Bitter End review

Description: When Alex falls for the charming new boy at school, Cole, a handsome, funny, sports star who adores her, she can't believe she's finally found her soul mate-someone who truly understands her and loves her for who she really is.
At first, Alex is blissfully happy. Sure, Cole seems a little jealous of her relationship with her best friends, Zack and Bethany, but what guy would want his girlfriend spending all of her time with another boy? But as the months pass, Alex can no longer ignore Cole's small put-downs, pinches, or increasingly violent threats. As Alex struggles to come to terms with the sweet boyfriend she fell in love with and the boyfriend whose "love" she no longer recognizes, she is forced to choose - between her "true love" and herself.

My thoughts: It’s hard for me to imagine liking a book like this without liking what happens in the book. The more I read, the worst Alex’s situation. Of course things SEEMED perfect with Cole at first but I knew it wouldn’t last. Every time he said seemed too kind or observant, I wanted to cringe, because I knew what was coming.

And when it did come, cringing turned to tears (but they never fell!). Alex went through a lot. And it was amazing to read about some of the typical feelings that abused women (and sometimes men) go through. All though I still didn’t understand how she could stay convinced that it was her fault and not his, going through each step of their relationship from beginning to end did make it easier to understand her way of the thinking as well as his techniques for manipulating her.

With all the negative parts of her situation, I was so happy she had her best friends and mother-like figure. She didn’t always let them in, but in the end, you could tell they would I always be there for her. This author wrote this story in such a way that led me to be emotionally attached. Like, there was a male friend who was acting particularly… difficult the day I finished this book, and a wanted to hit him (lol). It was partly because he was just acting like a jerk that day, and partly because of this book.

I especially liked the ending. It was nice to see how Alex dealt with things. Because all of her problems didn't just start when Cole arrived. They were already there, and were a main reason Cole was able to abuse her the way he did. I hate that I haven’t read Hate List yet. But after reading Bitter End, I HAVE to see what else Jennifer Brown has to offer! This book was amazing!