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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Alcohol
Moderate: Child death, Death, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Rape
This one hit pretty close to home. Painfully so. The characters really resembled a lot of people I went to school with, who bullied and were bullied. I didn't go to school in a FB-era generation and I am grateful for that. I really suspect I'd've been an Emma, having everyone slander me for things out of my control. For me it was my weight, for Emma it was being pretty and social. Nobody should be bullied. I really hope books like this help to show bullies what they're doing is so powerful and painful.
Review originally posted on www.fictitiousdelicious.com on 04/29/14:
Wow. Just....wow. I've never read a story quite like this one.
TEASE is a story about bullying. As the parent of two children in junior high, bullying is one of those topics that I feel especially sensitive about. School bullies are much more fierce than they were when I was a kid in junior/senior high and stories like TEASE validate my sensitivity for the subject. This is a serious issue for ALL citizens. Not just the teenagers and parents involved.
What I loved most about this story is the fact that it is told from the bully's perspective. A bully who feels justified in her bullying and doesn't feel an ounce of remorse for the events she participated in that lead to the eventual suicide of her target, Emma. This is also a story about the color gray. Maciel does a fantastic job of blurring the lines of guilt and innocence. You will be angry at Sara. You'll be angry at Emma. You'll be angry at Dylan. You'll be angry, no FURIOUS at Brielle. Then you'll feel compassion for each of these characters only to be thrown back into anger mode. It's a very complicated cycle.
The party that was most aggrevating to me? The authority. Parents and school leaders have either turned a blind eye to or really downplayed the bullying done by Sara and Brielle. Sara summarizes one of the most important takeaways from this book when she wonders why no one tried to stop them while Emma was still alive. (To be fair, Sara's parents were scheduled to have a meeting with the Principal before Emma's suicide, but it took a whole lot of THINGS happening to get that far.) And why did their peers view their behavior as wrong only after Emma's suicide? See? Complicated.
Telling this kind of story through the bully's perspective was genius. It should come as no surprise that the chilling voice Sara uses to tell her story in flashback mode will make you angry. What I didn't expect was to find myself angry with the victim, too. Bravo to Maciel for making me feel guilty about that. :)
Wow. Just....wow. I've never read a story quite like this one.
TEASE is a story about bullying. As the parent of two children in junior high, bullying is one of those topics that I feel especially sensitive about. School bullies are much more fierce than they were when I was a kid in junior/senior high and stories like TEASE validate my sensitivity for the subject. This is a serious issue for ALL citizens. Not just the teenagers and parents involved.
What I loved most about this story is the fact that it is told from the bully's perspective. A bully who feels justified in her bullying and doesn't feel an ounce of remorse for the events she participated in that lead to the eventual suicide of her target, Emma. This is also a story about the color gray. Maciel does a fantastic job of blurring the lines of guilt and innocence. You will be angry at Sara. You'll be angry at Emma. You'll be angry at Dylan. You'll be angry, no FURIOUS at Brielle. Then you'll feel compassion for each of these characters only to be thrown back into anger mode. It's a very complicated cycle.
The party that was most aggrevating to me? The authority. Parents and school leaders have either turned a blind eye to or really downplayed the bullying done by Sara and Brielle. Sara summarizes one of the most important takeaways from this book when she wonders why no one tried to stop them while Emma was still alive. (To be fair, Sara's parents were scheduled to have a meeting with the Principal before Emma's suicide, but it took a whole lot of THINGS happening to get that far.) And why did their peers view their behavior as wrong only after Emma's suicide? See? Complicated.
Telling this kind of story through the bully's perspective was genius. It should come as no surprise that the chilling voice Sara uses to tell her story in flashback mode will make you angry. What I didn't expect was to find myself angry with the victim, too. Bravo to Maciel for making me feel guilty about that. :)
From Rebel Angel.
Another Net Galley read, I wanted to go for something quite easy to get through and read, and when I feel like that, I turn to YA books. This one didn't sound a terribly light subject but an interesting premise, being about a girl who has been bullied to the point of suicide but coming across from the perspective of the girl, Sara, who bullied her. Sara is on trial, meeting a lawyer and therapist as well as having to go to summer school because of the time she has missed as well as being hounded by the media for what she has done. But the problem is that she doesn't see that she has done anything wrong. It was really intriguing because you see the other side of the story and can actually understand how she doesn't feel she has caused this, but looking objectively at the things she says and does, you can. I could actually go on forever about this, because the way that she acts is so typical of teenagers at high school in my eyes - what they say doesn't seem wrong because "everyone is doing it", but in the end, of course it is wrong. There was a lot of "slut-shaming" going on in the book which I found really horrible - it's a thing that I've seen a lot of at schools (where I went, where I taught, in films etc.), and to quote from Mean Girls, it makes it okay for guys to say it. I have younger relatives and friends of the family who I know will have to go through this stage at school, and it's really terrifying - I don't know how people come out the other side of it unscathed! I think this is a great addition to the literature of the subject of bullying, coming from the other side and showing just how easy it is for what you say or do to affect someone. I want to recommend it for younger readers, probably teenagers 14+, but I'm hoping the subject matter wouldn't be too much for them (to be honest, with what they say on Facebook to each other nowadays, I honestly don't think it would be!), but there is some slightly explicit content occasionally and the subject of suicide is not one to be taken lightly either.
Another Net Galley read, I wanted to go for something quite easy to get through and read, and when I feel like that, I turn to YA books. This one didn't sound a terribly light subject but an interesting premise, being about a girl who has been bullied to the point of suicide but coming across from the perspective of the girl, Sara, who bullied her. Sara is on trial, meeting a lawyer and therapist as well as having to go to summer school because of the time she has missed as well as being hounded by the media for what she has done. But the problem is that she doesn't see that she has done anything wrong. It was really intriguing because you see the other side of the story and can actually understand how she doesn't feel she has caused this, but looking objectively at the things she says and does, you can. I could actually go on forever about this, because the way that she acts is so typical of teenagers at high school in my eyes - what they say doesn't seem wrong because "everyone is doing it", but in the end, of course it is wrong. There was a lot of "slut-shaming" going on in the book which I found really horrible - it's a thing that I've seen a lot of at schools (where I went, where I taught, in films etc.), and to quote from Mean Girls, it makes it okay for guys to say it. I have younger relatives and friends of the family who I know will have to go through this stage at school, and it's really terrifying - I don't know how people come out the other side of it unscathed! I think this is a great addition to the literature of the subject of bullying, coming from the other side and showing just how easy it is for what you say or do to affect someone. I want to recommend it for younger readers, probably teenagers 14+, but I'm hoping the subject matter wouldn't be too much for them (to be honest, with what they say on Facebook to each other nowadays, I honestly don't think it would be!), but there is some slightly explicit content occasionally and the subject of suicide is not one to be taken lightly either.
Find more reviews on What She Reads
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Tease surprisingly was a very difficult read, although I enjoyed it very much. It is not often we're able to see the insides of a "bully" and see them have no remorse for what their actions may have caused.
You cannot go into this book lightly it needs to be read over a couple of days so you can get the full impact. I read a few pages and immediately disliked the book but only because I didn't agree with our main character and because of what she stood for, but as I progressed you realise is not black and white.
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Tease surprisingly was a very difficult read, although I enjoyed it very much. It is not often we're able to see the insides of a "bully" and see them have no remorse for what their actions may have caused.
You cannot go into this book lightly it needs to be read over a couple of days so you can get the full impact. I read a few pages and immediately disliked the book but only because I didn't agree with our main character and because of what she stood for, but as I progressed you realise is not black and white.
I've heard so much about this book, and was glad to pick it up. Yes, totally frustrating to read a book from the perspective of a bully who doesn't get how her words and actions contributed to the suicide of another student. I did like seeing the background of this character -- how she cared for her little brothers, the effects of her purse, how becoming a silent but agreeable sidekick to her "best friend" Brielle was more than what it seemed... Despite the difficulties in what I was reading, I was hooked and totally committed but (and I did read an advanced copy so maybe this is different in the final copy) the resolution came on very quickly and it didn't feel as genuine as first 75% of the book.
Keywords: bullying, losing your virginity, complicated friendship, suicide, consequence, high school, "mean girls"
Keywords: bullying, losing your virginity, complicated friendship, suicide, consequence, high school, "mean girls"
A very quick read. Interesting look at the complicated issue of bullying especially among girls. Some good resources at the back too.
Very powerful book. I love that there is so much gray area, and Maciel doesn't shy away from that in exploring this complex subject.
2.5 stars
This was incredibly hard to read. The main character shows no compassion at the loss of a young life and, while there was character development by the end of the story, it was very abrupt, the reader wasn't shown the growth.
This was incredibly hard to read. The main character shows no compassion at the loss of a young life and, while there was character development by the end of the story, it was very abrupt, the reader wasn't shown the growth.