Reviews

Bully by Penelope Douglas

nikkimouse_16's review against another edition

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3.0

good read

I enjoyed the book, but I feel like the writing was kind of simplistic and Tate kind of just accepted Jared so easily even after he tortured her for three years. I would have a REALLY hard time forgiving him.

michelle_loves_books_x's review against another edition

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5.0

Tate & Jared 
Single POV (Tate)
Enemies to lovers
Childhood best friends 
Bully romance 

I love going into books totally blind and not having any clue what to expect!

I love this one! It's written from just Tate's POV but there is also a book from Jared's POV too!

Such a good book!

ida949's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

hollygandbooks's review against another edition

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Did not realise this was about 16-18 year olds in high school. Mega nope.

jfloru's review against another edition

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slow-paced

2.5

anifinch's review against another edition

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4.0

I LOVE YOU PENELOPE

lmrivas54's review against another edition

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4.0

I started to read this book with some apprehension because the subject matter is such a controversial and pervasive issue. As I kept on reading, I caught on to the reason for the bullying and even though it was still reprehensible, I could understand the reason behind the action.

Tate and Jared were friends since they were ten years old. When Tate and her father moved into the house next door to Jared’s family, he was instantly attracted to this girl who was beautiful and tomboyish, He was entranced by her coveralls and red baseball hat. Once they meet, he’s touched by her pain, having lost her mother to cancer recently. Since Jared and Tate’s father love tinkering with cars, they all bonded together by working on Tate’s father’s car. For Tate, who was hurting so bad from her loss, Jared gave her a sense of security and joy she needed sorely. They also had this huge tree that spanned the distance between their second-floor rooms, and this was their highway into each other’s rooms, where they had innocent sleepovers. You see, Jared’s father had left them when Jared was a small child and his mother was an alcoholic, very self-involved and completely absent from her son’s life. In Tate and her father, Jared found his center and they filled the hole he had in his heart.

When he was fourteen years old, he spent the summer with his father and he came back a stranger full of hate and resentment. He turned into a monster who hated her, threw verbal abuse to her, humiliated her, alienated and turned her into a pariah in school. This went on for three years, until she left one year for a student exchange in France. When she came back for their high school senior year, she decided she was not going to continue taking all that bullying and decided to strike back… Oh boy!

Jared had a best friend Madoc, who was a jokester. Tate had only one friend K.C. These two were instrumental in the fight for redemption and domination these two characters had. The story is angsty, passionate, very entertaining, although hurtful at times. Jared was very hard on Tate, and we later learn that while he hated her, he also loved her and needed her. It was very tangled up, twisted, and symbiotic. Initially I hated Jared, then I understood that he was fighting something inside, protecting some happenings in his past, and he was also mad because in some way, he felt Tate had failed him and he was rallying against her. I think Tate represented the love he should have had and didn’t have, and he was hurting her because there was no other person he trusted more. Twisted but such is the human mind.

In spite of the subject matter, the story was entertaining, tender, passionate, psychological, and riveting. It kept my nose glued to the book, and then I went on to the next book.

etianamichele's review against another edition

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emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

samandbook's review against another edition

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3.0

قشنگ مشخص بود نویسنده تو سال 2013 با آدمی که الان هست فرق داره و میشه اینو تو قلمش دید خیلی محتاطانه بود

tiffany_reads_books's review against another edition

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4.5

What I really loved about this book is that it didn’t just feel like a story—it felt like it had something meaningful to say. It’s hard to explain, but while a lot of books have great plots, characters, and storylines, they often stop there. They don’t offer commentary on deeper issues like the human experience or social issues. This book, however, offered a great perspective and commentary on bullying, which even other bully romances don't have, in my opinion.

This is how bullies are made.

That line really hit me. Like really hit me. It captured the trauma that a person endures when they’ve been bullied for years, and the book handled that aspect well. I liked how she turned into a bully and fought back, but found herself again. Also, K.C. was not a great friend, and I was hoping the FMC would drop her too.

That said, I do wish there had been more groveling from the bully, and I have to admit, the reason he started bullying her in the first place was incredibly stupid. So, just keep that in mind.