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A review by rosepetals1984
Cornered: 14 Stories of Bullying and Defiance by Rhoda Belleza
3.0
Initial reaction: Compared to other story compilations on bullying that I've read, this really paled in comparison. I did not like the fact that some of the stories lacked resolution or were truncated on awkward notes in that it seemed to go against the very message it was trying to put across. However, there are some good stories in this collection that I enjoyed, and I'll expound upon those when I post my full review.
Full review:
It's been almost a full year since I've returned to review this particular compilation of stories, but I remember it well enough to say that I was quite overwhelmed by the collection as a whole, offered by Rhoda Belleza.
Quite many of you know how I feel about bullying and I've read quite a few compilations of strong narratives offered on the topic. What bothered me about this was the fact that many of the narratives came across as incomplete or with a lack of direction/distinction.
Chris Clutcher wrote an interesting preface on the collection in terms of highlighting the fact that bullies themselves can be those that are "among the bullied", and tells the story of a kid named Kevin who picked on the weakest girl in the class because he couldn't stand the sight of weakness. Rhoda Belleza also introduced the collection, with thoughtful reflections on her experiences with bullying and what inspired the respective collection - a measure to connect.
I'm going through this collection story by story just so that you guys can have an idea of what I thought were pros and cons of each story, and that you can have a gauge for what stories may work/not work for you.
1. Nemesis by Kirsten Miller This story all too reminded me of what happens when people try to combat bullying by "bullying the bullies." It never goes well and stereotyping by affixing a label to what the "bully" encompasses is destructive to seeing it as a problem and the measures of addressing solutions for stopping it. I don't know what the point of it was - the sense of vengeance and helplessness a person feels when they're bullied? To illustrate that no one deserves to fight alone. That may be true, and I could see that the motivation behind the character's actions was because her former best friend bullied her, but it kind of leaves the idea hanging.
The story tells of a young woman who fronts a secret group called "NEMESIS" - videotaping incidents of bullying and blackmailing the "bullies" as it were - sending links and the footage of recorded incidents to the bullies, their parents, and authorities like the schools. But then she also doxxes the identity of the bullies on her website if the incidents escalate. She operates under an anonymous handle, and makes statements like this in her mantra:
"We’ll ruin their careers, friendships, and love lives. We’ll have our revenge. And we’ll teach them all that payback is hell."
It lends on to the measure that the young woman gets a plea from Olivia, her former bully. She decides to go watch to delight in the fact that Olivia's getting her just deserts, but ends up feeling stricken upon seeing the bullies torment Olvia so she decides to help her "fight." But I still feel like nothing in this story was ever "resolved." It just ended abruptly. I didn't like the story personally because it hits too close to home in a wrong way.
Score: 1.5/5 stars
2. On Your Own Level by Sheba Karim
*still writing, long review*
Full review:
It's been almost a full year since I've returned to review this particular compilation of stories, but I remember it well enough to say that I was quite overwhelmed by the collection as a whole, offered by Rhoda Belleza.
Quite many of you know how I feel about bullying and I've read quite a few compilations of strong narratives offered on the topic. What bothered me about this was the fact that many of the narratives came across as incomplete or with a lack of direction/distinction.
Chris Clutcher wrote an interesting preface on the collection in terms of highlighting the fact that bullies themselves can be those that are "among the bullied", and tells the story of a kid named Kevin who picked on the weakest girl in the class because he couldn't stand the sight of weakness. Rhoda Belleza also introduced the collection, with thoughtful reflections on her experiences with bullying and what inspired the respective collection - a measure to connect.
I'm going through this collection story by story just so that you guys can have an idea of what I thought were pros and cons of each story, and that you can have a gauge for what stories may work/not work for you.
1. Nemesis by Kirsten Miller This story all too reminded me of what happens when people try to combat bullying by "bullying the bullies." It never goes well and stereotyping by affixing a label to what the "bully" encompasses is destructive to seeing it as a problem and the measures of addressing solutions for stopping it. I don't know what the point of it was - the sense of vengeance and helplessness a person feels when they're bullied? To illustrate that no one deserves to fight alone. That may be true, and I could see that the motivation behind the character's actions was because her former best friend bullied her, but it kind of leaves the idea hanging.
The story tells of a young woman who fronts a secret group called "NEMESIS" - videotaping incidents of bullying and blackmailing the "bullies" as it were - sending links and the footage of recorded incidents to the bullies, their parents, and authorities like the schools. But then she also doxxes the identity of the bullies on her website if the incidents escalate. She operates under an anonymous handle, and makes statements like this in her mantra:
"We’ll ruin their careers, friendships, and love lives. We’ll have our revenge. And we’ll teach them all that payback is hell."
It lends on to the measure that the young woman gets a plea from Olivia, her former bully. She decides to go watch to delight in the fact that Olivia's getting her just deserts, but ends up feeling stricken upon seeing the bullies torment Olvia so she decides to help her "fight." But I still feel like nothing in this story was ever "resolved." It just ended abruptly. I didn't like the story personally because it hits too close to home in a wrong way.
Score: 1.5/5 stars
2. On Your Own Level by Sheba Karim
*still writing, long review*