Bully

by Sara Aurorae

Overview

It's all just a game for him.

A zero-sum game. A game of power. By spreading rumours about me. By convincing people to take his side. By frightening, and intimidating me, and making me doubt my own sanity.

Power, by forcing me to silence.

How dare I refuse to surrender my body to him, to not feel privileged to be another trophy in his private collection.

He had to win this game to prove I was beneath him, to inflate his life by bringing me down, and with each cruel comment it felt like one rusty needle after another being pierced into my heart, until I couldn't feel anymore. Until I started to think that maybe he's right.

Maybe the world would be better off without me.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780646872957
Publisher:	Gazette
Publication date:	03/20/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	297
File size:	362 KB

Editorial Reviews

2023-06-21
In this debut novel, a woman suffers for years during and long after a co-worker’s cruel and relentless bullying.

Sarah, a Turkish woman born and raised outside of Melbourne, Australia, hasn’t had any close relationships with good, stable men. Her father was violent and abusive, and most guys she’s known, including romantic interests, haven’t been great. So when she gets a promotion at a corporate call center, she’s understandably leery of fellow agent Kieran, especially since he and another employee ostracize Sarah. When Kieran suddenly becomes friendly, chatting with her and telling stories, Sarah starts to fall for him. Kieran abruptly changes again—this time for the worse. He insults her, sparks an awful rumor about her, and indirectly threatens her, talking about his “secret bunker” where he could easily kill someone. Even when Sarah no longer works at the call center, Kieran appears to stalk her. Years later, he’s apparently remorseful, but does Sarah trust this man enough to meet with him? Aurorae’s novel capably portrays the devastating, lasting consequences of workplace intimidation. Sarah, for example, endures mental anguish as well as physical (weight loss, chest pain, etc.). It’s a slow but engrossing character study in which Sarah details her woeful life; as a teen, she feels out of place both with her Turkish family and among kids at school. At the same time, enigmatic Kieran has “trouble expressing himself,” a euphemism used to describe the animosity that fuels most bullies. The rest of the cast largely fades in the background; a couple of memorable characters (Sarah’s bestie Aylin and her friend/co-worker Noah) get disappointingly few pages. All the while, the author’s crisp prose moves fluidly between the present day and Sarah’s past and from the workplace to a serious accident that the story teases early on.

A measured, remarkable story that depicts the effects of harassment.

Kirkus Reviews