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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
Actual rating: 2.5!
I have mixed feelings on this book. I really liked that it was from the bully's point of view, rather than the victim's. I thought that this would mean that we as the audience would end up siding the bully(not that it is ever good), or that there would have been a whole misunderstanding. This however did not seem to happen, and as a reader I felt emotionally detached from Sara, and found it quite hard to pick up the book towards the end. Overall, Sara was very flawed, and within the last 5% of the book her opinions seem to take a complete 180, and it was almost as if she was a 'reformed' character.
Don't get me started on the other characters, like Brielle and Dylan, who just seemed to annoy me the whole way through.
I would recommend reading this book though, even if it is just to see whether you like it, as it was interesting.
I have mixed feelings on this book. I really liked that it was from the bully's point of view, rather than the victim's. I thought that this would mean that we as the audience would end up siding the bully(not that it is ever good), or that there would have been a whole misunderstanding. This however did not seem to happen, and as a reader I felt emotionally detached from Sara, and found it quite hard to pick up the book towards the end. Overall, Sara was very flawed, and within the last 5% of the book her opinions seem to take a complete 180, and it was almost as if she was a 'reformed' character.
Don't get me started on the other characters, like Brielle and Dylan, who just seemed to annoy me the whole way through.
I would recommend reading this book though, even if it is just to see whether you like it, as it was interesting.
In high school, while reading most of the YA books i read that were set in a current-day high school I'd always think to myself, "but high school just isn't like that, kids aren't like that." And when i'd see portrayals of bullying i'd think the same thing. In real life, I never saw a single person get shoved into a locker and hit up for lunch money, but that's all i'd ever seen of bullying in books/movies. it was such that when i saw actual bullying, i didn't recognize it for what it was. no one was every physically attacked, or cornered and publicly ridiculed, but i certainly encountered bullying during my years in school.
All this to say that TEASE is the first honest portrayal of high school AND bullying that i've ever read. the characters in this book, while certainly not likeable, feel very real, and i'd bet most people who read this could say they've met people like these kids (both the bullied and bullies).
i'd recommend this book to anyone who's encountered bullying (from any side: victim, perpetrator, bystander). Additionally, i think this book would be a great read for any middle or high school student. in recent years, there have been countless stories like these, and i'm sure it's easy for kids to write them off and say, "that wouldn't happen at my school, i don't know anyone like those kids". but TEASE goes to show that these types of things can happen in any town, and how even things that start as an innocent joke can spiral out of control and have unintended consequences.
TL;DR: raw, honest, at times hard to read, but a refreshing account of modern high-school life and the ripple effects of bullying.
Thanks B+B/Little Big Mouth for the ARC!
All this to say that TEASE is the first honest portrayal of high school AND bullying that i've ever read. the characters in this book, while certainly not likeable, feel very real, and i'd bet most people who read this could say they've met people like these kids (both the bullied and bullies).
i'd recommend this book to anyone who's encountered bullying (from any side: victim, perpetrator, bystander). Additionally, i think this book would be a great read for any middle or high school student. in recent years, there have been countless stories like these, and i'm sure it's easy for kids to write them off and say, "that wouldn't happen at my school, i don't know anyone like those kids". but TEASE goes to show that these types of things can happen in any town, and how even things that start as an innocent joke can spiral out of control and have unintended consequences.
TL;DR: raw, honest, at times hard to read, but a refreshing account of modern high-school life and the ripple effects of bullying.
Thanks B+B/Little Big Mouth for the ARC!
I don't know what I was expecting when I opened this book, but it wasn't what I read. It was so much better than I thought, so much more emotional, so much more touching. It deals with a sensitive topic without censoring it - it's incredibly truthful and I think an important read for many teenagers.
You guys... READ. THIS. BOOK. Review to come.
Edit:
You can find more of my reviews here at my blog:
Whenever there's a case of bullying, everyone looks to the victim. Are they ok? Will they be permanently affected from this? But no one ever looks to the actual bully. In this new thought provoking novel by Amanda Maciel, she makes that leap into the mind of the bully for us all to see.
Before Emma, Sara was just a normal high school girl who was worried about one of the most important things to her. Her boyfriend. But then rumors start going around that Emma is going after everyone's boyfriend. Including Sara's and her best friend Brielle's. But Sara and Brielle are already popular, so basically anything they say, everyone will automatically go along with it. So when they start calling her a slut, it's not long before mostly everyone else in school is too.
I really applaud Maciel for diving into the mind of the actual "villain." I have never read anything like this and it made me think of a lot of different things. Like am I supposed to feel bad about her getting everything that she deserved? Or am I supposed to feel sorry about her getting her boyfriend stolen? Or am I supposed to want her to not getting in trouble for just getting revenge for someone who wronged her as well? But then I realized that these things just can't be answered. Because although it was unfortunate that these events transpired over a boy, Sara and Brielle took things too far. They knew that Emma wasn't completely stable as it was and for them to continue doing these terrible "pranks," made them seem vicious. That's just how good her writing was. It was full of emotion and made me think of so much. It was really hard to tell this was a debut.
Being inside Sara's head made me feel for her though. Although she seemed like a terrible person by her actions, she was really just a confused, self-conscious teenager. She didn't know where she fit in and she clung to the only people that made her feel as if she did... Dylan and Brielle. But then even things with Dylan goes sour and she doesn't know what to do. All she wants is to get him back. But I think that's what made me upset with her. She only thought of herself. How she would look if she just let Emma take him. How she would look if Brielle thought she wasn't being mean enough. It was just all so selfish.
Bullying is such a serious topic and I haven't read a more emotional story about it. Clearly so many people are hurt by it so I'm surprised that things like this still happen. I would really like for this to be used in schools to see that being a bully doesn't prove that you're cool. it just proves that instead of being a leader and being your own person, you're nothing more than a follower. Stand up for yourself, but being hateful and mean don't need to be part of the equation.
Edit:
You can find more of my reviews here at my blog:
Whenever there's a case of bullying, everyone looks to the victim. Are they ok? Will they be permanently affected from this? But no one ever looks to the actual bully. In this new thought provoking novel by Amanda Maciel, she makes that leap into the mind of the bully for us all to see.
Before Emma, Sara was just a normal high school girl who was worried about one of the most important things to her. Her boyfriend. But then rumors start going around that Emma is going after everyone's boyfriend. Including Sara's and her best friend Brielle's. But Sara and Brielle are already popular, so basically anything they say, everyone will automatically go along with it. So when they start calling her a slut, it's not long before mostly everyone else in school is too.
I really applaud Maciel for diving into the mind of the actual "villain." I have never read anything like this and it made me think of a lot of different things. Like am I supposed to feel bad about her getting everything that she deserved? Or am I supposed to feel sorry about her getting her boyfriend stolen? Or am I supposed to want her to not getting in trouble for just getting revenge for someone who wronged her as well? But then I realized that these things just can't be answered. Because although it was unfortunate that these events transpired over a boy, Sara and Brielle took things too far. They knew that Emma wasn't completely stable as it was and for them to continue doing these terrible "pranks," made them seem vicious. That's just how good her writing was. It was full of emotion and made me think of so much. It was really hard to tell this was a debut.
Being inside Sara's head made me feel for her though. Although she seemed like a terrible person by her actions, she was really just a confused, self-conscious teenager. She didn't know where she fit in and she clung to the only people that made her feel as if she did... Dylan and Brielle. But then even things with Dylan goes sour and she doesn't know what to do. All she wants is to get him back. But I think that's what made me upset with her. She only thought of herself. How she would look if she just let Emma take him. How she would look if Brielle thought she wasn't being mean enough. It was just all so selfish.
Bullying is such a serious topic and I haven't read a more emotional story about it. Clearly so many people are hurt by it so I'm surprised that things like this still happen. I would really like for this to be used in schools to see that being a bully doesn't prove that you're cool. it just proves that instead of being a leader and being your own person, you're nothing more than a follower. Stand up for yourself, but being hateful and mean don't need to be part of the equation.
I gave this book 4.5 stars because I think there really just needs to be more YA literature about bullying and it's implications, such as potential suicides. It's a growing sub-genre, certainly, but still not one that gets enough attention. While Tease certainly has it's problems, it's worth as being in a very small margin of books available out there for teens outweighed them generally.
My main issue, honestly, was Sarah's lack of growth. In the flash back scenes she's a bully and an enabler, who actively does nothing to stop her best friend Brielle from tormenting Emma. In the present scenes she continues to adamantly deny her part in Emma's death, until the very end when she decides she's the only person who is actually sorry.
I must have missed where she came to those conclusions.
Either way I did enjoy this book, and I hope to see more like it in the future. If not a bit more well written and better structured. Still Maciel has it in her to produce great work, and I look forward to reading more by her.
My main issue, honestly, was Sarah's lack of growth. In the flash back scenes she's a bully and an enabler, who actively does nothing to stop her best friend Brielle from tormenting Emma. In the present scenes she continues to adamantly deny her part in Emma's death, until the very end when she decides she's the only person who is actually sorry.
I must have missed where she came to those conclusions.
Either way I did enjoy this book, and I hope to see more like it in the future. If not a bit more well written and better structured. Still Maciel has it in her to produce great work, and I look forward to reading more by her.
BEFORE READING
Okay as soon as I started reading, I was overwhelmed by the familiarity of the story. So I looked it up to see if it was based on anything. And there it was. The suicide that shook my small town when I was just a kid was the basis for this book. I know these people. I sit in their seats at their old school everyday. And while this knowledge makes me want to put this book down because of that and its implications, I know that this makes it even more imperative for me to read it. I can say firsthand that this community is now forever changed and shaky even years later. My friends parents were on the news, my friends older siblings and their friends witnesses to the bullying that lead this girl to her death. It's incredibly surreal even though I'm only a few pages in. Knowing that I've walked those hallways in the school mentioned is unbelievably crazy and makes me kind of want to throw up. I'm in tears and its only the first chapter because I know how much this tragedy affected my home. I mean I kind of hate it here but that doesn't mean that I don't have some love for the place that I grew up in. I took my first steps here, I went to my first day of school here, knew the people close to this girl (not mentioning her name even though you can just look it up and find out) and who were greatly affected by her suicide. This will be the most personally grueling book I will probably ever read. And I'm ready to read it. Be prepared for my review, it's going to be long.
Okay as soon as I started reading, I was overwhelmed by the familiarity of the story. So I looked it up to see if it was based on anything. And there it was. The suicide that shook my small town when I was just a kid was the basis for this book. I know these people. I sit in their seats at their old school everyday. And while this knowledge makes me want to put this book down because of that and its implications, I know that this makes it even more imperative for me to read it. I can say firsthand that this community is now forever changed and shaky even years later. My friends parents were on the news, my friends older siblings and their friends witnesses to the bullying that lead this girl to her death. It's incredibly surreal even though I'm only a few pages in. Knowing that I've walked those hallways in the school mentioned is unbelievably crazy and makes me kind of want to throw up. I'm in tears and its only the first chapter because I know how much this tragedy affected my home. I mean I kind of hate it here but that doesn't mean that I don't have some love for the place that I grew up in. I took my first steps here, I went to my first day of school here, knew the people close to this girl (not mentioning her name even though you can just look it up and find out) and who were greatly affected by her suicide. This will be the most personally grueling book I will probably ever read. And I'm ready to read it. Be prepared for my review, it's going to be long.
This book made me get in a lot of trouble just because of the title of the book. If you don't speak arabic you won't get it. I'm going to tell you my first incident.
So mom asked me what book I was reading and I told her. my older brother was in the room with us and he gave me this "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SAY?" look, and i swear to god I almost shit my pants!! I had to explain to him that it was not what he thought it meant. IT WAS FRICKEN HORRIBLE OMG!
Back to my review, it took me seven days to finish this crappy book. I'm not gonna lie but I hate this book (sorry), i fricken hate it. Sara doesn't change after what she had done, not enough. Throughout the entire book she doesnt get it and remains clueless. I was very disappointed by the ending. In all honesty, I wish I hadn't picked this book up at all. There isn't much at all to redeem it.
So mom asked me what book I was reading and I told her. my older brother was in the room with us and he gave me this "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SAY?" look, and i swear to god I almost shit my pants!! I had to explain to him that it was not what he thought it meant. IT WAS FRICKEN HORRIBLE OMG!
Back to my review, it took me seven days to finish this crappy book. I'm not gonna lie but I hate this book (sorry), i fricken hate it. Sara doesn't change after what she had done, not enough. Throughout the entire book she doesnt get it and remains clueless. I was very disappointed by the ending. In all honesty, I wish I hadn't picked this book up at all. There isn't much at all to redeem it.
Full-review on my blog!
http://originalbooker.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/tease-amanda-maciel.html
Where can I start with this. I loved the concept of this book, for some reason, I really enjoy books about bullying or anything remotely sad and depressing. Don't ask me why! I'm kind of confused with whether or not I liked this book... I liked the story and the concept, kind of. But I just hated the main character. Maybe that was because she was the bully, but it's also because she just couldn't see that what she was doing was wrong, which was incredibly frustrating.
http://originalbooker.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/tease-amanda-maciel.html
Where can I start with this. I loved the concept of this book, for some reason, I really enjoy books about bullying or anything remotely sad and depressing. Don't ask me why! I'm kind of confused with whether or not I liked this book... I liked the story and the concept, kind of. But I just hated the main character. Maybe that was because she was the bully, but it's also because she just couldn't see that what she was doing was wrong, which was incredibly frustrating.
I had so many conflicting feelings when reading this book that I hated and loved it. I wanted to put it down and keep reading it. You read so much on bullying and suicide by bullied teens, that it's hard to feel sorry for the abuser. There's the feeling that yes, they're children too, but at the same time, you want to shout that you're not a child.
The thing is, I don't know what it feels like to be a bully. I only have a few instances of being bullied but I remember moments being so angry at my peers for their hateful words and jabs at someone that didn't quite fit in and I was a staunch believer in being friends with everyone that this is hard for me to accept. I wanted to be angry with Sara and at times I was. But I also understand how 'keyboard warriors' don't make things much better. I remember the instance of the dentist who killed a well-known lion and the online attacks and I think to myself; "How are we any better?" And maybe that's what this book is supposed to make you feel. Because what Sara does is awful but did any of these students actually help alleviate a bad situation? We look for someone to blame when sometimes, there's so much more to the story. You can't excuse someone's bad behavior because you find someone else with a worse behavior.
A well written novel that I wish people would take the chance to read. Made you think a little too much but shouldn't you always? 4/5
The thing is, I don't know what it feels like to be a bully. I only have a few instances of being bullied but I remember moments being so angry at my peers for their hateful words and jabs at someone that didn't quite fit in and I was a staunch believer in being friends with everyone that this is hard for me to accept. I wanted to be angry with Sara and at times I was. But I also understand how 'keyboard warriors' don't make things much better. I remember the instance of the dentist who killed a well-known lion and the online attacks and I think to myself; "How are we any better?" And maybe that's what this book is supposed to make you feel. Because what Sara does is awful but did any of these students actually help alleviate a bad situation? We look for someone to blame when sometimes, there's so much more to the story. You can't excuse someone's bad behavior because you find someone else with a worse behavior.
A well written novel that I wish people would take the chance to read. Made you think a little too much but shouldn't you always? 4/5
Welp, this is a timely read considering that parts of the internet are upset over that Slate article about why adults reading YA should be ashamed of themselves. The author's main argument is that YA lit is simplistic, often wraps up neatly, and is not representative of real life. Generally I agree with that assessment for widely popular YA (though it hasn't occurred to me since I was probably 20 to assign a value judgment on what other people like to read, so way to give a good impression of "literary" "mature" 30-44 year olds, Ruth Graham, ffs).
But then here comes Tease with an unlikeable main character in Sara, who swears to the end that even though she is sorry that the girl she bullied committed suicide, she won't accept responsibility for the death. Sara has moments of supreme selfishness -- for example, her first sadness upon hearing of Emma Putnam's suicide is that her ex-boyfriend Dylan will never talk to her again. She rationalizes her bullying because she feels that Emma made her suffer THE MOST so it's only natural for her and her best friend to write SLUT on Emma's locker and put a nasty Valentine heart on her front lawn and absolutely spam her Facebook wall with hateful shit.
I can't agree with general consensus that Sara "should have been" sorry or likeable. Sara's moments of selfishness reflect a very real teenager. I take public transport in the city, where I see and hear groups of teenage girls all the time. They can be mean, talking about who's ugly but trying to look hot or who is "gross" or "fat" or what have you. I respect that Amanda Maciel didn't write an obvious, simplistic story about a selfish-by-nature teen acting truly awful until there are consequences and then insta-repenting. It happens sometimes I'm sure, but let's be real: it's unrealistic. Portraying it for what it is to be a selfish teenager should (hopefully) raise questions for the book's teenage audience, help them reflect on how their behavior affects others.
So yeah...Sara's being unlikeable is not why Tease gets only two stars from me. It's only an OKread because Sara's present day life (especially with her family) seemed unremarkable and like many other things I have read and been bored by before. There is also a tepid half-romance with another social pariah, a Breakfast Club turn that has been done many times before and probably didn't need ~75 pages of the book dedicated to its development. All of the characters except Sara and Emma run a little flat or cliched, and Emma's depression is not really explored in as much detail as I would have liked. And, the structure of the book in alternating present day consequence chapters and chronological past chapters didn't work for me, since the climactic event of the book (being Emma's suicide) and its immediate after-effects are dashed off anti-climatically in a small chunk of the book's final 30 pages.
Those are all boring reasons to just not be that into a book, but I'm finding that when I'm not into a YA read one or all of these reasons are usually why. For as annoying as that Ruth Graham/Slate article is, I think she's summed up the potential flaws of YA lit to adult readers pretty accurately. It's not always the case that YA is simplistic, underdeveloped and happy, though. Sometimes, a book is just one of those things. Sometimes it's none.
When I saw what Tease was doing in the opening pages, when I read Sara's sullenness from the start, I got excited because this one had the potential to really be different. But meh, there is too much that is flat and cliched and unexciting in the part of this book that isn't its mean girl.
But then here comes Tease with an unlikeable main character in Sara, who swears to the end that even though she is sorry that the girl she bullied committed suicide, she won't accept responsibility for the death. Sara has moments of supreme selfishness -- for example, her first sadness upon hearing of Emma Putnam's suicide is that her ex-boyfriend Dylan will never talk to her again. She rationalizes her bullying because she feels that Emma
Spoiler
stealing her boyfriendI can't agree with general consensus that Sara "should have been" sorry or likeable. Sara's moments of selfishness reflect a very real teenager. I take public transport in the city, where I see and hear groups of teenage girls all the time. They can be mean, talking about who's ugly but trying to look hot or who is "gross" or "fat" or what have you. I respect that Amanda Maciel didn't write an obvious, simplistic story about a selfish-by-nature teen acting truly awful until there are consequences and then insta-repenting. It happens sometimes I'm sure, but let's be real: it's unrealistic. Portraying it for what it is to be a selfish teenager should (hopefully) raise questions for the book's teenage audience, help them reflect on how their behavior affects others.
Spoiler
I also appreciated that the victim in this book, Emma, isn't without sin herself. She does begin a relationship with Sara's boyfriend while Sara and Dylan are still together. She also retaliates and mocks Sara for being a tease when Sara and Brielle first start jabbing at her for flirting with Dylan, which clearly stoked at least Sara's fire.So yeah...Sara's being unlikeable is not why Tease gets only two stars from me. It's only an OKread because Sara's present day life (especially with her family) seemed unremarkable and like many other things I have read and been bored by before. There is also a tepid half-romance with another social pariah, a Breakfast Club turn that has been done many times before and probably didn't need ~75 pages of the book dedicated to its development. All of the characters except Sara and Emma run a little flat or cliched, and Emma's depression is not really explored in as much detail as I would have liked. And, the structure of the book in alternating present day consequence chapters and chronological past chapters didn't work for me, since the climactic event of the book (being Emma's suicide) and its immediate after-effects are dashed off anti-climatically in a small chunk of the book's final 30 pages.
Those are all boring reasons to just not be that into a book, but I'm finding that when I'm not into a YA read one or all of these reasons are usually why. For as annoying as that Ruth Graham/Slate article is, I think she's summed up the potential flaws of YA lit to adult readers pretty accurately. It's not always the case that YA is simplistic, underdeveloped and happy, though. Sometimes, a book is just one of those things. Sometimes it's none.
When I saw what Tease was doing in the opening pages, when I read Sara's sullenness from the start, I got excited because this one had the potential to really be different. But meh, there is too much that is flat and cliched and unexciting in the part of this book that isn't its mean girl.