Review: Tease by Amanda Maciel

Title: Tease

Author: Amanda Maciel

Release date: May 1st 2014

My rating: 5 stars

Blurb on Goodreads: 

Emma Putnam is dead, and it's all Sara Wharton's fault.

At least, that's what everyone seems to think when 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. But Sara is sure she hasn't done anything wrong, because Emma brought it on herself. Sara is adamant that she was the victim - not Emma.

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This book has been appearing pretty frequently in my various feeds, and I've been super intrigued to find out just why so many people couldn't even bring themselves to finish it.

As you may already know, this book begins after the death of a high school girl, Emma, who has committed suicide after being bullied and such. We get to see what happens after her death and what effects it has on everyone involved, as well as the sequence of events that led up to her death. However, this isn't told from Emma's perspective, or her family's or friends'. It's told from the perspective of Sara, one of the girls accused of bullying Emma and making her hate her life so much she'd rather end it than carry on living. And the worst part? Sara isn't even sorry. In her mind, Emma is a selfish girl who's ruined her life in taking her own.

This book was so so powerful. It packs a serious punch and makes you feel just a little bit sick inside. I found Sara to be such a complex, troubled character,  and I switched between feeling for her and being disgusted by her throughout the novel. This just shows how brilliant Maciel's writing is, and I truly feel that it's because of her outstanding writing that the book is as powerful as it is.

There is no particular plot development or twists, as it's mostly character driven and the 'plot' so to speak has already occurred.  I love reading these kind of books but only when they are done well because they heavily rely upon the author's writing skills to keep the reader engaged.  In that sense I feel Amanda Maciel has done brilliantly, because despite it not being an 'enjoyable' book per say, it was definitely gripping and I couldn't put it down. She made me desperate to understand why. Why did Sara bully Emma? Why was she so adamant that was not sorry for what had happened? And the more I read, the more I understood.

In my opinion, Sara is just as much a victim in this story as Emma is, albeit in a different kind of way. People seem to allocate the term 'victim' to those who are unable to fight back or tough it out. Just because Sara is a bitch, doesn't mean to say she is not also a victim. She is the victim of an extremely toxic relationship with her one and only friend Brielle.  Brielle has used Sara's friendship and manipulated her in horrible ways, making Sara depend on her as her only friend, messing with her emotions and bringing her into situations that put Sara at risk. It was horrible to read about, and even worse to think that on a subconscious level,  Sara knew what Brielle was doing but felt powerless to stop it. That doesn't mean to say Sara is innocent and not at fault, because she has her own brain and she should use it to make her own choices. However she is still just an impressionable kid at the end of the day. She looked up to her one and only friend, who was her role model in a way when her own parents had stopped being good examples and left her to herself whilst giving her big responsibilities to handle such as her brothers.

I really think that Sara was sorry from the very beginning and regretted what she had done from the moment she found out Emma had killed herself, but didn't allow herself to aknowledge that remorse. She's the kind of girl that toughs these things out, and the only way she could handle all the people out there with their accusing stares was to convince herself they were wrong. I absolutely loved how she developed throughout the book, and was able to finally accept what had happened and what her role in Emma's death had been.

Emma is a girl I will never understand. She was quiet and mysterious and Sara never truly knew her which means we as the reader didn't either. It is sad but true that people often glorify the dead and ignore the bad qualities that that person may have had, and this shows in Amanda's brilliant novel too. Whilst everyone accuses Sara of bullying a sweet innocent girl, Emma was no angel by any means. She never seemed to try and make friends or explain herself to anyone and she did hurtful things to Sara such as taking her boyfriend. It may seem childish and minor, but that had a big impact on Sara. If we think about it, besides Brielle and her brothers, Sara's boyfriend was the only other person she really had, who she felt cared about what happened to her (even though he didn't really and he was as bad as Brielle in my opinion). When Emma took him away, she practically took away 50% of the people Sara had, which undoubtedly hurt. This doesn't justify Sara's bullying, but it makes me understand her a little.

All in all, this novel was amazing; from the way that it was written, to the issues it tackles and the way that it allows the reader to decide who's really guilty of bullying and who can be blamed for what happened. I can see why some people didn't finish it, but character development is a thing people! You have to give it a chance  and remember that no one is truly innocent. There is so much more I could say about this book, but I'll stop gushing now and end by saying that I will most likely be getting myself a physical copy of this book because it's one that really made me think and that I will most likely be revisiting.

*this book was kindly given to me for review via netgalley*

Review:Promiscuous by Isobel Irons

 

Title: Promiscuous

Author: Isobel Irons

Release Date: 10th January 2014

My Rating: 4/5 stars


*I was given this book in exchange for an honest review*

"It’s like a fucking Cinderella story up in here. Only, it’s high school. So there aren’t any happy endings."

^ That line right there sold it for me. I read that, and new it was something I had to check out. And boy let me tell you, there was no false packaging with this one. What you see is what you get, and then some.

This is the story of 18 year old Natasha “Tash” Bohner. And I know, her last name was made for taking the piss out of but honestly, that’s the least of her fricking problems. This is a story of shitty life situations, labels of society, and real life problems that don’t get swept under the rug or even given a directed spotlight (you know, the kind where the author shows you just enough about said life problem to make you all happy and crap when they 'resolve' it in their story). No. None of that BS here. Being dealt possibly the worst hand life could have given her; this is about Tasha's journey of self-discovery and how real people deal with things in every day real life. Realistic fiction in its rawest yet finest form. Have I mentioned how real it is? (Okay okay I'll stop). So, that being said, if stories with traumatic experiences such as bullying, sexual abuse, suicide and eating disorders as well as no particularly happy endings aren't your thing, then this definitely isn't for you. Go pick up the original Cinderella or something.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Isobel Irons' writing style is pretty damn captivating. The whole time I felt like I was actually listening to Tash as she told me her story, and not like I was reading a novel. The writing feels very personal, which makes sense as Isobel mentions that this is her story for the most part too. That raw edge made this book all the more powerful and unforgiving. The moment you open this book and start the first page you're thrown into the deep end. There is no warm up, no shallow easy beginning to dip your toes in to grow accustomed to its feel. Nope. Hold your breath and swim biatch or prepare to drown. Straight away it feels like Natasha is attacking, almost willing you to put the book down and walk away. For me that was practically a sign that she had something to hide, and made me push on all the more harder. Her dry wit and cynicism were actually right up my alley and made her all the more relatable to me as I could just feel how she was using them as well as her 'slut' label as a front, to throw people off what she was really like inside. The story itself was the perfect length. It didn’t take forever to build up or get to the point, and it didn’t drag on forever after.

There were a variety of characters present in this story, each adding their own dimension to the plot and giving this story far more depth than the dreadful cover allows us to believe (I'm sorry, I hate it). Tash's best friend Margot was the sweet to her sour. She was strong in ways that Tash was lacking and vulnerable in ways Tash wouldn't dream of being. They balanced each other perfectly and through their own little perfect pact kept each other (and me) sane through the shit storm that is their life. I loved how the issue of bullying as well as anorexia was tackled in this relationship. I like how Tash (and by default Isobel Irons) was honest enough to admit that actually, the fact that Margot's bones stand out so badly is kind of gross. That doesn't make Tash a horrible person, it makes her honest. Anorexia is terrible and gross and real, and should be faced, not cowered from or tip-toed around. I like how she knew when to leave Margot be, but supported her when she needed it and helped her get better. I adored Margot's family and their easy going nature, their big hearts and funny as hell personalities. They brought out the better side of Tash. I found it particularly sad that Tasha found it so hard to believe that her teacher as well as The Perfect Boy aka Grant Blue could actually think she deserved better. It just went to show that people that have confidence issues, particularly those traumatically induced such as Tasha's, don't even realise just how badly they have been affected. It was beautiful when she realised actually, what had happened to her was terrible, but was in no way her fault and she didn't deserved the shit she was dealing with. She is better than that, better than all those who sought to destroy her and had just as much right to want better for herself as everyone else. Grant Blue's character was key in Tasha's story. I loved how he was perceived as some perfect kid when in reality, he was just as flawed as the next person. It was great to see him open up to Tash in the way that he did, as it was essential to making her realise not everyone is what society labels them as and that flaws don't make imperfection. As cheesy as it sounds, they are both imperfectly perfect in their own way.

In short, this is a powerful, moving book of realistic fiction that cuts the crap and exposes just how bad high school can be, but how the simple things like friends and self believe can make all the difference, and that change starts with your own perception of yourself. I would most definitely recommend this book if you're looking for something moving and honest to read and aren't so easily offended. And even if you are, you should still read this book because I'm sure Tash would be more than happy to knock you off that high horse of yours and give you a much needed reality check.