Review: Bully - Penelope Douglas

 

 

Review: Bully - Penelope Douglas - February 2014

Have you ever been bullied at school and have found your schooling life a living hell ? The worst thing though , that this person who is now your worst enemy used to be your best friend in the whole wide world ? For Tate , that person is Jared. Growing up as next door neighbours they were the best of friends, that was until he went away to visit his dad when he was 13 and came back that Summer an entirely different person and mean. It was like a light had switched and was "I hate Tate" from now on and even worst was that he got his buddies involved in the bullying as well. When the chance for an student exchange turns up and to get away for a year, Tate takes it and is off to France. The year whizzes by and she is sort of dreading going back to the school for senior year and having to face Jared. However, Tate has had enough and seemed to have grown some balls over the holidays and is going to give it back to Jared as two can play at this game. As the story goes along though we read as Jared starts to soften and Tate wonders what his endgame is and believes he can't really change. After chatting to her grandmother who believes that Tate needs closure from Jared before heading to College, she decides the only way to tell him how she feels is by writing it down and reading it aloud. She gets this opportunity in class, when they are to read a monologue aloud. This was a turning point in the book and made me think of the movie "10 Things I Hate About You" when Kat reads the sonnet she wrote to Patrick. Over the next few weeks , Jared reveals the past to Tate and the two get closer and more romantically involved. But what will happen when he starts to push away again ? Did she misread everything or has Jared not revealed everything happening in his life ? 

Bully by Penelope Douglas was an amazing read and I think this should be on everyone's reading list and that every person ever bullied or if you were the bully should have this book sitting on their "I've read it" pile.