ARC Review: Lane Davis - I Swear

Lane Davis - I Swear

• Pub Date: September 4, 2012
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
• Format: Hardcover, 288 pages
• Age Range: Young Adult
• Source: ALA

After years of abuse from her classmates, and thinking she had no other options, Leslie took her own life. Now her abusers are dealing with the fallout. In the eyes of the accused girls, they are not to blame: Leslie chose to take her life. She chose to be the coward they always knew she was.

As criminal proceedings examine the systematic cyber bullying and harassment that occurred, the girls vow to keep their stories straight and make Leslie seem weak. But as the events leading up to her death unfold, it becomes clear that although Leslie took her own life, her bullies took everything else.

Told in alternating perspectives and through well-paced flashbacks, this timely novel sheds light on both the victims of bullying and the consequences bullies face.

Wow. This book is terribly sad and really addicting. I had zero clue what this one was about because (like I always mention) I rarely read the descriptions of books, and this was no exception to that. It's an incredibly awful topic to cover, but Lane Davis does a fabulous job getting right to the point, weaving and spinning this tale into reality. This could be any of the children in our high schools. Bullying can happen to anyone at any time. A-holes like Macie need to somehow be brought to justice. Thank you to Lane Davis for writing a book that teens can really learn from and see the mistakes in the ways of bullies and just plain hurtful people.

High school is tough. Kids and teens are ruthless and mean. It can be hard if you don't fit it. I went to a fairly small high school, graduating with a class of 160 people. We all knew each other, but we had our share of drama. I can't even imagine being a part of it, but I'm sure it's scary to want to be on the inside even if you have to do horrible things. Somehow we all need to find the strength to not feed into bullying. I don't know how it happens, but it's awful and life-ruining as this book illustrates.

I had no idea that Lane Davis was a man. Now, maybe that's not significant to you, but only one of the many POVs is a male. Davis really nails down the female POV. I loved the multiple, alternating view points in this novel. Each person was different with a clear voice. And I loved how this story isn't really linear. They all have flashbacks, and each POV switch picks up somewhere where the other one left off, but we go back in time with them as well. It's deep and powerful, making this book stand out among the others out there.

I did read the ARC, and there were editing issues that need to be resolved. But other than that, I don't have many complaints. I read this book in two sittings in one day. It's quick and you don't want to put it down anyway. I wanted to see how all the depositions went and who came out on top. It's so easy to dislike everything about Macie, but I kind of wanted to see some redeeming quality. Definitely read this one if you want a realistic cyber-bullying example of a book.

Bottom line: Do check this one out and soon!

Rating:

4/5 book sharks