Title: Tease
Author: Amanda Maciel
Genre: YA, Contemporary
First published: April 29th 2014
Finished reading: May 27th 2015
Pages: 328
“But how do you apologize for this? I know what I did, I know it was bad, some of it was really bad. But how am I supposed to fix anything now?”
I first found out about Tease when I was browsing for titles about bullying for my Bookish Bingo challenge. This novel by Amanda Maciel sounded like an interesting read so it was an easy choice… Now that I’ve finished reading Tease, I can say it has left its mark. Bullying and teen suicide are not exactly easy subjects, but I think that the author was able to properly describe them in her novel. A few teenagers have been criminally charged for bullying one of their classmates to a degree that made her decide to end her own life. Amanda Maciel tells us the story mostly from Sara’s point of view (one of the classmates), but doesn’t fail to show that the victim wasn’t an angel either. High school is messy and the case is actually quite complicated… But it shows where bullying someone can lead to, and how wrong it is no matter what the other person might have done to you. Definitely recommended to those who enjoy a good YA contemporary novel with a strong message!
Five teenagers have been criminally charged for bullying and harrassing Emma Putnam to the point that she decided to commit suicide. Sara is one of them and she doesn’t see how she is actually responsible for Emma’s death. Sara only sees how the new girl slowly destroyed her comfortable high school life… They were what you call enemies, Emma stealing away her boyfriend and all, and even after she is death Emma is ruining her life. The whole community already thinks Sara is guilty before the trial has even started, and she cannot go outside without being scolded at. Sara has the summer to prepare herself for the trial, and is forced to reflect on the events that led to Emma’s suicide during meetings with her lawyer and therapist. Will she finally realize she actually did something wrong after all?
I had a hate/love relationship with the main characters, but I cannot deny that they at least felt ‘real’. Tease is a novel with a strong anti-bullying message that shows the consequences of bullying someone. It is quite a fast read despite the difficult subject and I also liked that Amanda Maciel used Sara’s point of view instead of the victim; it makes this read that much more interesting. Without doubt recommended!
I finished Treasure Island the other day, and unfortunately I cannot say I ended up enjoying this classic by Robert Louis Stevenson. I feel a bit guilty, but I was almost bored by the story and couldn’t connect to the characters… I also finished City Of Ashes by Cassandra Clare, and I’m still sticking with the fact that I like the prequel trilogy better. There are so many love triangles going on that it’s becoming annoying!
