OTOLI [Paperback]

This book really took me by surprise, it was definitely not what I was expecting at all. The book deals very strongly with the issues surrounding bullying, but within this book they take on rather a sinister tone that appealed to my dark side.

Alice Turner is seen as a social outcast by everyone at school, which puts her in the harrowing position of being a target of the school bullies, known as the Populars. They make her life a living hell. On one of her journeys home, desperate to stay out of their way, she comes across a little cafe called OTOLI. She wanders in to find a safe place to go and a new friend to help her deal with the bullying.

As their friendship grows, things begin to change at school. The Populars begin to lose out on the Popularity stakes and life begins to get easier for Alice. However, as the Populars suffer, Alice begins to wonder whether her friendship with Jenny is causing more harm than good. Alice has a feeling that the fall of enemies may be due to Jenny.

Jenny's friendship begins to cause Alice a lot of problems when she is unable to meet her friend's demands. Alice learns that if she is ever to grow stronger and move on with her life, she must face the bullies head on. She must stop Jenny from bullying her.

This is really quite a sad tale, where two young girls suffer from the devastating effects of long term bullying. Jenny has suffered just like Alice, yet she doesn't deal with it in a mature way, more hell bent on revenge than moving on. However Alice, begins to realise that revenge really isn't the answer. She finds an amazing inner strength, to overcome the obstacles she faces.

Jenny is an extremely interesting, if somewhat sinister character, whose secret past is slowly revealed to show the reasons for her behaviour. She believes she is being helpful and doesn't realise she is causing more harm than good. There is also another character, Keiran within the book who suffers from bullying too, however he seems to be able to stand up to Jenny better than Alice does.

The title intrigued me and the word does have meaning once you work out what the letters stand for, however that really isn't my secret to reveal!

Even though the book, is quite short, I found it moved at quite a pace, leaving me enthralled until the final outcome.

This book really hits home with the effects of bullying, showing just how it can escalate out of control, unless someone takes a stand. I know that it is a prime concern with majority of schools these days, but I cannot help but wonder if enough is being done. Bullying seems to me to be more immediate these days with bullies being able to victimize those chosen through mobile phones, email and Internet sites such as Facebook. I hope this book can help someone bring about change.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to the organisation 'Bullying UK' which is a good enough reason in itself to buy the book. Luckily the book is an extremely good read too, so well worth buying. I was considering a giveaway for this book, instead I decided that I wanted it to go into a secondary school where hopefully it will be of use, so I am passing it in onto the lovely Emma Book Angel at Bookangel's Booktopia for her to put in her library.

If you know someone who is being bullied, yet struggles to talk about it, then this might be a good book to introduce them too.

You know when you identify with a character in a book and say "I'm like him/her" or "I know what he/she feels like". Well, with this book I can genuinely say that to a point.

I initially found out about this book due to the author, Bryony Allen, becoming a friend through Goodreads and I became interested in the book's theme of bullying. The reason for this is because I am a bullying "survivor" (I prefer to use this term rather than "victim") who was bullied physically, verbally and emotionally throughout primary and secondary school.

The book is primarily seen through the third person points of view of main characters Alice and Keiran. Both characters are marginalised through bullying - Alice due to the actions of a school clique called "The Populars" and Keiran from his peers and parents due to his parents' desire for him to receive an education which caters to his intelligence.

Alice and Keiran stumble on OTOLI, a haven away from their day-to-day existence which is run by seventeen year-old Jenny. It's designed to their tastes, serves their favourite food and drinks and plays their favourite music.

The book follows Alice and Keiran as they develop a friendship with Jenny. However, alongside this developing friendship comes a price with inexplicable incidents happening to Alice and Keiran's tormentors.

The book's main theme of bullying is treated sensitively and without being sensationalised through three perspectives.

Alice and Keiran present the first perspective as people who are people who are being bullied - both are presented as people who are on the outside looking in, who feel powerless to act against what's happening to them and who just want to be accepted as other people are.

The second perspective is from the point of view of the bully mainly "The Populars" who are presented as people who use the power they gain through bullying to gain influence and notoriety. They don't physically bully but taunt, tease and use a campaign of hate to achieve their aims at Alice's expense - something that is more destructive.

The third perspective is that of Jenny. She is the most interesting perspective down to her attitude and personality along with the supernatural/paranormal aspect of the novel. Jenny is very much the character around whom the novel hinges as she seeks to become an increasing influence in Alice and Keiran's lives by becoming their "best friend". This is done by the character becoming an embodiment of the "Good Cop/Bad Cop" routine - she wants to help Alice and Keiran through their troubles by taking direct action against their tormentors and hinting that it was down to the wishes of Alice and Keiran and that the bullies/teachers/tormentors have brought it upon themselves. However, this is part of a longer game for Jenny as you find that she has an ulterior motive for this friendship which is both chilling and tragic.

Some people may feel that it is inappropriate for the supernatural or paranormal aspect to be included as an element in a story which could be seen to trivialise or overshadow a sensitive subject. I can assure readers of this blog that the supernatural/paranormal element serves as a device to heighten the emotions within the storyline through Jenny being a person who wants to gain acceptance and friendship by basically being a genie in a highly emotionally charged bottle - the emotions behind Jenny's actions are understandable as you follow her story but the means and the ends are morally questionable especially as events build towards the book's climax.

OTOLI is a book that works on looking to be sympathetic, empowering and chilling in equal measure and, from the perspective of this bullying "survivor", it's a book that delivers some food for thought... even for somebody who left school over twenty years ago.

DISCLAIMER: Although Ms Allen has been in contact me through the Goodreads site, this is a totally independent review. I have neither received payment or requested a review copy of this book.

Wow, this book really took me by surprise. After the author friend requested me and recommended this book, I went onto the page for this book and saw that it deals with the sensitive subject of bullying. As an ex-victim myself, I just had to buy and read it.

OTOLI comes from the perspective of many different characters, although I would say that the main protagonist is Alice. Through the book, I begun to feel how isolated the bullying victims felt and they find that friend in Jenny who is a waitress at the cafe OTOLI. The book is well written for such a sensitive subject, I also thought it was original book, as Bryony Allen manages to bring in a twist of paranormal without ruining the main subject of the book. I could not put it down and I would strongly recommend it to anyone. I can't read to get right into more of Allen's work.