{REVIEW} Bully by Penelope Douglas

I have so many things I want to say about this book... Lets see if I can get them all down..

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.

We're neighbors, and once, we were best friends. But then, one summer, he turned on me and has made it his mission to screw up my life at every opportunity. I've been humiliated, shut out, and gossiped about all through high school. His pranks and rumors got more sadistic as time wore on, and I made myself sick trying to hide from him. I worried about what was around every corner and behind every door.

So I left.

I spent a year studying abroad and bathed in the freedom of life without Jared. Now I'm back to finish up high school and get the hell out of here forever. I'm hoping that after a year of breathing room, he's moved on and forgotten all about me.

But even if he hasn't changed, I have. I'm not interested in avoiding him or turning the other cheek anymore. We're going to go head to head, because neither of us wants to back down.

My Thoughts

I didn't think I was going to love this book as much as I did. I mean it is about a big bad Bully who likes to make a girl's life a living Hell but there was something about this Bully that pulled me in and kept me thinking about WTF his problem could be. I also couldn't figure out why in the HELL this chick could be attracted to this guy and want to have him anywhere near her lady bits when he was such a douchenozzle??

But she knew what it was like to be loved by him as a child, he was her best friend and it is hard to get over something like that no matter how mean he could be. 

Jared was Tate's best friend and they did everything together as kids until something happened to Jared that caused him to change and you know that saying, "you hurt the ones you love the most", that was true here because the only person Jared could lash out at was Tate and deep down he knew that Tate would take it, but she couldn't take it anymore and she started fighting back. 

She still loved him and missed him as a friend but 

enough was enough.

“You were my tempest, my thunder cloud, my tree in the downpour. I loved all those things, and I loved you. But now? You’re a fucking drought. I thought that all the assholes drove German cars, but it turns out that pricks in Mustangs can still leave scars.”

Jared also lived by the rule of "if I can't have her nobody else can either". He would intentionally spread lies about Tate to get guys to either be afraid of her or disgusted by her. 

I just couldn't figure him out! What was his problem? Why did he contradict himself so much? He bullied Tate pushed guys away from her but didn't want her for himself, made her life a living Hell but would also stand up for her.. 

Did he like her? Did he hate her? Did he just like seeing her hurting? 

And even though he was doing all of these awful things I was still rooting for him, still getting crazy butterflies rolling around and I just couldn't help it, there was something about him that pulled me in and like a moth to a flame I couldn't pull away! 

"Tatum?" His voice sounded soft and gentle, and I instantly felt warm all over. But then he spoke again. 

"I wouldn't care if you were alive or dead."

Then that infamous speech and stuff started to change and we finally get down to the root of the problem and I was like hmmm.. 

I won't go into too much detail but I do think Jared had a lot of ass kissing to do and he didn't redeem himself enough for me BUT I still loved him hard core. 

And can I say that from the very beginning of this book the chemistry between Jared and Tate was effing COM-BUST-IBLE!! I felt it all the way to my toes and even when they were screaming at one another, I felt it, I felt the underlying current that would have ignited with just one taste!!

I loved this story, it pulled me in and I fell in love with Tate, I seriously loved her as a character... 

She DIDN'T annoy the ever loving shit out of me and despite being called names and being picked on, she was STRONG. She didn't take shit to heart and just let it roll right off of her. BUT the best thing about her was her ability to love despite it all. 

She was AWESOME!

I also enjoyed the relationship between her and her dad. There needs to be more stories with strong parental relationships because those relationships are the basic building blocks of future relations. 

Without a healthy foundation most of your relationships in the future will probably be built on rocky ground... 

(Sorry the psychology student in me came out)

Overall I give this book a 4.5/5 stars and I can't wait to read more from this amazing author!!

If you want to check this book out for yourself go here: