muniemoe's review against another edition
4.0
My thoughts about this...
The main character try to emphasize that she is not a bully. But after all the conversation and the screenshots. I believe that she created a bullying 'environment' and she is the bully herself.She did not try to stand up or stop all the bullying for a friend that she know for quite long. And what makes it more sad is, she takes everything as a jokes as her life is going well.
The author might want us to see from the main character point of view and want us to be in her shoes. The end is kind of shocking as she discovered unexpected things about everything. Still, I believe she only feel the remorse because she got caught.
This book giving a perspectives of how bullying especially cyber bullying affects some people. And how sometimes people did not realized how their actions can drive people to do unthinkable things.
The main character try to emphasize that she is not a bully. But after all the conversation and the screenshots. I believe that she created a bullying 'environment' and she is the bully herself.She did not try to stand up or stop all the bullying for a friend that she know for quite long. And what makes it more sad is, she takes everything as a jokes as her life is going well.
The author might want us to see from the main character point of view and want us to be in her shoes. The end is kind of shocking as she discovered unexpected things about everything. Still, I believe she only feel the remorse because she got caught.
This book giving a perspectives of how bullying especially cyber bullying affects some people. And how sometimes people did not realized how their actions can drive people to do unthinkable things.
loveathena98's review
5.0
This may just be the fastest I've blazed through a book in a long time. Just over an hour. Random was a bit of a gut clencher for me. I've been in Andy and Kevin's spot. it's not good at all and so i was very emotionally connected to this book. it was also very suspensful up til the plot twist at the end. Very glad i picked up this book.
addyreadsitall's review
3.0
I wanted to love this book, I really did. Honestly, I hated the protagonist until the last few pages. She’s a bully, but she can’t see that. She can’t see that she’s really done anything wrong until the very end of this book! Just because you didn’t hand someone the gun, buy someone the rope, or pour the pills down the throat of someone that takes their life doesn’t mean that you didn’t add to their pain. Don’t make excuses for your bullying, don’t sit idly by, don’t be like the main character in this book!
emosheeran's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
So I picked this book up as I'm trying to go through my tbr, and funnily enough this came up as the chosen book by the random number generator. Unfortunately this didn't work out for me.
This is a super easy and fast read (I nearly finished it in one sitting), but it lacks the depth I feel needs to be there for a book dealing with cyberbullying, homophobia, and suicide. I really appreciate the message, and it was interesting reading from the bully's perspective, but it seemed almost pointless due to the fact that the main character never actually comes to the realisation what they did was wrong. Because of that she was pretty annoying to read from, but she is 16 years old, so I guess it's understandable, maybe? I think if I read this back in 2016 when I first came across it, I'd probably like it better.
I also wasn't a fan of the dialogue in general. So many of Andy's parts made me genuinely cringe, and that doesn't often happen with me even with bad dialogue.
Though the pacing was really well done. We only see 24 hours, yet it doesn't go by too fast or too slowly.
This is a super easy and fast read (I nearly finished it in one sitting), but it lacks the depth I feel needs to be there for a book dealing with cyberbullying, homophobia, and suicide. I really appreciate the message, and it was interesting reading from the bully's perspective, but it seemed almost pointless due to the fact that the main character never actually comes to the realisation what they did was wrong. Because of that she was pretty annoying to read from, but she is 16 years old, so I guess it's understandable, maybe? I think if I read this back in 2016 when I first came across it, I'd probably like it better.
I also wasn't a fan of the dialogue in general. So many of Andy's parts made me genuinely cringe, and that doesn't often happen with me even with bad dialogue.
Though the pacing was really well done. We only see 24 hours, yet it doesn't go by too fast or too slowly.
dievalzam's review
4.0
It was more like a 3.8
I don't know how i feel about the main character, i really like the plot, The plot was the best part of this book. Reading from the perspective of a Bully is different, and it made me look for her reasons. And just i want to add that you cannot combat bullying with bullying.
I don't know how i feel about the main character, i really like the plot, The plot was the best part of this book. Reading from the perspective of a Bully is different, and it made me look for her reasons. And just i want to add that you cannot combat bullying with bullying.
mehsi's review
5.0
4.5 stars.
This was a marvellous, interesting, great book, and I am glad I was able to read it.
Tori at first I liked her, but as soon as I knew what she had done, the betrayal, the mean girl attitude, I started hating her. Especially since it seems she had absolutely no clue what she did wrong. In her eyes, she was innocent and she didn't feel like she didn't have anything to do with what happened to a friend. How dumb can you be girl? Did you even see what you wrote? Did you even see how your friend reacted to those? Didn't you see him ask you to stop. I can imagine you wanted friends, popularity and more, but this isn't the way. You can't just bully someone into death, and then expect to just frolic through life like nothing happened. Sure you didn't hang the rope around his neck, you didn't throw him of the balcony, BUT you were a cause, you were one of the reason he killed himself, and you will have to see that. I also was shaking my head when the big revelation happened and Tori was totally oblivious as to what happened.
I really liked how Tori was thrown head first in a request made by a caller. To give him a reason to live. What follows is a very interesting conversation, though I had times I was just annoyed at the caller. I found him rude, mean and I was wondering why and how. Luckily the explanation at the end was good, and it made for a nice twist in the end.
I liked that we had those facebook/internet posts, were we can clearly see what happened and what Tori did.
Now that twist at the ending? I loved it. It was awesome and while I could have seen it coming, it was still a surprise.
Now the reason why this isn't a 5 star? Because of the ending, we never ever find out what happens to Tori. Did she get found guilty? Innocent? Did she ever go back to school? What happened there? So many questions, and so little answers. So -0.5 star for that.
All in all though, this book is pretty good, though you might be annoyed with Tori's attitude at times.
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
This was a marvellous, interesting, great book, and I am glad I was able to read it.
Tori at first I liked her, but as soon as I knew what she had done, the betrayal, the mean girl attitude, I started hating her. Especially since it seems she had absolutely no clue what she did wrong. In her eyes, she was innocent and she didn't feel like she didn't have anything to do with what happened to a friend. How dumb can you be girl? Did you even see what you wrote? Did you even see how your friend reacted to those? Didn't you see him ask you to stop. I can imagine you wanted friends, popularity and more, but this isn't the way. You can't just bully someone into death, and then expect to just frolic through life like nothing happened. Sure you didn't hang the rope around his neck, you didn't throw him of the balcony, BUT you were a cause, you were one of the reason he killed himself, and you will have to see that. I also was shaking my head when the big revelation happened and Tori was totally oblivious as to what happened.
I really liked how Tori was thrown head first in a request made by a caller. To give him a reason to live. What follows is a very interesting conversation, though I had times I was just annoyed at the caller. I found him rude, mean and I was wondering why and how. Luckily the explanation at the end was good, and it made for a nice twist in the end.
I liked that we had those facebook/internet posts, were we can clearly see what happened and what Tori did.
Now that twist at the ending? I loved it. It was awesome and while I could have seen it coming, it was still a surprise.
Now the reason why this isn't a 5 star? Because of the ending, we never ever find out what happens to Tori. Did she get found guilty? Innocent? Did she ever go back to school? What happened there? So many questions, and so little answers. So -0.5 star for that.
All in all though, this book is pretty good, though you might be annoyed with Tori's attitude at times.
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
surpriseitem's review
3.0
This was... not great. And it wasn't memorably bad either. I read it in one sitting, put it right back on the shelf, and never thought about it again. It's been collecting dust, and I'll probably donate it to the library in a few weeks. I got the chance to meet Tom Leveen, so I was really excited to read some of his work. Unfortunately, this just wasn't the book for me.
sc104906's review
4.0
Tori was your typical popular athletic girl, but now she is on trial for killing one of her classmates. This classmate committed suicide because Tori and her friends constantly bullied and cyberbullied him. Tori firmly stands by the fact that her classmate's death is in no way her fault. Until, the night before her trial, receives a phone call from a random caller. The person on the other end is contemplating suicide and Tori is the only thing between his life and death. This interaction forces Tori to take a hard look at her past actions.
This is an interesting portrayal of a bullying from the bully' viewpoint. This wasn't my favorite of the genre, but it is a pretty standard example of a bully's book. Tori is dense to the point of being ridiculous, but the other characters help.
This is an interesting portrayal of a bullying from the bully' viewpoint. This wasn't my favorite of the genre, but it is a pretty standard example of a bully's book. Tori is dense to the point of being ridiculous, but the other characters help.
adventuresbetweenpages's review
5.0
Blog review to come but a very important story to read. Specially for kids and bullies
tabatha_shipley's review
5.0
Tom Leveen has done it again. His books are emotional and raw, in a good way. This book will grab you and keep you engrossed from the first page until the last. Highly, Highly Recommended.
Note for the parents/teachers out there: This book deals with suicide, suicidal thoughts, and bullying. I'd keep this one out of elementary schools but high schools are fine. If your personal children are in middle school it's your call but I'd be ready to have some real conversations with middle school readers.
Note for the parents/teachers out there: This book deals with suicide, suicidal thoughts, and bullying. I'd keep this one out of elementary schools but high schools are fine. If your personal children are in middle school it's your call but I'd be ready to have some real conversations with middle school readers.