Review: Tease

Posted March 11, 2015 / Book Reviews / 8 Comments

Review: TeaseTease by Amanda Maciel
Genres: Young Adult
Published by Harper Collins on April 29th 2014
Format: Audiobook (336 pages) • Source: Scribd
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three-half-stars

Provocative, unforgettable, and inspired by real-life incidents, Amanda Maciel's highly acclaimed debut novel Tease is the story of a teenage girl who faces criminal charges for bullying after a classmate commits suicide. 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.

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.

1thoughts

I was really hoping to get to the end of this book and say “this is really an important book to read, even if it’s difficult at times “… I feel like this is partially true, because it offers a really different perspective – from the bullies point of view – but I wish there was a little bit more, you know?

Throughout the vast majority of the book, Sarah is selfish and does not feel bad about anything that happened. I get that she was also hurt by things that Emma did, but her and her friends are the ones who took things way too far. It would’ve been nice to see her actually regret things especially early in the book. She spends 80% of the boat mostly just feeling sorry for herself. She wasn’t sorry about anything that she did to Emma: she only felt sorry about the impact it had on her life. I really don’t understand how somebody can be that stupid and selfish but apparently that’s what goes on in a bully’s head. At the beginning of the book I was actually thinking that the story was going to make me kind of feel sorry for her, but it really just made me hate just about every character. Including Emma. Like what was she even doing? What was everyone doing??

On top of that, this was not the kind of book that needed a romantic subplot. I like that there was someone to be there for Sarah, in some ways, but it also took away from the point a little bit.

Overall I think I can say that this is an important book to check out at some point, but be prepared to be frustrated. The book would have had a completely different feel if it was from Emma’s perspective, but this was definitely an interesting take on a bullying story.


 

ratings scorecardplot premise  four-stars characterss  two-half-stars writing style  four-stars pacing  four-stars feels swoons  one-star addiction  three-stars

8 responses to “Review: Tease

  1. As interesting as this premise is, it doesn’t sound like one I would want to read either. Why on earth would there need to be a romance with so much other stuff going on? And if the main character’s actions directly lead to a girl’s suicide, it would drive me crazy that she doesn’t feel more guilty. Great review!

    Cynthia recently posted: Caserta Palace - Naples, Italy
  2. I would understand why you felt that way about Sara. She kept saying how it wasn’t her fault that Emma killed herself. I don’t think she understood what was going on in Emma’s head when she killed herself. I also kind of like to believe that Sara would be a different person in a different situation if she hadn’t met Bree but that doesn’t mean that the suicide wasn’t partly her fault.

    Kaitlin @ Next Page Please! recently posted: Harry Potter Moment of the Week: Best Hogwarts Teacher
  3. Loved seeing your thoughts on this, this was one of the most conflicting, if not THE most conflicting reads I’ve ever read! I rated it slightly lower initially because it was so unsettling and annoyed me so much, but almost 1 year later I think about it regularly, so I bumped it up .5 because it was/is so though-provoking, it uncomfortable.

    Here’s my review – https://confessionsofabookgeek.wordpress.com/2014/03/27/tease/

    Rachel recently posted: Review: Losing Hope

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