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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.