Bitter End by Jennifer Brown

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.
My Thoughts/Review:

Have you ever read a book, or saw a movie that made you really think, that in some insane twist of fate, that this might someday be you. That little girl, getting beat on by her boyfriend? That could be me. That little girl that got raped? That could be me. By just one insane little twist of fate, that could be any of us girls. Don't fool yourselves. It could be any of us, we just like to think that it never could.

We like it, being safe in the knowledge that she could never be me. And we're wrong. It could be you. Think about that for a second. Just one second. Then, imagine yourself as Alex when your reading this. She had so many chances to get out of it, and she never took them. I can't tell you how many times that I thought she was going to take them, to finally dump him, and never see him again. But she didn't. We're not always as brave as we would hope to be.

She thought that if she changed her friends, and changed herself, she would be alright. Imagine yourself in her shoes. What would you do? You love him, this awful monster that hits you, and puts you down. But you love him.

This is one of those books where you heartbroken throughout, and in the end, you find a sense of peace. Just a little bit, hidden in the last pages, and it makes the entire book worth it. Every heartbreak, every slap, every time that you missed Alex's friends, is suddenly worth it. Just for that little bit of peace, there at the end.

I would just say that I loved it, but I didn't. Not really. I loved the realism, and every little complex detail, but how can you love an abusive relationship story? Do you get where I'm going with this?

Alex, I think, was truly one of the most complex characters I've come across in a long time. She's weak in heart, but she makes up for it in the spirit that she has in the end. She is strong, in her own abused way.

I just want to murder Cole ruthlessly. With a 2x4, preferably. He was such a....abuser. He deserved whatever he got, I assure you. I hate how I wanted to like him in the beginning, even though I knew that he was gonna hit her. I knew.

To be honest, this book made me sad, but the ending was so peaceful, that it made me sober up off that sadness, and it really made the book something amazing.

♠♠♠♠
Favorite Quote: But it was like watching myself from the end of a long, black tunnel. The poor girl on the other end--she was bruised, and confused, and beaten, and I felt sorry for her. Whoever she was.