The author of "Hate List," an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and "School Library Journal" Best Book of the Year, returns with an insightful and com...
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Dec 29, 2011
Laura
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I wanted so much to love this book the way I loved The Hate List but, well... it's so much about the message that it just gets lost there. What I mean is, there are other books (like Cut or Wintergirls) where I felt that the author had a character who, as she developed, had a problem, but in this one I felt that the author had a problem she tried to fit characters around.
Alex's relationship with Zach and Bethany is so close that they're the Terrible Three, in and out of each other's More...
Alex's relationship with Zach and Bethany is so close that they're the Terrible Three, in and out of each other's More...
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Feb 01, 2012
Sierra
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Book review: Bitter End by Jennifer Brown
Jennifer Brown’s second major publishing was this book, Bitter End. Bitter End was packed full of a somber plot, but was impacting on many levels and definitely reached out and helped many girls and women in real life. It did this with a great story, descriptive, experienced writing, and a heartfelt, meaningful truth that rang out in an ingenious and subtle way. Bitter End is somewhat similar to Brown’s first major publishing, Hate List (bot More...
Jennifer Brown’s second major publishing was this book, Bitter End. Bitter End was packed full of a somber plot, but was impacting on many levels and definitely reached out and helped many girls and women in real life. It did this with a great story, descriptive, experienced writing, and a heartfelt, meaningful truth that rang out in an ingenious and subtle way. Bitter End is somewhat similar to Brown’s first major publishing, Hate List (bot More...
Jan 09, 2012
Minnie
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Jennifer Brown's Bitter End is a complete success at showcasing the mentality of a young woman who finds herself in an abusive situation without realizing when or how it happened. Alex falls for the new, goodlooking jock transfer from another highschool when he washes her with a zealous amount of boyfriend sweetness. But Cole soon turns into a monster, and it turns out he has been a monster for quite somewhile due to the awesome role model dad he has at home who keeps Cole's mother as an annoy
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Oct 19, 2011
Courtney
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Jennifer Brown nails it again. This woman has crazy-good insight into the teen mind. Her years studying psychology have definitely paid off, but she's written yet another amazing book that takes the idea of a "problem" novel and turns it into a multi-faceted exploration of some very difficult topics. This, her newest novel, is an anti-love story of sorts. Our protagonist, Alex, is a teen who has lost her mother and has been dealing with that for most of her young life. She's convi
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Oct 17, 2011
Jessie
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Alex struggles through an abusive relationship in this psychological portrait. Bitter End reads as an “issue” or “problem” young adult novel, and not too much else. Brown found inspiration for this novel from previous academic study, so the textbook case presented here has been researched, if not well presented. Complex issues bombard the reader within the first fifteen pages with exposition sentences such as, “That there would always be a hole in my heart where Mom should have been, and if I
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Oct 15, 2011
Nicole
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Well.
As much as I hate sucker-punch sob stories, this book really is something..
The story starts off with Alex, a senior in high school, who lives with her absent-minded dad, and younger sister Celia. Alex's mother died in a tragic accident years ago. Alex finds all of her support in her two best friends, Bethany and Zach. Then one day Alex meets Cole. Alex believes its love at first sight, and everything is good. At least for a little while. Eventually, Cole starts getting vio More...
As much as I hate sucker-punch sob stories, this book really is something..
The story starts off with Alex, a senior in high school, who lives with her absent-minded dad, and younger sister Celia. Alex's mother died in a tragic accident years ago. Alex finds all of her support in her two best friends, Bethany and Zach. Then one day Alex meets Cole. Alex believes its love at first sight, and everything is good. At least for a little while. Eventually, Cole starts getting vio More...
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Oct 07, 2011
stephanie
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once again, i really love jennifer brown for tackling these hard subjects with such panache and development.
this is the story of how a perfect relationship ends up not so perfect. alex has lost her mother, and in the process, her father and her two sisters. her two best friends, bethany and zack, are her support for pretty much everything.
but then alex meets cole, and falls in love. the most amazing part is that cole loves alex back. they understand each other in ways that More...
this is the story of how a perfect relationship ends up not so perfect. alex has lost her mother, and in the process, her father and her two sisters. her two best friends, bethany and zack, are her support for pretty much everything.
but then alex meets cole, and falls in love. the most amazing part is that cole loves alex back. they understand each other in ways that More...
Sep 28, 2011
Reading
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Alex Bradford is the middle daughter in her family and lives at home with her younger sister and her father. Her older sister is away at college and her mother died when Alex was very small. Even though Alex was too young to even remember her mother, the facts about her death have always played a huge role in Alex's life. She cannot understand why her mother left in the first place and why she was in the car accident that killed her. Alex's father refuses to discuss his wife and chooses to disco
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Sep 14, 2011
Jennifer
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Powerful, realistic tale of an abusive relationship. Alex has been on a quest to learn more about her mother's death and believes she will find answers in Colorado (where her mother was headed when she died in a car accident). Her quest involves her two best friends - Zach, a theatrical goofball who loves to flirt and Bethany, an earnest and intelligent girl.
When Alex meets Cole in a tutoring session, her friendships are jeopardized because of his controlling nature and, ultimately, More...
When Alex meets Cole in a tutoring session, her friendships are jeopardized because of his controlling nature and, ultimately, More...
Aug 15, 2011
Jodi
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It is very rare for me to give a book at 5-star rating. To me, that essentially means that the book was so perfect that I wouldn't change a thing. That I wish it didn't have to end and that I could follow the character's story past the final pages of the book. Well, Bitter End absolutely did it for me. I had been waiting for this book to come out for awhile. I was a little apprehensive as to how Brown would handle it. I had read Hate List and thought that while it was a captivating story, t
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Aug 15, 2011
Jodi
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It is very rare for me to give a book at 5-star rating. To me, that essentially means that the book was so perfect that I wouldn't change a thing. That I wish it didn't have to end and that I could follow the character's story past the final pages of the book. Well, Bitter End absolutely did it for me. I had been waiting for this book to come out for awhile. I was a little apprehensive as to how Brown would handle it. I had read Hate List and thought that while it was a captivating st
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Aug 13, 2011
Lisa
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I think anyone who has been in any sort of abusive relationship will read this and see some form of themself in Alex. It's hard to read about what she goes through and see how many chances she has to get out.
I will say that my first boyfriend was a bit abusive. Not in a physical way, but emotionally. And the worse he made me feel about myself, the more power I gave to him and the deeper I fell into what felt like a neverending hole. I think most girls will go through an abusive re More...
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Jul 14, 2011
Amy
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I thought that Jennifer Brown did a good job tackling the subject of dating violence. A couple of things didn't ring 100 percent true, so she didn't nail it completely, but close (and this is just my opinion). She obviously did her homework, and her writing was strong. In her author's note, Brown says that she studied domestic violence in college for a semester as part of a psych degree, and that's where she got a lot of her knowledge of domestic violence. But in some places in BITTER END it
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Jul 11, 2011
Page
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Jennifer Brown has written a heart stopping, hard hitting contemporary; Bitter End delves deep into the mental aspects of an abusive relationship.
Every since her mom died on her way to Colorado, Alex has felt like something was missing in her life. Her father won't answer her questions and what she has learned from her older sister, just left her with more questions. Alex has always wanted to visit Colorado; she thinks it will hold the answers she seeks. Since they were kids More...
Jun 14, 2011
I had some mixed feelings about this book. While it kept my attention and was an easy read, I was irritated with the ending. I know that sometimes the author will leave it to the reader to sort things out, make judgements or draw their own conclusions, but in this case, I definitively wanted to learn about Cole's fate. What he did to Alex was criminal and punishable and I needed to know how he paid for his crime. We know he is still "on the scene" somewhere because of his incessant
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Jun 14, 2011
Laura
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"Bitter End" is such an honest, raw, and heartwrenching novel that once I started, I could not put it down. From the very first chapter, I was pulled into Alex's story. Judging by the cover, I had initially thought there was no way I would like the book. I'm not into romance stories or books about relationships, but this book far exceeded by expectations. It's not a sappy romance novel or typical teen book about first boyfriends. It is a very real account of a young girl who becom
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Jun 13, 2011
Maggie61
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I couldn`t put this book down. I loved the book this author previously wrote and bought this one because of it. At first, I thought it was a little cheesy and perhaps juvenile, but when she got into the story I was hooked and couldn`t stop reading. I think all girls should read this book. While there were parts that were hard to read, and when you just wanted to tell Alex to get away from Cole, this is a great book to read. While most people just can`t understand that it isn`t easy to get awa
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Jun 13, 2011
Krisanne
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This book scared the be-Jesus out of me. My good friend Kasey Kamenicky introduced me to Hate List by Jennifer Brown, which is a fabulous piece of work. I couldn't wait to read this book, as I am a fan of the way Brown deals with tough subjects. Having said that, I found myself arguing in my head that Alex really wouldn't put up with that kind of crap from Cole. After having convinced myself that Brown got it all wrong, she would remind us that no one in the book loves Alex like she truly wishes
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Jun 03, 2011
Cathy/The Crazy Bookworm
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"We were grieving together, and in some way that felt right. Felt better. At least if I was going to be miserable, I wasn't going to be alone. At least he'd hurt himself, too."
I have read a few young adult books this year that focus around abuse and obsession. Stay by Deb Caletti and But I Love him by Amanda Grace just to name a couple. I have read articles that say these type of books are to "dark for teens". I, however completely disagree. These books may be on More...
I have read a few young adult books this year that focus around abuse and obsession. Stay by Deb Caletti and But I Love him by Amanda Grace just to name a couple. I have read articles that say these type of books are to "dark for teens". I, however completely disagree. These books may be on More...
May 30, 2011
Karthy (Hiding in the Stacks)
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A well-written character novel about an abusive relationship, Brown writes a story where the feelings of the abused are really felt.
Alex, the protagonist, is madly in love with Cole, and despite his increasingly mean-tempered behaviour to her she loves him because she wants to be understanding. In most books that deal with relationship abuse, I often feel extremely frustrated at the girl for being weak-willed, but I found myself really sympathizing and empathizing with Alex. Her frien More...
Alex, the protagonist, is madly in love with Cole, and despite his increasingly mean-tempered behaviour to her she loves him because she wants to be understanding. In most books that deal with relationship abuse, I often feel extremely frustrated at the girl for being weak-willed, but I found myself really sympathizing and empathizing with Alex. Her frien More...
May 29, 2011
Following up Hate List, a book that explores how people heal in the aftermath of a school shooting, Jennifer Brown tackles another tough subject in Bitter End. Alex’s mom died when she was young; her dad dismisses her mom as crazy and doesn’t bring the topic up much. He doesn’t bring up much of anything because he does little parenting or talking at all. Alex’s younger siblings don’t seem to be hit as hard by the loss of their mom. The only people who understand what Alex is going through are he
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May 26, 2011
Jodie
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www.booksforcompany.com
I was beyond excited to read this, it went straight to the top of my TBR and l danced around the room when it came in the post. Lets just say it did NOT let me down.
This isn’t just a book where l was the reader and they were the characters which l was reading about. The characters became me, the characters became my friends and the characters became real.
Alex is a very likable character who you are given a lot of time with at the beginning to get to More...
I was beyond excited to read this, it went straight to the top of my TBR and l danced around the room when it came in the post. Lets just say it did NOT let me down.
This isn’t just a book where l was the reader and they were the characters which l was reading about. The characters became me, the characters became my friends and the characters became real.
Alex is a very likable character who you are given a lot of time with at the beginning to get to More...
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May 24, 2011
I decided to read this book because I've read a blog post of Ms. Alex Flinn (read it here) and she was quite PO'd by an article of the New York Times mentioning this book alongside Deb Calleti's Stay as **"problem" novels which are too dark for teens to read.
While I haven't read Bitter End yet, I've read some books falling into the so-called "problem" novel category and the first thing that I thought was, "Teens are not dumb."
And I'd like to More...
While I haven't read Bitter End yet, I've read some books falling into the so-called "problem" novel category and the first thing that I thought was, "Teens are not dumb."
And I'd like to More...
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May 17, 2011
Jennifer Brown writes powerful books about tough topics, and she does it exceedingly sensitively and, therefore, exceedingly well. I still remember reading Hate List and straight up sobbing through the last chapters. I still remember being so moved by it that it was hard to read anything after it, and only reading another infinitely touching book (Gayle Foreman’s If I Stay) got me through it. Reading her newest novel, Bitter End, didn’t crumple me up like Hate List, but it left me aching the who
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May 17, 2011
Diana
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Jennifer Brown can write. I like her style and can see why so many readers have loved this and Hate List. Alex is assigned to tutor Cole the hot new boy at her school but as they head toward romance her two best friends express their worry about her becoming involved with him. Jennifer Brown has obviously researched abusive relationships and did a great job with how Cole manipulates Alex, gradually making her doubt herself as he becomes all controlling. I didn't love this book because I grew up
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May 16, 2011
Amy
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I actually finished reading this book a few days ago but I was at a loss for words on how to describe my feelings for it in a post. Yes, it was that good and that emotional of a read. Physical abuse in the young adult genre is a subject that is not touched on that much. I think authors are either afraid to talk about it in a novel for this genre, or it might even be something that is frowned upon. In Bitter End, author Jennifer Brown stepped over that boundary and gave it her all. I am so h
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May 08, 2011
Nancy
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I have been looking forward to Jennifer Brown's next novel since I read Hate List. Brown's best writing quality is her uncanny ability to get into the head of a character in an unthinkable situation. Hate List proved this.
This time, Brown took on the character of a girl who is physically abused by her boyfriend. Knee-jerk reaction is that a person who continues to return to an abusive man must be weak or have a lot of issues with self-esteem which would be easy to judge if one didn't u More...
This time, Brown took on the character of a girl who is physically abused by her boyfriend. Knee-jerk reaction is that a person who continues to return to an abusive man must be weak or have a lot of issues with self-esteem which would be easy to judge if one didn't u More...
May 01, 2011
Kelly
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This is a book about abusive relationships. At first, things between Alex and her boyfriend, Cole, are perfect. He's very sweet and incredibly romantic. Except...he gets upset about small things. He doesn't like her spending time with her friends, for example, and he gets angry if she's late. He has a tendency to drive by her house and the restaurant where she works, and if she is doing something he doesn't like, there'll be a fight later. He hits her, yes, but he also calls her stupid and
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Dec 27, 2010
Sara
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Jennifer Brown's Bitter End is the story of a young girl in an abusive relationship. When Alex meets Cole everything seems perfect. Things with Cole move very fast and when he becomes angry when she spends time with her best guy friend she excuses it, what guy would want his girlfriend hanging out with another guy. Then insults and pinches turn to punches and control of her entire life.
I really enjoyed this book and see it as a great teaching tool for girls as to what the warn More...
I really enjoyed this book and see it as a great teaching tool for girls as to what the warn More...
Dec 30, 2011
Elodie
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Once again Jennifer Brown blew me away ! I read Hate List a month ago and fell in love with this author : her writing is beautiful, she tackles difficult issues and always manages to move me.. Bitter End didn't left me down at all! You could say it starts as your usual contemporary romance : girl meets boy, they fall for each other and an epic romance sets up. However, it doesn't remain idyllic and slowly turns into a true nightmare. Cole, who appears to be the golden boy, abuses Alex (the main
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