I Swear


I Swear

THE LOWDOWN:
After years of abuse from her classmates, Leslie Gatlin decided she had no other options and took her own life. Now her abusers are dealing with the fallout.

When Leslie’s parents file a wrongful death lawsuit against their daughter’s tormenters, the proceedings uncover the systematic cyber bullying and harassment that occurred. The ringleader of the accused girls, Macie, maintains they are innocent. In her mind, Leslie chose be the coward they always knew she was.

Jillian, Katherine, and Beth try to keep their stories straight and shift the blame, as Jake, Leslie’s only true friend, tries to make sense of what happened. As the events leading up to her death unfold, it becomes clear that Leslie may have taken her own life, but her bullies took everything else.

FIRST IMPRESSION:
Leslie Gatlin couldn’t believe the words she was reading on the screen.

Of all the emails and all the Facebook messages and all the texts and phone calls she’d received since she’d stepped into Macie Merrick’s crosshairs, this one was the worst.
—Paperback edition

SNAPSHOT:
A half dozen high school friends and enemies narrate both their involvement in the lead up to and reactions to the fallout of a classmate’s suicide from targeted, prolonged bullying.

The only notably missing voice is that of Macie Merrick, the main antagonist. As the finale approaches, readers may find themselves looking forward to her perspective, to try to understand what would possess Macie to orchestrate the awful events around Leslie. While every other character has their say, she is left as an unrelenting villain.

As for the other narrators, none of the girls are particularly likeable, and it certainly gives the flavor that that was the point. Readers should at least be able to empathize with pageant beauty Katherine, who came into the game later than the rest. Many of the other girls are either former friends—including one who had a crush on Leslie but whose feelings were not returned—or classmates who didn’t even know her but followed Macie’s lead. The story paints a world where girls are only ever cruel to each other; despite that in reality, Leslie would have found even a small alternative crowd of friends to support her.

As it should be, Leslie is a strong presence in the novel, despite that she only narrates the opening chapter leading up to her suicide. However, this tale is without the sense of hope that most others have which deal with such topics as bullying and suicide. This is more a tale of warning for those who are on the giving rather than the receiving side of bullying; readers who are looking for sympathy and justice for the victim should certainly look elsewhere. The collection of friends and enemies had an opportunity to avenge Leslie, to speak in understanding tones at the end for the abuse she suffered, but neglected to take that chance.

It would have been refreshing to see bullying happening between some group other than the ‘powerful’ crowd and their potential rival. There was a missed opportunity to see friends acting just as cruel as enemies. Likewise, as are often found in the appendix of such books, there were no resources for those suffering from bullies or for bullies to seek treatment for their behavior.

Appropriate for ages 14+. Strong language, emotional violence, underage drinking, sexual situations, slut-shaming. Trigger warning for anyone who has been abused and bullied, lost someone to suicide, or had suicidal ideations.

Deals with bullying, cyberbullying, suicide, sexuality, obsession, self-esteem, and the unfairness of the world.

Readers would benefit from considering which of the narrators they most identify with, and how they would versus how they should react in similar situations if their friends were encouraging them to bully someone.

GET IT ON YOUR SHELF:

If you…

  • Enjoy unrelenting girl-hate books

  • Know anyone who has ever been singled out for torment by another

  • Need an antagonist to utterly loathe

  • Have been on either side of bullying

 

 THE ESSENTIALS:

Contemporary YA

Paperback & Ebook, 288 pages

Published October 8th, 2013 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
(ISBN 1442435070)

http://books.simonandschuster.com/I-Swear/Lane-Davis/9781442435070

 (Review copy provided by Simon & Schuster.)

 

i-swear-book

I Swear

THE LOWDOWN:
After years of abuse from her classmates, Leslie Gatlin decided she had no other options and took her own life. Now her abusers are dealing with the fallout.

When Leslie’s parents file a wrongful death lawsuit against their daughter’s tormenters, the proceedings uncover the systematic cyber bullying and harassment that occurred. The ringleader of the accused girls, Macie, maintains they are innocent. In her mind, Leslie chose be the coward they always knew she was.

Jillian, Katherine, and Beth try to keep their stories straight and shift the blame, as Jake, Leslie’s only true friend, tries to make sense of what happened. As the events leading up to her death unfold, it becomes clear that Leslie may have taken her own life, but her bullies took everything else.

FIRST IMPRESSION:
Leslie Gatlin couldn’t believe the words she was reading on the screen.

Of all the emails and all the Facebook messages and all the texts and phone calls she’d received since she’d stepped into Macie Merrick’s crosshairs, this one was the worst.
—Paperback edition

SNAPSHOT:
A half dozen high school friends and enemies narrate both their involvement in the lead up to and reactions to the fallout of a classmate’s suicide from targeted, prolonged bullying.

The only notably missing voice is that of Macie Merrick, the main antagonist. As the finale approaches, readers may find themselves looking forward to her perspective, to try to understand what would possess Macie to orchestrate the awful events around Leslie. While every other character has their say, she is left as an unrelenting villain.

As for the other narrators, none of the girls are particularly likeable, and it certainly gives the flavor that that was the point. Readers should at least be able to empathize with pageant beauty Katherine, who came into the game later than the rest. Many of the other girls are either former friends—including one who had a crush on Leslie but whose feelings were not returned—or classmates who didn’t even know her but followed Macie’s lead. The story paints a world where girls are only ever cruel to each other; despite that in reality, Leslie would have found even a small alternative crowd of friends to support her.

As it should be, Leslie is a strong presence in the novel, despite that she only narrates the opening chapter leading up to her suicide. However, this tale is without the sense of hope that most others have which deal with such topics as bullying and suicide. This is more a tale of warning for those who are on the giving rather than the receiving side of bullying; readers who are looking for sympathy and justice for the victim should certainly look elsewhere. The collection of friends and enemies had an opportunity to avenge Leslie, to speak in understanding tones at the end for the abuse she suffered, but neglected to take that chance.

It would have been refreshing to see bullying happening between some group other than the ‘powerful’ crowd and their potential rival. There was a missed opportunity to see friends acting just as cruel as enemies. Likewise, as are often found in the appendix of such books, there were no resources for those suffering from bullies or for bullies to seek treatment for their behavior.

Appropriate for ages 14+. Strong language, emotional violence, underage drinking, sexual situations, slut-shaming. Trigger warning for anyone who has been abused and bullied, lost someone to suicide, or had suicidal ideations.

Deals with bullying, cyberbullying, suicide, sexuality, obsession, self-esteem, and the unfairness of the world.

Readers would benefit from considering which of the narrators they most identify with, and how they would versus how they should react in similar situations if their friends were encouraging them to bully someone.

GET IT ON YOUR SHELF:

If you…

  • Enjoy unrelenting girl-hate books

  • Know anyone who has ever been singled out for torment by another

  • Need an antagonist to utterly loathe

  • Have been on either side of bullying

 

 THE ESSENTIALS:

Contemporary YA

Paperback & Ebook, 288 pages

Published October 8th, 2013 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
(ISBN 1442435070)

http://books.simonandschuster.com/I-Swear/Lane-Davis/9781442435070

 (Review copy provided by Simon & Schuster.)