Tease by Amanda Maciel

Books catch my interest for various reasons, and when it comes to Tease by Amanda Maciel, that reason was definitely the premise. This tells the story of Sara, a girl who, along with three of her classmates, has been charged with the bullying that lead to another girl's death. In the summer before her senior year, Sara spends her time in meetings with lawyers and a therapist, going over what brought her to this moment, and whether or not she believes she had a role in Emma's suicide like everyone else seems to think.

I can't think of many books told from the point of view of the person who was the bully, and that was definitely what interested me in reading Tease. Unfortunately, I just didn't like Sara at all. She judges everyone, including the other bullies, but not herself. She is so incredibly selfish and all she feels is pity for herself and the fact that her life is ruined because of these events. She basically believes that Emma had it coming, and takes no responsibility in what happened. She is incredibly frustrating as a narrator, and when she has good things happen to her it's just hard to feel happy about them.

However, I am willing to accept a difficult to like narrator, and I'm sure that her feelings are believable or else it is hard to imagine how people could do such horrible things. However, I just felt like there was too much of an attempt to redeem the character in a way that didn't feel authentic, especially the ending of the book which seems to happen quite sudden and out of nowhere. I had spent all these pages reading Sara act a certain way, and her change just didn't come across as real to me. So while I ultimately do find the unusual perspective in Tease really interesting, the final execution of it left me wanting more.

Release Date: April 29th 2014 Pages: 336  Format: EgalleySource: Edelweiss  Publisher: Blazer + Bray  Buy It: Book Depository