Title: The Bullying of Natalie Cordova

Author: Kennon Keith

Publisher: Smith Publicity

Pages: 217

Source: NetGalley

Genre: General Fiction (Adult), Teens & YA

Rating: 1.5

The thing that attracted me to this book was the plot. The victim snaps and becomes the bully? Keep talking…

The plot:

"Hell hath no fury......" Natalie Cordova is a victim. Bullied and belittled by classmates and family alike, she is an outcast. Her life has been a nightmare from kindergarten through her senior year of high school. Having no friends to call her own, nor able to seek comfort in her family, she accepts her place in life; to live and die alone. Dreams mean nothing to her...until she has one; and within that one dream, she finds her strength. She will no longer merely deal with her fear, she will use it. As fear turns to anger, anger gives way to rage, and rage burns into hate; her way forward is clear. In order to end her suffering, she must end those who caused it. "This is the end. The end of my pain, the end of my torment, and the end of my past. A past I did not want, but had forced upon me. Your hatred, abuse, and treatment of me, led me to this. And while I will burn in hell for this, it was well worth it." Natalie Cordova

My experience:

I like reading books to see what makes a person snap. What makes the weight of that what they have endured thus far finally become unbearable?

The story follows a beautiful girl called Natalie Cordova. A girl who has been treated badly all her life, by friends and family. She gets pushed to a point where she snaps. Meaning she will now be a serial killer and bring havoc in the lives of those who made her life hell. Not in a subtle, pretty little liars blackmail way. In a Scream film with blood dripping from a knife kind of way.

This is a book that was written to play on your mind and morals. Do you cheer for Natalie or do you sympathize with the victims?

At first, the book did just that but then... it took a dreadful turn.

I will compare my experience of this book to eating an ice cream.It is winter yet you find yourself eating a delicious ice cream. It makes you feel very cold and shiver and in reality you rather want some hot chocolate but this ice cream just tastes too good. Then the climate changes around you and it’s become a warm summer day you can now enjoy this delicious ice cream in the right weather. However, something is not tasting right anymore the ice cream has started to melt and your hands are sticky. You would rather not finish the ice cream anymore since it no longer tastes good and it has just become a mess. Yet, you have already come this far so you finish it for the sake of finishing it. This is how the plot went, it went from a fairly well constructed depressing young adult story to a bad can't-decide-whether-it-wants-to-be-a-horror-or-thriller adult fiction novel.

I started to get confused between the characters. Who was who and who did what.

Natalie's personality and character completely unraveled and there was no more line for her character. I could no longer see her she became a phantom that just killed with no emotion behind it.

Then the story just became unnecessarily brutal. It took a sick turn that I felt was overdone. It was as if the author was waiting to unleash the cruelty of their pen. It was like setting off a nuclear bomb to get rid of a tiny garden shed. Instead of using a hammer or a storm to destroy the shed the entire country the shed is in has to be blown-up.

What I liked:

Honestly very little. There was very little to enjoy. There was no character I thought that stood out. There was no particular scene that held any specialty except the gruesome brutality that I have already mentioned. If I must force myself to say something good I suppose the concept was a good one. Had this been implemented a bit more subtly it could have been a brilliant novel.

What I did not like:

Above all the facts I have already mentioned...

I disliked how the race of the characters was only first revealed when it had something to do with the plot. It might have been mentioned that 2 characters were black in the beginning of the book and I missed it but it was only brought up again much later when Natalie would use that to her advantage. I also really despised the scene that was written in those paragraphs. I feel it was so unnecessary.

I also disliked the writing style. It was written in the third person and it would so often jump into the minds of any character that walked past it would get quite confusing.

Recommendations:

I will recommend this book to someone who likes novels with pointless killing and over the top violence.

This book is not young-adult and because of very intensely written scenes, I would even go as far as to say 18+ only should read this book.

My rating:

I want to give it one star but I am begrudgingly giving it another half because of the beginning of the story. It was set up well and had the potential for a great thriller.