This is how bullies are made.
With a love for cars, racing and rainy days, Tate and Jared were inseparable. They were the perfect picture of friendship. And when Jared comes back from a summer with his father Tate expects everything to be like it was.
She was wrong.
Her sweet best friend is now gone and in place is a cruel version of him. A bully. And his target? Her.
Fortunately she gets the chance to study in France her junior year, the only problem is that in a year, she’ll have to come back.
I used to love people. I loved being a part of things and socializing. Now, I only wanted to be alone. Because alone was the only way I was safe.
What an amazing story! I really felt everything that went on. Bullying is a huge problem and as much as you like to chant ‘sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me’, words do hurt. Some things you can heal from, and others stay with you forever.
Tate was the best character in Bully. You really sympathize with everything she’s going/ gone through, but what I really loved was how imperfect she also was. It’s easy to write a perfect, sweet character that’s getting bullied and has never said anything bad about anybody. In my opinion, that would have made the story completely unrealistic. She definitely had her fair share of harming others with her words. It’s easy to get carried away in the moment and regret what ends up coming out of your mouth, so I was glad that Ms. Douglas didn’t just make Tate the harmless victim.
Jared, Jared, Jared… where to start with you?
His shiny brown hair was a mess.
I loved that.
His chocolate eyes glowed with confidence and mischief.
I loved that.
His toned arms and chest just made me wonder what his skin felt like.
I loved that.
He made me forget how awful he was.
I hated that.
He was so… mean. Which makes sense since he was the bully, but I didn’t expect him to be so cruel. They were once friends, after all, but that didn’t seem to hold him back. At all.
Yet despite how much of a jerk he was, I couldn’t help be intrigued by him and eventually start liking him.
The only serious problem I had with him was his reason for being the way he was all those years. While reading it all I could think was “are you kidding me?!” .
Their relationship was complex, but sweet and you couldn’t help but root for them. There’s nothing more beautiful than friends falling in love with each other. They had a lot of history, some good and some bad, but that’s what made it so strong and just… right.
“I want to touch you.” His words were against my lips now. “I want to feel what’s mine. What’s always been mine.”
We even get a few flashbacks that help you connect to and understand the relationship they had when they were kids.
The writing was simple but kept me engaged into the story. I never wanted to put the book down!
Bully was an easy to read, gripping story about love, redemption and friendship.
I’m definitely looking forward to book 2!
“I love you more than myself, more than my own family, for Christ’s sake. I don’t want to take another step in this world without you next to me,” he said softly.