Book Review: Tease by Amanda Maciel

Tease by Amanda Maciel

Pages: 338 (paperback)
Publish date: April 29th 2014
Publisher: Hachette Children’s Books , Blazer + Bray
ISBN: 9781444918717
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

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.

Inspired by a true story, TEASE is a thought-provoking must-read that will haunt you long after the last page.

Tease:

I received an e-copy of Tease from Hachette Children’s Books on Netgalley for review. This has in no way influenced my review.

I have tried to write this review many times before but I just couldn’t seem to do it. Not because it wasn’t good, — I think Tease was an amazing book but because it dealt with a topic that is just so hard to read about.

Tease is from Sara Wharton perspective, one of the bullies of Emma Putnam who by the time we are reading has already committed suicide. Let me tell you it was really hard reading a book from a bully’s point of view, from their life. But I learned while reading Tease that bullying doesn’t just effect the victim but effect so much more.

I am not condoning bullying or bullies in any way but Tease is able to make the reader see not just victim’s perspective but from the perspectives of everyone else.

Sara is, well, I think manipulated. Yes, she does bully Emma on her own account, but I think that deep down, she is actually being bullied herself by the manipulation of her ‘best-friend.’

Tease was a very hard book to read, but, like I said before, not because it was a bad book, but because of the subjects it deals with. There were a couple of times where I had to put the book down and just recapture my thoughts and feelings because sometimes it was a lot to take in.

I felt bad for Sara. What she did was horrible, but she had to deal with the consequences on her own. I felt like she was a pawn in a chess came. She was used as the mover. She did everything, but with the influence of others. Yes, no one can make you feel something, but they can change your feelings towards something.

Sara’s best friend wow, now she is a bully through and through. She was the puppeteer and Sara was the puppet.

A lot of people don’t like Sara at all, but I think there is much more to this story than what is really displayed. She is just so ‘weak,’ you could say, she doesn’t understand that what she says hurts people.

I like how Tease went back and forth from the present to before Emma’s suicide. It gave me an insight on who the real bully was. Not just what is on the outside. It also gave us an idea of who Emma was and how she acted. What happened to her was horrible, but she also did some pretty bad things herself.

The language used in Tease is a bit out there and, from other young adult books that I have read, it’s one of the few that uses that sort of language. But then I realised that the language that is used by almost every teen and it’s normal. It may not be nice in anyway, but it’s real. And that is exactly what Tease is: real and raw

Tease was hard to read, but it is so powerful. How one little thing can lead to another little thing and then something big. How one mistake cannot just ruin your life, but the lives of those around you.