Friday, 1 March 2019

Audio: Backlash - Sarah Darer Littman


Narrated by: Lauren Ezzo, Ramon De Ocampo
Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 02-19-19
Publisher: Tantor Audio
YA Fiction
Thank you Tantor for this copy!

My Thoughts
I have listened a lot of emotional YA books since I started listening to audio, and this one deals with cyber bullying and suicide.

People are awful. Anyone who thinks that we ever will live in a nice world is sadly delusional. Ugh people! I understood one of them because people are idiots, but then this other bully, wtf is wrong with you! But then people are evil.

The books starts with Sydney finding her sister Lara in the bathroom. Lara who used to be overweight and has struggled with depression. And who was on her way to getting better. Poor Lara. Poor Sydney too, she is left behind at times when it was all Lara Lara. They both matter.

Then the book jumps back 2 months and we get to see how Lara meets the cutest boy online and starts to fall for him, until he posts on FB how she should just kill herself...

In that 2 month back we also get the POV of her evil ex bestie Bree, grrr, Bree! No, I could not feel sorry for you.

And Liam, Bree's brother. Him I could feel sorry for.

These 4 POVS deal with the aftermath. It makes me angry, it makes me sad. I will not mention the person I was maddest at, but it was so low, so low.

The end
A good book about cyber bullying and the ramifications it can have.

Narrators
It had two. Liam got his own narrator, which worked well. There were 3 girl POVs anyway that had their own narrator.
I did like both, they did well with female and male voices. Young and old.

Blurb
He says: You're an awful person.
He says: What makes you think I would ever ask you out?
He says: The world would be a better place without you in it.

Lara just got told off on Facebook.


She thought that Christian liked her, that he was finally going to ask her to his school's homecoming dance. They've been talking online for weeks, so what's with the sudden change? And where does he get off saying horrible things on her wall? Even worse - are they true?

It's been a long time since Lara's felt this bad, this depressed, this ugly. She's worked really hard to become pretty and happy - and make new friends after what happened in middle school.

Bree used to be best friends with overweight, depressed Lara, but constantly listening to Lara's issues got to be too much. Secretly, Bree's glad Christian called Lara out. Lara's not nearly as amazing as people think. But no one realized just how far Christian's harsh comments would push Lara. Not even Bree.

As online life collides with real life, things spiral out of control, and not just for Lara. Because when the truth starts to come together, the backlash is even more devastating than anyone could have ever imagined

20 comments:

  1. I think cyber bullying is worse than regular bullying and it's really become a problem. This sounds like an outstanding book.

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    1. I am always reading about it somewhere it seems

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  2. It's so interesting (& great!) that you can listen to YA vs reading it.

    I'm finding something similar. I can't listen to genres that are usually easy for me to *read* but things like fantasy where I glaze over are easier for me on audio.

    Karen @ For What It's Worth

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    1. I do wonder why, srsly I can not pin down why it works so much better

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  3. I think i'd find this hard to read ): people can be awful

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  4. Ah sounds really sad and I hate cyber bullying or any kind. Yes there is evil for sure.

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  5. Ugh, cyberbullying is terrible. Kids can be so mean, and with the internet and technology of today's world, shitty people can be even shittier.

    ~Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum

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  6. Sounds awful (the premise I mean), and sad that these things happen. I know teenagers are dumb sometimes but why would anyone be so cruel as to tell someone to kill themself? I just don't get it.

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  7. I'm so glad there wasn't all this social media when I was a teenager. It's brutal and very sad!

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    Replies
    1. Just today I read an interview with someone who had been bullied all his life

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  8. I feel like this one would tug at my heart strings!

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  9. Wow! This one sounds really emotional. So sad.

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  10. Sounds really good. Kids can be assholes. Some kids grow out of it, some don't and become bullies as adults.
    Kids these days (wow, I really sound like an old fogey) have so many more ways to be mean than we did when we were kids.

    Melanie @ Hot Listens & Books of My Heart

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    1. LOl, we are so old, but so true! Ugh, with modern ways there are moderns ways to bully

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