From debut author Amanda Maciel comes a provocative and unforgettable novel, inspired by real-life incidents, about a teenage girl who faces criminal charges for bullying after a classmate commits suicide.
Emma Putnam is dead, and it's all Sara Wharton's fault. At least, that's what everyone seems to think. Sara, along with her best friend and three other classmates, has been criminally charged for the bullying and harassment that led to Emma's shocking suicide. Now Sara is the one who's ostracized, already guilty according to her peers, the community, and the media. In the summer before her senior year, in between meetings with lawyers and a court-recommended therapist, Sara is forced to reflect on the events that brought her to this moment—and ultimately consider her own role in an undeniable tragedy. And she'll have to find a way to move forward, even when it feels like her own life is over.
With its powerful narrative, unconventional point of view, and strong anti-bullying theme, this coming-of-age story offers smart, insightful, and nuanced views on high school society, toxic friendships, and family relationships.
The way I read it ~
I feel like sratching my eyes out……
If this is what it’s like inside the mind of a teenager these days, well goodbye eyeballs. It was nice knowing you.
If this is what it’s like inside the mind of a teenager these days, well goodbye eyeballs. It was nice knowing you.
The story is being told through the eyes and mind of Sara, caught in the aftermath of the suicide of Emma, a girl she has been accused of bull
ying. Sara is best friend to Brielle, the head of their clique and spokesperson for the mean girls ‘r’ us (not really). To have the story told through Sara’s perspective was both interesting and refreshing. Granted that I loved that aspect, I didn't connect to Sara. I didn't feel either sorry for or angry with her. I was mostly dispassionate. And irritated. She wasn't apologetic for the actions she’s accused of and I understood that because I got that she felt justified in what she was doing. She felt wronged and her actions toward Emma were in retaliation due to hurt feelings (instigated at times by Brielle, the best friend). And as a teenager, hurt feelings powers practically ninety percent of brain function. So retaliation was in the form of petty pranks and a lot of name calling, mainly ‘slut’. Sara came across as insecure. It seemed to me that her world revolved around ‘everything Brielle’. Every thought that came out of Sara had roots to Brielle by way of something Brielle had said, thought or done. It was very tiring to read. Seemed like the story was leading me around in circles and all I wanted was to get off the merry go round before I puked. Not to mention the ‘like’ factor. Like, I got really, really, tired of it, like really.
That being said, the underlying message I got from Tease was the seriousness of bullying. How latent it might seem in general to other teenage issues. How secretive that insiders’ world is. How isolated the recipients can feel. How sometimes unrepentant the perpetrators can be and how unprepared some people are when faced with the gravity of it all. It is very serious and very real. The author did a good job of highlighting this certainly, but for me it was overshadowed by the utter drag of Sara’s thought process. Yes, I got that Sara is young and not worldly, how can one be at sixteen/seventeen. I absolutely got that. But Sara needed to grow a back bone. Sara needed a new best friend. Sara needed to wake up and smell the reality. This only shows, to me at least, how shallow and self absorbed teens of this era can be and establishes the fact that repentance is sometimes too late.
Anyways, I think readers will either love it or hate it. Tease balanced that very fine line and it could surprise a few people, infuriate others and maybe even intrigue most.
I’d recommend it, just on the basis of experiencing something new.
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ARC received from the Publisher via NetGalley for an honest review
That being said, the underlying message I got from Tease was the seriousness of bullying. How latent it might seem in general to other teenage issues. How secretive that insiders’ world is. How isolated the recipients can feel. How sometimes unrepentant the perpetrators can be and how unprepared some people are when faced with the gravity of it all. It is very serious and very real. The author did a good job of highlighting this certainly, but for me it was overshadowed by the utter drag of Sara’s thought process. Yes, I got that Sara is young and not worldly, how can one be at sixteen/seventeen. I absolutely got that. But Sara needed to grow a back bone. Sara needed a new best friend. Sara needed to wake up and smell the reality. This only shows, to me at least, how shallow and self absorbed teens of this era can be and establishes the fact that repentance is sometimes too late.
Anyways, I think readers will either love it or hate it. Tease balanced that very fine line and it could surprise a few people, infuriate others and maybe even intrigue most.
I’d recommend it, just on the basis of experiencing something new.
******************************************************
ARC received from the Publisher via NetGalley for an honest review
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| Rated Bitter: 2 out of 5 Sugar cubes |
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