Fall Away (Book 1)

Bully by Penelope Douglas

Rating

3.6 stars

Date Read

16/1/16 - 19/2/16

Age Group

17+

General Thoughts

For fans of Perfect Chemistry and Beautiful Disaster.

Yesterday lasts forever. Tomorrow comes never. Until you.

Isn't there a saying about how we hurt the ones we love the most the worst? What happens when you can’t hurt the ones who hurt you? Do you lash out at others to take back some semblance of control? Punish the girl you love for someone else’s mistakes?

I'd like to say I didn't like it but that would look like a lie considering it took me just three school days to finish.

Quite a transition here, from Armentrout's perfect guys (eg Aiden or Cam) who made their girls feel safe, comfortable and protected, to Douglas' bad boy Jared, who has more issues than Vogue.

Now, this book, despite it's title, is less about bullying, and more about family issues (alcoholic mom, absentee dad etc). Also, victims of bullying don't usually make out with their bullies.

Main Characters

Tatum

"My name is Tate. He doesn't call me that, though. He would never refer to me so informally, if he referred to me at all. No, he'll barely even speak to me.

But he still won't leave me alone."

Tate is an aspiring pre med student. She's strong and smart. She's arrogant and egocentric. And she's developed a liking to hitting people these past two years.

"Well, I was kind of worried about my anger issues, but now I'm kind of worried about yours. Yu like to hit people"

-Jared

Her high school experience was ruined by the fact that her best friend of four years returned a few summers ago from visiting his father and decided to make her life hell. Pranks, rumors, disappointements. Bullying.

But now, she decides to fight back .

"If you beat metal long enough, it turns to steal"

This is how bullies are made.

Jared

Cynical, damaged, driven, protective and confident. Her best friend. He first love. Her bully.

Jared through her eyes:

"He was sweet, generous and friendly, And the most beautiful boy I'd ever seen."

"He was my tempest in the sun, my thunder in a boring cloudless sky"

"Once upon a time, he was a good guy. If things had been different, I could be his. Once upon a time I thought I was his."

"I had loved Jared once , but now I knew, without a doubt, that my Jared was gone"

Also, he's gorgeous.

"Looking at him should be a sport. Whoever pulled their eyes away from him the soonest won."

Too bad he's devoted his life to ruining hers. Or maybe he just can't stay away...

This year, senior year, is different. He's decided to let her go, to not care. But by feigning indefference they just end up hurting each other more. 

"I thought  that all the assholes drove German cars, but it turns out that pricks in Mustangs can still leave scars"

In hindsight, he's a lot more damaged than he lets on... I'm not condoning his bullying, just thinking that Tate should have tried harder to stay by his side like he did for her after her mom's death - even if he looked like he couldn't stand the sight of her - instead of acting all hurt and giving up on her best friend. 

I mean, she knew this guy.She loved him. She didn't hurt him but he still turned on her. That didn't ring any "Something is really wrong I should be patient and help him through it" bells in her head?!

KC

What kind of name is that anyway? We never do learn Tate's best friends' full name. But that's beyond the point.

Thing is, I wouldn't like Tate as my friend s I don't really know how KC puts up with her. Then again, KC isn't much better herself. For a rebound relationship she decided to hook up with the guy her best friend, our lovely protagonist, was best friends with for years, only to have him bully her all through high school.

So, either way you see it, by going out with Jared while she wasn't even in love with him, KC was either 

a) violating girl code by going  out with the guy her BFF was in love with, or 

b)just being a cruel,/uncaring friend by fraternising making out with the enemy, Tate's bully.

And she had the audacity to lie about it!

Madoc

Jared's best friend. Where Jared looks like a movie star, he looks like a model. You can see why the girls run into walls because they're busy staring. He knows how to be an asshole but he also knows how to be a good friend. If you don't like him by the end of the book then you read it wrong.

Piper

Let's not talk about Piper.

Romance

Loved him, hated their relatioship. Tate is a hyprocrite, confuses sarcasm with rudeness, insults people thinking she's being sassy, and often becomes outright cruel. Then again there is this notion about people who go through bullying becoming bullies themselves...

Plot

Damaged, jaded & sexy high school senior deals with the aftermath of having bullied a girl he can’t forget...

Girl is friends with boy. Boy leaves for the summer, comes back different. Boy bullies girl. Girl leaves for France. Girl returns and decides to fight back. Boy turns out to love girl. Final twist that just proves she never trusted him in the first place.. The end.

Not much of a plot, is there?

All In All

Would have given it 3 stars but Jared and the fact that it was a standalone earned it a bonus. (Funny thing is I used to make fun of people who gave rating like 2.87 and 4.92 but now I'm turning into one of them...) Not bad, I probably won't read the rest of the series but will be checking out Penelope Douglas' other books.

PS Songs:
The Days- Avicii
Blame - Calvin Harris

XOXO

Aggie Pearson