Bitter End by Jennifer Brown

Title: Bitter End
Author: Jennifer Brown
Info: Website
Release Date: May 10th, 2011
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Pages: 359
Format: Paperback
Acquired: Borrowed
Age Group: Young Adult

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 loves and understands her.

At first, Alex is blissfully happy. Sure, Cole seems a little jealous of her relationship with her close friend Zack, but what guy would want his girlfriend spending all her time with another boy? As the months pass, though, 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

 When I first saw this book I wanted to get it, but I was also a little skeptical about it. I instead hopped over to the library to read it, and I have to say I'm a little glad I didn't buy it. 

I had only ever read one other book that dealt with this type of abuse and it was twice as short but two times better. I could feel the character slowly slipping and I could feel the power he weld over her, but in this book I didn't really feel it. In fact, it felt more like Cole was just the bully down the street. 

Alex and her two friends, Bethany and Zach, are tight and are even planning a trip. And then Cole comes along. At first he seems perfect but as usually things go wrong, fast. 

He does the predictable things and she says the predictable words, and I can tell that Brown did put a lot of effort into this book, but for some reason things were not as tightly put as they should be. For example, the book kept alluding to Cole being a stalker, but I was hoping that would be played up a little more, and instead found myself frowning since he wasn't really a stalker. But jerk, most defiantly.  

While I saw a rift between Alex and her friends it wasn't the way I expected. To be honest it didn't seem that Alex was under Cole's control as much as she should have been, and obviously red flags should have gone up for Alex when she saw the other girl that went through the same thing she did. 

Though her rationalization of all the events was as I expected, though a little weak. In all honesty I think that Alex was more stupid than anything else. 

I haven't read any other works from Brown yet but I do here that they are not as bad as this, so I'm hoping for the best when it comes time to get to them. Disappointed but I guess there was a little bit of hope for the novel, if the author hadn't worked so hard to force the problem instead of the problem naturally forming like a book should.