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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
I rather enjoyed this, unsettling as it was. To all the reviewers complaining that Sara didn't get it: yeah, that's the whole point of the book. I liked getting to see the whole thing from another side, even if that side was filled with justifications and excuses.
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
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 gave this book 3.5/5.
I finished Tease in one sitting and that’s pretty unusual for me. The chapters alternating from flashbacks to present day was brilliant as it really kept you guessing as the story unfolded, and the pace had me hooked. I had to know exactly what happened, and what the consequences were going to be as a result...
To read my full review - http://confessionsofabookgeek.wordpress.com/2014/03/27/tease/
I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way impacts on my views or opinions of this book.
I finished Tease in one sitting and that’s pretty unusual for me. The chapters alternating from flashbacks to present day was brilliant as it really kept you guessing as the story unfolded, and the pace had me hooked. I had to know exactly what happened, and what the consequences were going to be as a result...
To read my full review - http://confessionsofabookgeek.wordpress.com/2014/03/27/tease/
I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way impacts on my views or opinions of this book.
Lire le harcèlement sous le point de vue de l'harceleur était quelque chose que je n'avais jamais eu l'occasion de faire c'est chose faite avec ce livre et j'ai beaucoup aimé ce livre, qui m'a fait découvrir un autre regard / aspect du harcèlement !
A lire !
A lire !
In my opinion, this book is quite similar to Katie Contuguo's "How To Love" for reasons such as;
1) I didn't like the main character - Just like Sawyer in Contuguo's novel, Sara wasn't a nice person. I couldn't move past the fact that she bullied and harassed Emma Putnam and then had the audacity to deny any wrongdoings.
2) The story went back and forth every chapter between the character's past and present.
3) The main character's both act stupid when it comes to males - Reena (How To Love) dumps her perfect boyfriend who treats her and her baby with respect for Sawyer who made her act like someone she's not. This is not unlike how Sara continues to chase after her ex-boyfriend who cheated on AND with her.
I guess my point is that I found both books just okay.
1) I didn't like the main character - Just like Sawyer in Contuguo's novel, Sara wasn't a nice person. I couldn't move past the fact that she bullied and harassed Emma Putnam and then had the audacity to deny any wrongdoings.
2) The story went back and forth every chapter between the character's past and present.
3) The main character's both act stupid when it comes to males - Reena (How To Love) dumps her perfect boyfriend who treats her and her baby with respect for Sawyer who made her act like someone she's not. This is not unlike how Sara continues to chase after her ex-boyfriend who cheated on AND with her.
I guess my point is that I found both books just okay.
I think it's the second time only I read a book in a day... the previous one was Fahrenheit 451 when I had just moved countries and did not yet have the internet.
When I was in high school, I was suicidal. I was not necessarily bullied, I was just a girl on the side, the one you picked up when you were alone, and abandoned when I was not needed anymore. Was some of it my fault? Absolutely.
But when I was in high school a girl in my class - the year prior - tried to commit suicide. It was the time of Facebook posts saying that if you commit suicide your bullies start self-harming cause they can't live with the guilt. The high school did nothing. I learned through the same girls who had driven her to suicide, as they were talking about her scars on her wrists, how she was stupid, and she only did it for attention, not really to kill herself. They insulted her to death, and justified themselves by saying "Oh but it's her fault, she takes everything so seriously, she exaggerates everything".
Not one bit of apparent guilt. And, obviously, those were the most liked girls of my year.
I was scared going into Tease as a book about bullying from the point of view of the bully can be a hard line to ride between explanation and excuse. Without proper character development, then it just comes across as defending the bully and their sad life, without proper accountability for their actions.
Bullies and victims are complicated, multi-faceted people, even more so in the context of high school. And this book does a god job at showing that.
Brielle is the main antagonist, the best friend, who seems to have everything going for her. But her parents are absent and, the summer before,.
Sara is the very insecure girl propelled to popularity by a friendship that overshadows her. Her family life is complicated, she has major self-esteem issues, and knows that, if it wasn't for Brielle, she'd be a nobody. She is that girl at the top of the school that everyone envies but she cannot recognise that.
Enters Emma. Beautiful, but troubled Emma, who is their scapegoat for the jealousy and insecurities. Emma is the perfect victim: beautiful and popular with the boys, who "hooks up" with multiple guys not long after having arrived in Elmwood (although the narrator is so unreliable that one wonders at what really happened). She is a threat to Brielle and Sara, even more so after she shows an interest in Sara's boyfriend. But she is also the "nutcase" and the victim no one is going to defend.
And that is how bullying begins, by finding that victim that bullies are jealous and afraid of, but who is weak enough to not be able to defend themselves.
Emma is in the backseat of the story; the scenes with her a few and far between. And it shows an important truth: bullying is not about the victim, but the aggressor. It's about the bullies and their insecurities, their issues, everything wrong they project onto someone else, and try to make it disappear by torturing that victim. None of it is okay and they need to be held accountable for their actions, but there is a very real explanation behind their behaviour.
Tease also perfectly shows that bullies act because they are part of group, to the point where their individual attacks become part of the community. Even though there is a face behind each and every attack, it muddles behind the face of everyone else. And that is the issue when it comes to accountability: "It's not just my fault, everyone does it, it's not just me, so why should I be the one in trouble?"
Sara grows a lot throughout the book. She slowly comes to the realisation of what she has done, who she was, and what it means. She goes from blaming Emma for not being strong enough, then Brielle for sucking her into this mess, to realising her own actions are cruel, and if she could take everything back, maybe Emma would still be alive. At the beginning, she hides her guilt by stating that what she did to Emma was deserved, and she is not the bad guy. But the narration shows anyway who she really is, behind the lies she tells the world, and herself.
She grew from an annoying, entitled, bully teenager, to a likeable human being able to grow and to learn from her mistakes. She is never shown as the poor little girl who got swept in and is the true victim, it's always been clear she was in the wrong, but we can empathise with the feelings she's dealing with. Emma's death is a scar she'll wear her entire life.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I was scared of how it was going to turn out at first, but I was very pleasantly surprised.
When I was in high school, I was suicidal. I was not necessarily bullied, I was just a girl on the side, the one you picked up when you were alone, and abandoned when I was not needed anymore. Was some of it my fault? Absolutely.
But when I was in high school a girl in my class - the year prior - tried to commit suicide. It was the time of Facebook posts saying that if you commit suicide your bullies start self-harming cause they can't live with the guilt. The high school did nothing. I learned through the same girls who had driven her to suicide, as they were talking about her scars on her wrists, how she was stupid, and she only did it for attention, not really to kill herself. They insulted her to death, and justified themselves by saying "Oh but it's her fault, she takes everything so seriously, she exaggerates everything".
Not one bit of apparent guilt. And, obviously, those were the most liked girls of my year.
I was scared going into Tease as a book about bullying from the point of view of the bully can be a hard line to ride between explanation and excuse. Without proper character development, then it just comes across as defending the bully and their sad life, without proper accountability for their actions.
Bullies and victims are complicated, multi-faceted people, even more so in the context of high school. And this book does a god job at showing that.
Brielle is the main antagonist, the best friend, who seems to have everything going for her. But her parents are absent and, the summer before,
Spoiler
she was raped by a guy she was supposed to like. She goes through the trauma without realising it, without accepting itSara is the very insecure girl propelled to popularity by a friendship that overshadows her. Her family life is complicated, she has major self-esteem issues, and knows that, if it wasn't for Brielle, she'd be a nobody. She is that girl at the top of the school that everyone envies but she cannot recognise that.
Enters Emma. Beautiful, but troubled Emma, who is their scapegoat for the jealousy and insecurities. Emma is the perfect victim: beautiful and popular with the boys, who "hooks up" with multiple guys not long after having arrived in Elmwood (although the narrator is so unreliable that one wonders at what really happened). She is a threat to Brielle and Sara, even more so after she shows an interest in Sara's boyfriend. But she is also the "nutcase" and the victim no one is going to defend.
And that is how bullying begins, by finding that victim that bullies are jealous and afraid of, but who is weak enough to not be able to defend themselves.
Emma is in the backseat of the story; the scenes with her a few and far between. And it shows an important truth: bullying is not about the victim, but the aggressor. It's about the bullies and their insecurities, their issues, everything wrong they project onto someone else, and try to make it disappear by torturing that victim. None of it is okay and they need to be held accountable for their actions, but there is a very real explanation behind their behaviour.
Tease also perfectly shows that bullies act because they are part of group, to the point where their individual attacks become part of the community. Even though there is a face behind each and every attack, it muddles behind the face of everyone else. And that is the issue when it comes to accountability: "It's not just my fault, everyone does it, it's not just me, so why should I be the one in trouble?"
Sara grows a lot throughout the book. She slowly comes to the realisation of what she has done, who she was, and what it means. She goes from blaming Emma for not being strong enough, then Brielle for sucking her into this mess, to realising her own actions are cruel, and if she could take everything back, maybe Emma would still be alive. At the beginning, she hides her guilt by stating that what she did to Emma was deserved, and she is not the bad guy. But the narration shows anyway who she really is, behind the lies she tells the world, and herself.
She grew from an annoying, entitled, bully teenager, to a likeable human being able to grow and to learn from her mistakes. She is never shown as the poor little girl who got swept in and is the true victim, it's always been clear she was in the wrong, but we can empathise with the feelings she's dealing with. Emma's death is a scar she'll wear her entire life.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I was scared of how it was going to turn out at first, but I was very pleasantly surprised.
I wanted to like this.
I really did.
But I didn't.
It was really shallow (and not in the way that is a metaphor for the bullies).
Don't get me wrong, I LOVED Sara. She was honest, realistic, and very real for her age.
But there wasn't a story here. There was nothing to tie it all together. Also, Emma Putnam--the "victim" is solely portrayed as a cry baby, we never find out what was really going on, who she was. Which makes it very difficult to identify or sympathize with her. Which is the point of this counselor-turned-author's book.
Also, she ripped off the Unwritten Letters Project. Which annoyed me.
I really did.
But I didn't.
It was really shallow (and not in the way that is a metaphor for the bullies).
Don't get me wrong, I LOVED Sara. She was honest, realistic, and very real for her age.
But there wasn't a story here. There was nothing to tie it all together. Also, Emma Putnam--the "victim" is solely portrayed as a cry baby, we never find out what was really going on, who she was. Which makes it very difficult to identify or sympathize with her. Which is the point of this counselor-turned-author's book.
Also, she ripped off the Unwritten Letters Project. Which annoyed me.
I quite enjoyed this book. Albeit, the ending wasn't very satisfying. It was extremely interesting walking in the shoes of someone being blamed for a suicide. It's intriguing humanising a character who is usually seen as the villain.
The subject matter of this book is a very serious one. One that most teens are facing today. One that I am glad that I don't have to face myself. I was teased some myself back in 2nd grade but nothing like the kids are doing now to each other. I only went to school until the 2nd grade. I was then home schooled with my sister until I finished high school. However when I read the sad stories of kids killing themselves or even getting plastic surgery to change their apperances, it makes me sad. However what did not make me as sad was Emma's death. Don't get me wrong ad it is sad. It is just that I did not really feel like I got to know Emma that well, so her death did not impact me as much as I had hoped. Also, the other kids were just plain mean and I did not feel any remore for what they were expericing in regards to the after effects of Emma's death. In fact, I did not care for the ending. This book would have been better if the characters had more personalities versus being stuck up bullies and then trying to gain symphony.