Tease

Amanda Maciel’s TEASE is a novel that instantly grabs your attention. From its opening line, to its atypical perspective, to its main character who is far from instantly likable, it’s a story that is at once refreshingly different, intriguing, emotionally charged and thought-provoking.Sara Wharton has been charged with bullying, which led to the death by suicide of Emma Putnam. She is not immediately remorseful for her actions. She does not see the part she played in Emma’s death. She does not feel she is the wrongdoer. She sees herself as the victim.Emma Putnam was the girl who stole her boyfriend. It was Emma who called her a tease. It was Emma who was the selfish one who took her life and caused Sara’s world to fall apart. It was all Emma’s fault, not hers.Told from Sara’s point of view, TEASE moves between the present and the past to reveal just what happened between Emma, Sara, Sara’s boyfriend Dylan, and Sara’s friends, including her mean girl best friend Brielle, to show how Sara’s life has changed, and how Sara herself has eventually changed, because of what had been done and what resulted.TEASE is not a light story with a happily ever after ending. While the writing has an easy flow, making it a quick read, the core of the story – bullying and suicide – gives it weight and importance. And its underlying messages of consequences and responsibility and understanding and sympathy give it depth.Sara is not a likely choice for narrator, as she isn’t instantly relatable, sympathetic or even likable. On first glance she appears cold and selfish. And it is only as the story progresses that readers will begin to see that she’s not the self-absorbed, cruel person she pretends to be. She is flawed and insecure and jealous. She desperately wants to fit in, to not be the outsider. And as the tables turn we get to see that she is not so different from Emma.Author Amanda Maciel does a masterful job of telling this story from the bully’s perspective without making her too sympathetic or losing sight of the real, if not the only, victim, Emma Putnam. With TEASE, she creates a story that feels very realistic – the bullies aren’t one hundred percent evil and the victim isn’t entirely pure and innocent. Her characters aren’t excused for their behavior but readers are given reasons why they act as they do.And she does this all in a way that is utterly compelling.

After I finished reading Tease and before writing this review, I read some reviews on Goodreads. I noticed some people say that the reason they didn't enjoy this book was because of Sara being such an unlikeable character. Well... duh! She's selfish and cruel and, frankly, thoughtless. She wasn't supposed to be the likeable best friend character. She was supposed to be the realistic mean girl. And while part of Sara knows that what she's doing to Emma is wrong, it's the part that bullies Emma that she feeds. After all, it's much more enjoyable to give into the things that make us feel better about ourselves than to admit what we're doing is wrong. So, yes. Sara is completely unlikeable, but I think that should be expected. However...SPOILER I think Sara was supposed to viewed as repentant at the of the book, but I didn't really buy it. Her remorse felt very surface and unrealistic. Yes, I believe that she was more apologetic about what happened and the role she played in Emma's death than anyone else, but I have a hard time believing she was truly sorry. There was no moment in the book where she really comes to an understanding about the role she played. It was more of a spontaneous "Oops! I did a bad thing!" than a legitimate realization that she had a hand in causing someone to take their own life. END SPOILEROverall, I think Tease was a good book (even if the ending didn't work for me). I think it provides a realistic and gritty look at how out of hand bullying can become. While it's not a nice and easy read, it was worth it.

“Tease” by Amanda Maciel is a must read. I thought Maciel did a wonderful job with this book. I think this is a book that every teenager should read. I think anyone that has been bullied or has been the bully will completely relate to this book. “Tease” is an eye opener. I have never thought about how the bully may feel when they have to deal with the consequences of their actions. In all honesty it can change your entire life. This is what Sara had to learn.Sara was a bully to Emma. I don’t agree with the choices that Emma made because cheating with someone’s boyfriend still makes you a cheater even if you aren’t the one cheating on someone. Emma knew that Dylan was taken and she went after him anyway. I don’t agree with how Sara responded anyway, especially since she let her emotions and the peer pressure from her best friend drive her actions. I think Sara could have made much better decisions but she chose not too. Sara chose the actions of what she did just like Emma chose to do what she did. I don’t it is Sara’s fault that Emma is dead because suicide is a choice that Emma made. I do believe that Sara helped the process along with all the mean things she said and did to Emma. I think both sides are guilty of many things.To actually read and think about the trial one might go through having too deal with going to court and the fact that everyone blames you for the death of another person. I think that would make life very hard. Imagine one day things being normal and than the next minute everything is completely different.“Tease” is such an eye opener. I really think everyone should get a chance to read it because I feel like there is so much to learn from “Tease.” Maciel did a wonderful job with her debut novel. There are so many things that I want to say but I am not completely sure how to put them all into words. I really felt myself feel sorry for Sara by the end of the boook. I feel like she was able to learn a lot through her entire process. That is the important part.