough, but there was no lesson learned here, very much like the rest of the book.
I understand this book is about teens and the targeted audience is younger, but I read a ton of YA and just because it's "meant" for a younger audience doesn't mean it has to be watered down, shallow, underdeveloped garbage such as this. There is a lot of thought provoking teen books out there that allow you to sympathize with the characters. This is not one of them.
This book deals with subjects such as bullying, suicide, friendships, relationships and is in the pov of a bully instead of the victim. "That's different", I thought. I was expecting this novel to be filled with personal growth, enlightenment, remorse, and compassion but this book had absolutely none of that!! A wet rag has more depth than this bound waste of paper! Plot holes, cardboard cut out characters, pointless dramatic scenes, no development at all be it character or plot, cringey dialogue! All telling no showing.
Let's start off with the characters. They're your typical high school clique. Brielle is the "Queen B", Sara (the protagonist) who is Brielle's side kick who doesn't have a mind of her own and will do and say whatever Brielle wants, Dylan/Jacob/Tyler who are the "cool guys" and love interests. I know Dylan plays some sport. I can't even remember what the other guys do. There's also a Kyle thrown in there, and a few random girls. Noelle becomes a pretty major character near the end, but she literally just pops up out of nowhere. I think she was dating Kyle before Emma stole him (they still hang out in the same friend group though. And apparently the guys trash talk Emma but still have no problem sleeping with her or supposedly at least. Everyone seems to think Emma is having sex with everyone but there's no evidence) Carmichael is the "bad boy with tattoos and black t-shirts" whom Sara develops a relationship with, despite her reservations because after all...she is a "cool girl". Lastly, there's Emma, the girl who committed suicide. These characters have no fucking depth WHATSOEVER! We don't get to know any of them! I finished the book not feeling any more connected with Sara than I did at the beginning.
The author introduced a few important plot devices that I thought would be big turning points, but they were never brought up and added absolutely nothing to the story! They are as follows:
1) We find out fairly early on that Brielle's bragging about losing her virginity to a hot older guy was a front (of course). It ended up not being nearly as romantic as she hoped and just "laid on top of her and did it" and that was that. She ends up having a major emotional breakdown in the car. I thought, "Great! This is where we are going to see the vunerable side of this typical mean girl! Here comes some depth." But nope! She wipes her eyes, drags her friend into VS to buy some underwear, and the whole situation is never resolved. It's never even brought up again.
2) Tommy, Sara's little brother, has been acting strange after summer camp, and the reader is left wondering why (it wasn't very hard to figure out though). Tommy and Sara sit down and have a talk. She finds out that Tommy was ridiculed at camp because his sister is a bully and she caused a girl to kill herself. Near the end, Sara is "concerned" because she glances out the car window after dropping Tommy off at school and she sees he's hanging out with a new friend named Liam who wears tough baggy clothes (????). She drives away and "tries not to worry about her brother". Again....Tommy's troubles are never brought up again....
Sara is the most annoying, whiny, and shallow character ever. Her whole reason for hating Emma and making her life a living hell is because she supposedly sleeps with everyone's boyfriend, including Sara's. When Sara finds Dylan making out with Emma at a party she gets so angry and her and Brielle devise all these ridiculous to try and get her transferred again. She wants Dylan back in the meantime because he's sooo perfect (even though he clearly cheated on her DURING A PARTY AT THE HOTEL WHERE THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO HAVE "ROMANTIC SEX") But nope...it's all Emma's fault. Sure, she should not have hooked up with Dylan knowing that he was with Sara...but how the hell is Dylan the saint in all this?!?)
This book is the same damn thing over and over again. It switches from past and present, but it's all still the same. The past tense is in a span of 3 months. Sara and Brielle bully Emma relentlessly and pulls a bunch of mean pranks on her. She gets called a slut and skank on the daily and even has a fake facebook page made about her. Sara's inner monologue is pretty much just "IhateEmmashehasruinedmylifesheissuchaslutohnomaybeI'mtakingallofthistoofarbutthisisallBrielle'sideaanyway". The present tense is her going back and forth to her lawyer and therapist where she adamantly denies any wrongdoing on her part. It's all Emma's fault, she killed herself and woe is me! My boyfriend was stolen. There is absolutely no fucking accountability which I suppose is the point because that gives the character a chance to grow and mature. Sara finally does in like the last 5 pages but we have no idea how or when she "sees the light". We don't see her thought process or anything at all. It was all telling and no showing.
Don't expect to learn anything anything about Emma. I realize the book is in the perspective of the bully and we aren't meant to see anything in the point of view of the victim, but we learn nothing about her at all! All we know is she is supposedly promiscuous, sensitive, and goes to therapy. it doesn't get any deeper than that. Her suicide happens so abruptly. It's basically just stated in the book that she committed suicide and everyone blames all of a sudden blames Sara and the gang. That's it. Boom. It's done. If that's not bad enough, there were two (or three...can't remember because all the characters blend together) statutory rape accusations that basically got thrown out the window. The first one nothing came of it because why....we don't know (???? Emma got grounded but the guy gets off scot-free) and the latter because there wasn't enough evidence. Fair enough, but there was no lesson learned here, very much like the rest of the book.
I understand this book is about teens and the targeted audience is younger, but I read a ton of YA and just because it's "meant" for a younger audience doesn't mean it has to be watered down, shallow, underdeveloped garbage such as this. There is a lot of thought provoking teen books out there that allow you to sympathize with the characters. This is not one of them.
It was ok. Written well, and I kept wanting more, but it fell a little flat. Everything was too neatly tired up for the subject matter.
The things they did to this girl were mean, but it was fairly glossed over.
I also think there was a missed opportunity in exploring Sara more. b she started off not being sorry and even felt almost happy when she was lashing out, and it was an interesting person. But it wasn't really developed enough.
Overall I enjoyed it but I was left wanting more.
The things they did to this girl were mean, but it was fairly glossed over.
I also think there was a missed opportunity in exploring Sara more. b she started off not being sorry and even felt almost happy when she was lashing out, and it was an interesting person. But it wasn't really developed enough.
Overall I enjoyed it but I was left wanting more.
I feel like there's been a mini-slew of books about like, the beta mean girl, where you see that she's REALLY only a bully because of the alpha mean girl. I kind of want a book about the alpha mean girl.
Anyway, that's neither here nor there, just my wish list.
I liked this--I found Sara to be a compelling character.
However,
But I did still like Sara's final speech and I think the message that people aren't always as strong as they appear to be is a really true and important one.
I think it will appeal a lot to fans of [b:Thirteen Reasons Why|1217100|Thirteen Reasons Why|Jay Asher|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333822506s/1217100.jpg|2588213] etc. Language and sexual content are not particularly tween-appropriate.
Anyway, that's neither here nor there, just my wish list.
I liked this--I found Sara to be a compelling character.
However,
Spoiler
I was annoyed that Sara's change of heart came SO abruptly and seemed to come based on something a boy she likes said, rather than arriving organically or maybe actually inspired by something Emma or Emma's family said or did? EHBut I did still like Sara's final speech and I think the message that people aren't always as strong as they appear to be is a really true and important one.
I think it will appeal a lot to fans of [b:Thirteen Reasons Why|1217100|Thirteen Reasons Why|Jay Asher|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333822506s/1217100.jpg|2588213] etc. Language and sexual content are not particularly tween-appropriate.
Tease tells the story of Sara Wharton who is on trial after her bullying and harassment of new girl Emma Putnam is a contributing factor in Emma's suicide. The story is told through two timelines, Sara as she meets with lawyers and therapists in the present and Sara as she and best friend Brielle torment and tease Emma in the past.
This book just didn't work for me. Sara didn't possess enough redeeming qualities for me to accept her eventual change into a "better person" as she accepts a plea instead of allowing the case to go to trial towards the book's conclusion. At times, the plot was interesting and I enjoyed how the story unfolded, alternating from present to past, but there were too many things to dislike about this book.
In many ways, I felt like I was reading Before I Fall all over again. Here are some of the two books' similarities:
-shallow and vapid narrator
-toxic best friend who controls the narrator
-main character who is obsessed with her social status and terrified of losing it
-generic "hot" jock boyfriend with next to zero character development
-best friend who brags about her sexual exploits but is later revealed to have been raped or otherwise had a horrible "first time"
-the bullying and harassment of another student looked upon by the main character as "fun" and socially acceptable
-bullying a student by sending them flowers at school
-barely present bullied character's suicide/attempted suicide being strongly connected to the main character without the reader ever getting to learn much about the bullied character
-main character meeting a new guy who is beneath her socially but turns out to be a great guy once the shallow girl can see past social hierarchy
-the message that a girl must have a boyfriend (what's wrong with her being alone for a while? Why the new guy when it doesn't work out with the boyfriend? Very eye roll worthy)
-finally, the main character's transformation from shallow brainless horrible person to remorseful redeemable person being too little, too late
This book just didn't work for me. Sara didn't possess enough redeeming qualities for me to accept her eventual change into a "better person" as she accepts a plea instead of allowing the case to go to trial towards the book's conclusion. At times, the plot was interesting and I enjoyed how the story unfolded, alternating from present to past, but there were too many things to dislike about this book.
In many ways, I felt like I was reading Before I Fall all over again. Here are some of the two books' similarities:
-shallow and vapid narrator
-toxic best friend who controls the narrator
-main character who is obsessed with her social status and terrified of losing it
-generic "hot" jock boyfriend with next to zero character development
-best friend who brags about her sexual exploits but is later revealed to have been raped or otherwise had a horrible "first time"
-the bullying and harassment of another student looked upon by the main character as "fun" and socially acceptable
-bullying a student by sending them flowers at school
-barely present bullied character's suicide/attempted suicide being strongly connected to the main character without the reader ever getting to learn much about the bullied character
-main character meeting a new guy who is beneath her socially but turns out to be a great guy once the shallow girl can see past social hierarchy
-the message that a girl must have a boyfriend (what's wrong with her being alone for a while? Why the new guy when it doesn't work out with the boyfriend? Very eye roll worthy)
-finally, the main character's transformation from shallow brainless horrible person to remorseful redeemable person being too little, too late
I...
I just...
The book was well-written. I'll say that.
And right up until the end, I was ambiguous about how to feel about Sara; I assumed she would get some redemption, that she would understand just how unbelievably fucked up what she did was.
And I got that. I think Sara's apology towards the end was sincere. I think she finally understood what she did wrong and why it was wrong and why people were as disgusted with her as they were. I thought "Okay, so her attempts to justify her behavior with that 'I'm just a kid, no one taught me how to be an adult' (like with her dad) was just crap before she Got It."
And then I made the same mistake that I made when I picked up Conversion for the first time: I read the freaking author's note.
Let me quote to you the part that made my blood boil, and explain why:
"And I couldn't stop thinking about the girls on both sides of this story. And I couldn't stop thinking that, no matter what the accused bullies had done, surely they couldn't have intended for anyone to lose her life- surely no one is that vicious."
They can absolutely be that vicious. Not saying the girls in this particular case were, but in general, yes, people can be that vicious. People telling others to "just kill yourself" is a thing.
"But we do all have our moments, and our limits. We've each felt deeply hurt by the actions of others. We've said things we regret."
No.
Absolutely, unequivocally, no.
Do not conflate someone losing their temper and saying something they regret with stalking, harassing, slut-shaming, and threatening someone over a period of months.
Do-fucking-not.
Do not send that message. Not for a second. And definitely do not try to imply or pretend that the characters you have written, in this situation, just "hit their limits" or "had their moments".
It was premeditated. They planned these things out. They did it repeatedly to a girl who, yeah, wasn't a saint, but definitely didn't deserve what she got.
"It made me incredibly sad- and still does- that the kids in these stories are kids. As a teenager you're so close to being an adult, and in so many ways you have the responsibilities of one. But you also- or you're supposed to- have your whole life ahead of you too. It's the time we try new things and make mistakes. It's the time we get deeply hurt, say hurtful things, and learn to apologize. It's the incredibly crucial time when we learn that other people are also hurting, are also victims. We learn that life is complicated, and our version of the story isn't the only version."
...No. No, no, no, no, no.
I'm gonna say this one more time: DO NOT CONFLATE TEENAGERS WHO SAY AND DO HURTFUL THINGS IN THE HEAT OF THE MOMENT WITH THE KINDS OF TEENAGERS WHO BULLY OTHERS TO SUICIDE.
DON'T. IT IS NOT THE SAME THING.
HARASSING SOMEONE REPEATEDLY, OVER A PERIOD OF MONTHS, AFTER SEEING FOR YOURSELF THAT THE PERSON IS DISTRESSED, AFTER BEING TOLD BY TEACHERS AND PARENTS TO STOP, AND ESPECIALLY AFTER YOU REALIZE ON SEVERAL SEPARATE OCCASIONS FOR YOURSELF THAT WHAT YOU'RE DOING IS STEPPING OVER THE LINE,, IS NOT THE SAME AS LOSING YOUR TEMPER IN A FIT OF TEENAGE FERVOR AND CALLING SOMEONE A SLUT A COUPLE OF TIMES.
What Sara and Brielle do in this book is harassment. It was premeditated. It was planned. It was executed maliciously with the attempt of getting Emma into trouble, and trying to force her to transfer schools. It was done with the deliberate intention of making her feel like crap.
And the author implying that the kinds of kids who do this are just in a confusing time of their life and gosh, they're just still learning how to be empathetic, have some pity for them!
No. No fucking way. Sara and Brielle did not make a mistake. They knew they were hurting Emma and they kept right on ahead and doing it anyway. I don't care if they didn't intend for Emma to kill herself, and if she hadn't killed herself, it wouldn't have made anything they did less worse.
The sheer lack of empathy that these two displayed for their actions is not comparable to that of a typical teenager. They are an extreme that should not be confused with normal teenage development, because guess what? MOST TEENAGERS DON'T HAVE TO BE TOLD THAT STALKING AND HARASSING SOMEONE VICIOUSLY AND CONSTANTLY OVER MONTHS IS WRONG.
They might turn a blind eye to it, they might not react as strongly to someone being bullied as we might want them to, some might even contribute on a smaller scale, but most do not engage in direct harassment of this nature. Because most either have enough empathy to know that it's wrong, or they have the common-fricking-sense to know it's going to get them in trouble.
I just- the book was pretty good, but the author's note felt like a slap in the face. Teenagers who do this shit should not be condemned forever, but this should not be painted as something that's just teens just being confused, hot-headed teens. Give them a little more credit than that.
I just...
The book was well-written. I'll say that.
And right up until the end, I was ambiguous about how to feel about Sara; I assumed she would get some redemption, that she would understand just how unbelievably fucked up what she did was.
And I got that. I think Sara's apology towards the end was sincere. I think she finally understood what she did wrong and why it was wrong and why people were as disgusted with her as they were. I thought "Okay, so her attempts to justify her behavior with that 'I'm just a kid, no one taught me how to be an adult' (like with her dad) was just crap before she Got It."
And then I made the same mistake that I made when I picked up Conversion for the first time: I read the freaking author's note.
Let me quote to you the part that made my blood boil, and explain why:
"And I couldn't stop thinking about the girls on both sides of this story. And I couldn't stop thinking that, no matter what the accused bullies had done, surely they couldn't have intended for anyone to lose her life- surely no one is that vicious."
They can absolutely be that vicious. Not saying the girls in this particular case were, but in general, yes, people can be that vicious. People telling others to "just kill yourself" is a thing.
"But we do all have our moments, and our limits. We've each felt deeply hurt by the actions of others. We've said things we regret."
No.
Absolutely, unequivocally, no.
Do not conflate someone losing their temper and saying something they regret with stalking, harassing, slut-shaming, and threatening someone over a period of months.
Do-fucking-not.
Do not send that message. Not for a second. And definitely do not try to imply or pretend that the characters you have written, in this situation, just "hit their limits" or "had their moments".
It was premeditated. They planned these things out. They did it repeatedly to a girl who, yeah, wasn't a saint, but definitely didn't deserve what she got.
"It made me incredibly sad- and still does- that the kids in these stories are kids. As a teenager you're so close to being an adult, and in so many ways you have the responsibilities of one. But you also- or you're supposed to- have your whole life ahead of you too. It's the time we try new things and make mistakes. It's the time we get deeply hurt, say hurtful things, and learn to apologize. It's the incredibly crucial time when we learn that other people are also hurting, are also victims. We learn that life is complicated, and our version of the story isn't the only version."
...No. No, no, no, no, no.
I'm gonna say this one more time: DO NOT CONFLATE TEENAGERS WHO SAY AND DO HURTFUL THINGS IN THE HEAT OF THE MOMENT WITH THE KINDS OF TEENAGERS WHO BULLY OTHERS TO SUICIDE.
DON'T. IT IS NOT THE SAME THING.
HARASSING SOMEONE REPEATEDLY, OVER A PERIOD OF MONTHS, AFTER SEEING FOR YOURSELF THAT THE PERSON IS DISTRESSED, AFTER BEING TOLD BY TEACHERS AND PARENTS TO STOP, AND ESPECIALLY AFTER YOU REALIZE ON SEVERAL SEPARATE OCCASIONS FOR YOURSELF THAT WHAT YOU'RE DOING IS STEPPING OVER THE LINE,, IS NOT THE SAME AS LOSING YOUR TEMPER IN A FIT OF TEENAGE FERVOR AND CALLING SOMEONE A SLUT A COUPLE OF TIMES.
What Sara and Brielle do in this book is harassment. It was premeditated. It was planned. It was executed maliciously with the attempt of getting Emma into trouble, and trying to force her to transfer schools. It was done with the deliberate intention of making her feel like crap.
And the author implying that the kinds of kids who do this are just in a confusing time of their life and gosh, they're just still learning how to be empathetic, have some pity for them!
No. No fucking way. Sara and Brielle did not make a mistake. They knew they were hurting Emma and they kept right on ahead and doing it anyway. I don't care if they didn't intend for Emma to kill herself, and if she hadn't killed herself, it wouldn't have made anything they did less worse.
The sheer lack of empathy that these two displayed for their actions is not comparable to that of a typical teenager. They are an extreme that should not be confused with normal teenage development, because guess what? MOST TEENAGERS DON'T HAVE TO BE TOLD THAT STALKING AND HARASSING SOMEONE VICIOUSLY AND CONSTANTLY OVER MONTHS IS WRONG.
They might turn a blind eye to it, they might not react as strongly to someone being bullied as we might want them to, some might even contribute on a smaller scale, but most do not engage in direct harassment of this nature. Because most either have enough empathy to know that it's wrong, or they have the common-fricking-sense to know it's going to get them in trouble.
I just- the book was pretty good, but the author's note felt like a slap in the face. Teenagers who do this shit should not be condemned forever, but this should not be painted as something that's just teens just being confused, hot-headed teens. Give them a little more credit than that.
Tease is a young adults novel centered around high school angst and a topic close to many peoples hearts; bullying. But Tease does something different to many books and instead of taking the perspective of the bullied, takes the perspective of the bully. In this case, Sara, who finds herself facing criminal charges after another teenager at her school, Emma commits suicide. There are just grounds for this court case, even though Sara doesn’t seem to see herself at fault, after all, she and her friend have spend the better part of a year making Emma’s life hell.
Split between the past and the present, Tease weaves a complicated and difficult narrative as it flicks between Sara in the present talking to lawyers and therapists about her behaviours and the past where you see in first person glory what her and Brielle did to Emma. It raises a lot of difficult to answer questions like actually, who is to blame? Is it as simple and one-sided as Sara and Brielle being to blame or maybe, perhaps does Emma Putman have to take some share of the blame herself? The sympathy's naturally lie with the girl who's just topped herself, but then at the same time it is easy to see suicide as an extremely selfish choice.
Reading a novel from the perspective of the bully was unnerving and disturbing; there were moments that simply made me feel unclean and in need of a shower. We are more used to reading from the perspective of the victim, where it’s far easier to feel empathy and this book doesn’t allow for that. There is very little judgement of any character, each one is presented on the page with all their flaws and their insecurities and it is up to the reader to make a decision as to which side they are going to weigh in on.
And that decision is hard, because Emma Putman is no more of a likable character than Brielle or Sara. From the first words about her as an adult alarm bells are going off in my head; she’s in therapy, she’s been moved from school to school to school, she sleeps with anything that moves. Including other people’s boyfriends. Like Sara’s. This is a girl who clearly has problems and those problems began long before Brielle or Sara strode onto the scene. That doesn't mean Brielle and Sara are innocent but it does mean there's something bigger and possibly nastier than just schoolgirl bullying here.
It’s also hard because Brielle and Sara are clearly bullies; their actions go well beyond self-defence or annoyance into true harassment and nastiness; they follow her around school, they paint Slut on her locker, they create fake Facebook pages and call her a Fat Byatch or Whore at every possible opportunity. They make Emma Putman’s life hell and Sara is certainly more concerned with how much her life has gone to hell since Emma topped herself than with the fact that she was a pinnacle motive for that decision. It's very much Woe Is Me and My Life Is Ruined, seemingly forgetting that a girl is dead and her parents lives in tatters.
All of the characters are superficial and are written as shallow and one dimensional; yes, most teenagers are shallow but by sixteen, seventeen you do have at least some thoughts that are not about yourself. Sara doesn’t; her thoughts revolve around this trial ruining her life and her (ex) boyfriend never speaking to her again. Brielle is a bitch, pure and simple. There are moments where the author seems to be trying to give her a bit of a sob story but all in all, she’s a rich bitch who always has to be Queen Bee.
Dylan, the boyfriend, never texts and drives, less because he knows it’s dangerous and more because he’ll get kicked off the sports teams if he’s caught. He is a ‘gentleman’ in Sara’s words but to my mind at least spends most of his time trying to get into Sara’s pants regardless of whether she is sober. Our definitions of gentlemen differ somewhat. And Emma. There is clearly a sob story behind her background but if you join a new high school, sleep with nearly every male there is available and steal other people’s boyfriends you are going to get some grief about it, let’s be honest.
And the adults? Well, they’re completely non-existant. The therapist that Emma is seeing is clearly crap and needs firing, the teachers at the school let SLUT be written on a locker along with multiple other examples of harassment and abuse and do nothing. Well, they pull Sara and Brielle in for a ‘talk’ but that doesn’t go further and by the time they look set to pull the parents in, Emma has already topped herself. Brielle’s parents are no shows, Sara’s mother uses her daugher as the babysitter/house keeper whilst her father has swanned off with a new bit of skirt. The adults are utterly useless and there’s no real excuse.
===Do I Recommend?===
I’m stuck because some things the book does well; such as portraying two sides of a story without actually taking sides. It also raises important issues such as bullying and its effects back into the public eye line. It also raises the important issue of how damaging and dangerous social media can be when used to hurt or harm. All of those things are important things for teenagers (and adults) to recognise. For that reason, I probably would recommend it.
But as a decent piece of literature? No. It’s told in a dry, lacklustre way that fails to raise tension, sympathy or emotional response and the characters are impossible to care about. All of them are simply too shallow and one dimensional and all of them are frankly unpleasant. When none of your characters garner sympathy or empathy in the slightest you have a significant problem.
I would instead recommend Thirteen Reasons Why and Hold On if you are interested in Young Adult fiction with suicide, bullying and depression as central themes.
Split between the past and the present, Tease weaves a complicated and difficult narrative as it flicks between Sara in the present talking to lawyers and therapists about her behaviours and the past where you see in first person glory what her and Brielle did to Emma. It raises a lot of difficult to answer questions like actually, who is to blame? Is it as simple and one-sided as Sara and Brielle being to blame or maybe, perhaps does Emma Putman have to take some share of the blame herself? The sympathy's naturally lie with the girl who's just topped herself, but then at the same time it is easy to see suicide as an extremely selfish choice.
Reading a novel from the perspective of the bully was unnerving and disturbing; there were moments that simply made me feel unclean and in need of a shower. We are more used to reading from the perspective of the victim, where it’s far easier to feel empathy and this book doesn’t allow for that. There is very little judgement of any character, each one is presented on the page with all their flaws and their insecurities and it is up to the reader to make a decision as to which side they are going to weigh in on.
And that decision is hard, because Emma Putman is no more of a likable character than Brielle or Sara. From the first words about her as an adult alarm bells are going off in my head; she’s in therapy, she’s been moved from school to school to school, she sleeps with anything that moves. Including other people’s boyfriends. Like Sara’s. This is a girl who clearly has problems and those problems began long before Brielle or Sara strode onto the scene. That doesn't mean Brielle and Sara are innocent but it does mean there's something bigger and possibly nastier than just schoolgirl bullying here.
It’s also hard because Brielle and Sara are clearly bullies; their actions go well beyond self-defence or annoyance into true harassment and nastiness; they follow her around school, they paint Slut on her locker, they create fake Facebook pages and call her a Fat Byatch or Whore at every possible opportunity. They make Emma Putman’s life hell and Sara is certainly more concerned with how much her life has gone to hell since Emma topped herself than with the fact that she was a pinnacle motive for that decision. It's very much Woe Is Me and My Life Is Ruined, seemingly forgetting that a girl is dead and her parents lives in tatters.
All of the characters are superficial and are written as shallow and one dimensional; yes, most teenagers are shallow but by sixteen, seventeen you do have at least some thoughts that are not about yourself. Sara doesn’t; her thoughts revolve around this trial ruining her life and her (ex) boyfriend never speaking to her again. Brielle is a bitch, pure and simple. There are moments where the author seems to be trying to give her a bit of a sob story but all in all, she’s a rich bitch who always has to be Queen Bee.
Dylan, the boyfriend, never texts and drives, less because he knows it’s dangerous and more because he’ll get kicked off the sports teams if he’s caught. He is a ‘gentleman’ in Sara’s words but to my mind at least spends most of his time trying to get into Sara’s pants regardless of whether she is sober. Our definitions of gentlemen differ somewhat. And Emma. There is clearly a sob story behind her background but if you join a new high school, sleep with nearly every male there is available and steal other people’s boyfriends you are going to get some grief about it, let’s be honest.
And the adults? Well, they’re completely non-existant. The therapist that Emma is seeing is clearly crap and needs firing, the teachers at the school let SLUT be written on a locker along with multiple other examples of harassment and abuse and do nothing. Well, they pull Sara and Brielle in for a ‘talk’ but that doesn’t go further and by the time they look set to pull the parents in, Emma has already topped herself. Brielle’s parents are no shows, Sara’s mother uses her daugher as the babysitter/house keeper whilst her father has swanned off with a new bit of skirt. The adults are utterly useless and there’s no real excuse.
===Do I Recommend?===
I’m stuck because some things the book does well; such as portraying two sides of a story without actually taking sides. It also raises important issues such as bullying and its effects back into the public eye line. It also raises the important issue of how damaging and dangerous social media can be when used to hurt or harm. All of those things are important things for teenagers (and adults) to recognise. For that reason, I probably would recommend it.
But as a decent piece of literature? No. It’s told in a dry, lacklustre way that fails to raise tension, sympathy or emotional response and the characters are impossible to care about. All of them are simply too shallow and one dimensional and all of them are frankly unpleasant. When none of your characters garner sympathy or empathy in the slightest you have a significant problem.
I would instead recommend Thirteen Reasons Why and Hold On if you are interested in Young Adult fiction with suicide, bullying and depression as central themes.
VIDEO REVIEW: https://youtu.be/wvv1gci7ong
When 16 year old Emma Putnam commits suicide, everyone blames Sara Wharton, her best friend, Brielle and three other students from her school. Now they're being put on trial, being charged for constantly harassing and bullying Emma which ultimately pushed her over the edge.
Tease deals with some very serious issues ranging from bullying to slut-shaming to suicide. Told in the perspective of the bully, who feels no remorse for anything she's done, Sara was melodramatic and a cold hearted bitch. She was constantly whining about how her life is over and how "slutty" Emma ruined everything. The book was very hard to read... it was disturbing almost, to think that people actually might think this way, it really made you stop and think. Everyone in the school knew Emma was being bullied, yet nobody stepped up to help her just because Sara and Brielle were basically running the high school. The book consists of flashbacks from when Emma was still alive and the present day when Sara is preparing for trial. I thought that this was a very interesting way to portray the story and I did enjoy the narrative style.
I think the biggest problem I had with this book was the slut-shaming. Of course, I know that this is a big issue in today's society... but it infuriated me that everything was Emma's fault. Yes, what Emma did was wrong, and she is definitely not innocent in the situation, but is no one going to take into consideration that the BOYS were also the ones being slutty?! Dylan, Sara's BOYFRIEND, is one of the boys drawn toward Emma, but nobody blames him for anything, it's all Emma's doing. Dylan is considered innocent and Emma is the evil slut who stole Sara's boyfriend, it just doesn't make sense to me.
Overall, it's an interesting read and I liked reading from the bully's perspective. Although the idea of the book was unique and intriguing, the main character Sara and her nasty bff made it a hard read for me. I wish the ending was more clear though, I want to know what punishment the students received in trial and was disappointed I wasn't given it!
Want to see more bookish things from me? Check out my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCferU-BCL2dlFjWdD0rS75Q/videos
When 16 year old Emma Putnam commits suicide, everyone blames Sara Wharton, her best friend, Brielle and three other students from her school. Now they're being put on trial, being charged for constantly harassing and bullying Emma which ultimately pushed her over the edge.
Tease deals with some very serious issues ranging from bullying to slut-shaming to suicide. Told in the perspective of the bully, who feels no remorse for anything she's done, Sara was melodramatic and a cold hearted bitch. She was constantly whining about how her life is over and how "slutty" Emma ruined everything. The book was very hard to read... it was disturbing almost, to think that people actually might think this way, it really made you stop and think. Everyone in the school knew Emma was being bullied, yet nobody stepped up to help her just because Sara and Brielle were basically running the high school. The book consists of flashbacks from when Emma was still alive and the present day when Sara is preparing for trial. I thought that this was a very interesting way to portray the story and I did enjoy the narrative style.
I think the biggest problem I had with this book was the slut-shaming. Of course, I know that this is a big issue in today's society... but it infuriated me that everything was Emma's fault. Yes, what Emma did was wrong, and she is definitely not innocent in the situation, but is no one going to take into consideration that the BOYS were also the ones being slutty?! Dylan, Sara's BOYFRIEND, is one of the boys drawn toward Emma, but nobody blames him for anything, it's all Emma's doing. Dylan is considered innocent and Emma is the evil slut who stole Sara's boyfriend, it just doesn't make sense to me.
Overall, it's an interesting read and I liked reading from the bully's perspective. Although the idea of the book was unique and intriguing, the main character Sara and her nasty bff made it a hard read for me. I wish the ending was more clear though, I want to know what punishment the students received in trial and was disappointed I wasn't given it!
Want to see more bookish things from me? Check out my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCferU-BCL2dlFjWdD0rS75Q/videos