Tease

by Amanda Maciel

"A teenage girl faces criminal charges for bullying after a classmate commits suicide"--

A teenage girl faces criminal charges for bullying after a classmate commits suicide. The plot contains pervasive profanity, sexual situations, graphic violence and negative stereotypes.

• ISBN10: 0062305301
• ISBN13: 9780062305305
• Publish Date: 29 April 2014
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Collins
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[Joséphine]

Fair Warning to Readers

Some might find it difficult to read a book about bullying from the perspective of the one who bullied. That is exactly the perspective that Tease offers. It is not a book that can be taken lightly. Neither is it a book about a victim of bullying who overcomes her plight. No, it is a story about the bully after her victim committed suicide.

What makes it so difficult to read is that Sara's reaction is not remorse. Instead, she thinks about all the ways that Emma's death messed up her own life. She is fixated on her belief that she shouldn't have been singled out for the lawsuit. Others were just as guilty of the harm that had been inflicted upon Emma. Most importantly, she didn't kill Emma. Emma took her own life.

As much as many readers like to be able to sympathise with characters in books, Sara doesn't fulfil that ideal. She challenges it. That doesn't mean that Tease glorifies bullying in any way though. The consequences are evident. What it does is explore why anyone would resort to bullying in the first place and what their mindset might be like.

We May not Be Bullies but we Aren't above Them

Most of us, I'm sure, have been guilty of doing something wrong that we didn't initially think was wrong. We only came to terms with that in retrospect. That is the crossroads that we find Sara at. I liked that Maciel alternated between the present and the past. It portrays the contrast of Sara's thoughts very well, in terms of before and after, and how she deals with all the hostility towards her as a result of the tragedy.

Some Characters Don't Require Sympathy

As I said, Sara's story hasn't been written to create another character for readers to love. Amanda Maciel wrote in her author's note that she believes every story deserves to be heard, and I agree with her. No matter how much I wanted to shake Sara, I thought it was refreshing to consider bullying from the bully's view for a change. Maciel did a remarkable job writing Sara's story, wonderfully capturing the nuances of Sara's thoughts and emotions.

My Experience with Bullying

On a personal note, I don't think that Tease is a book to which anyone should take offence. I was bullied so much in high school, I transferred schools. Officially, I did it to gain an academic advantage but bullying was the tipping point. This is why I think I am in a position to say, give Tease a chance. I don't condone Sara's actions but I do know that often bullies are grossly misguided and they need as much help as their victims do.

This review first appeared on Word Revel

[Rowena]

This book was a really hard book to read. The story is about a bully dealing with the consequences of their actions when the girl her and her friends bullied, ends up killing herself. This isn't the victim's story, but the bully's.

It's hard and at times, it made me want to punch the main character in the face many times but the story itself was really powerful. It's important to pay attention to what's going on in your kids life. Teenagers, no matter what they think, need to be monitored because things like Emma Putnam's story really happen in real life.

It took a long time for me to warm up to Sara's character but in the end, I'm glad that she was aware of her actions and what her actions cost.

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

This review of Tease by Amanda Maciel may contain spoilers. I’m not certain I can fully express why I did not enjoy this book without saying a bit about the plot.

I had high hopes for this novel (maybe too high) when I saw it pop up in the blogosphere. What caught my eye were the descriptions about how it shows the bully’s side of the story and the cause and effect of the bullying actions after the person being bullied commits suicide. The book does cover that, in a sense, but I don’t feel the message is delivered effectively as I had hoped.

Sarah, the main character, is a tag-a-long. She’s not necessarily the main bully; at least I didn’t see her that way. One could argue that Sarah, herself, is being bullied by the toxic group of girls she chooses to hang out with. Sarah doesn’t quite fit in socially or economically with the gaggle of popular girls, she seems to become the scapegoat in the trial that follows Emma’s death. Her parents are divorced. She can’t afford the fancy lawyer. In my opinion, Sarah didn’t lead the majority of attacks and suffers from Stockholm Syndrome. Her strong need to have Brielle accept her, drives her to ignore what her conscience tells her almost every time she’s in a bad situation. She tries desperately to be a good friend with Brielle despite what she knows is wrong.

In the end, Sarah does realize that her participation has caused irreparable harm. The fact not all the bullies came to the same conclusion and because some of them had better lawyers than others, I feel Sarah paid a higher price in the courtroom, in the public’s eyes and especially emotionally. As a result, I was disappointed in how the story wrapped up. I understand that not everything is fair in life, but if this book was truly about the bullies coming to grips with how their actions caused Emma’s suicide, Brielle and the others would have paid a greater price.

[Linda]

*I received a free ARC of Tease from Hodder Children's Books via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review*

I might push the rating up to four, because even if I thought Sara was a very cold and selfish character, I believe that a story about one of the bullies is quite important.

This and all my other reviews are originally posted on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews

[Leah]

When I spotted Tease by Amanda Maciel on Edelweiss, I thought it sounded really, really interesting. The synopsis grabbed me immediately, and I loved the striking cover with the word Tease dominating and I knew I had to read this book! Young Adult is such an interesting genre, one I’m reading more and more every week, every month, and I keep discovering some fantastic new authors, and Amanda has very much joined that list because Tease is one of the most unforgettable books I will ever read. I say that with no doubt in my mind, and I think that everyone who reads it will feel the same way – whether you love or loathe this book, make no mistake, you won’t forget it in a hurry.

Kids committing suicide after being bullied is something that’s more and more prevalent in our society. It’s a hot topic, and Tease delves right into the heart of that topic, right from the off. Because everyone believes that the reasons Emma Putnam is dead is because of Sara Wharton and her BFF Brielle. The novel opens with a bang, with Sara at her lawyers office discussing what happened with Emma and why, perhaps, Sara and her friends are part of the reason Emma killed herself. It’s shocking, I’ll say that, but it had me hooked instantly. The novel then flashes back in time and we unravel exactly what happened in the lead up to Emma’s death, whilst also maintaining a foothold in the present, as Sara’s trial comes closer and closer. It was written so captivatingly. I could barely put the book down and spent a happy day devouring it.

What Tease did best was it asked a lot of questions of myself – it really made me think. Because we were essentially reading a book about a bully, a group of bullies, which was so bad a girl killed herself. But there’s one quote that stands out for me, “Emma’s life is over because of Emma,” I say. “I didn’t kill her, Brielle didn’t kill her and the guys didn’t kill her.” That. That is the reason I spent the novel so conflicted because it’s true. Sara didn’t tie the rope around Emma’s neck and let her hang, but I will confess that they didn’t help matters. I don’t really know where I stand on blaming bullies for kids deaths. It’s awful all around, let’s be honest, and Tease allowed that insight into Sara’s life. It wasn’t all roses and happiness, and Emma did do a lot of things to anger Sara, not that I’m justifying bullying. But there’s definitely more than one side and this is a novel that will have you thinking and doubting and wondering “what if…”

I was very much spellbound by the book, which makes me feel bad – how can I love a book about such a horrific experience? How can I feel compassion for what Sara goes through when she very much failed to show that herself? I truly didn’t think Sara was as bad as made out to be – she was to Emma, absolutely, but apart from that, at home, she wasn’t so bad and I do think peer pressure had a lot to do with it. Her BFF Brielle was very much the driving force, and we all know how tough it is when we come up against someone like a Brielle. Tease is a fascinating read, one that left me questioning myself and one that will stay with me long after reading. It’s a book that packs a punch and it packs it well, with questionable characters, a brilliant fast pace and a really interesting narrator. I loved it.