Official Review: The Year I Was Bullied by Carl Gravely

[shannonkate8]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Year I Was Bullied" by Carl Gravely.]

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1 out of 4 stars

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The Year I Was Bullied by Carl Gravely is a short story detailing his school years that he experienced bullying. Unfortunately, the author experienced many instances of persistent bullying from elementary school through high school. The author provides anecdotes of events to help the reader understand what he went through. He then lets readers know how he persevered and overcame the effects of his bullying.

I liked that this book focused on something that has been an issue historically as well as in the present. Now, many children (and adults) also deal with cyberbullying. I think the book was helpful to give an inside look into the issue and was addressed in such a way that younger individuals could understand.

I also loved the positive messages provided throughout the book. The author clearly wants readers and those who are victims of bullying to know that they are amazing just as they are. He also encourages others to forgive and shares the tactics he used that helped him.

I did, however, have a few issues with the book. One of the problems I had is that the author provides anecdotes to show the reader what was happening. Yet, at the same time, the author does not provide near enough information and quickly skips over large portions of time.

In addition, there were formatting errors. For instance, dialogue was not separated into separate paragraphs. Instead, it was in the same paragraph as everything else, including dialogue from another individual. There were also numerous grammatical issues. The author sometimes used incorrect words, had incomplete sentences, inconsistent commas, and syntax errors leading to confusing sentences.

There were many moments where I was just plain confused. For example, the author writes,

"Anyways, something good did come out of my sixth grade experience, but not what I wanted to happen."

The author does not go on to tell the reader what happened that was good. He completely ends all talk of sixth-grade and moves on to seventh and eighth-grade without another backward look. He goes on to say,

"So let me take you to my eighth grade year. It was so disrespectful and just a disgrace to human life."

Here, I am incredibly muddled. Why is a year disrespectful and a disgrace to human life? Even as the author goes on to provide examples of what he endured, I am not sure if he is considering the people disrespectful and disgraceful or the actions. Obviously, I spent far too much time on these parts and other aspects of the book which detracts from the story and the points the author is trying to make.

Overall, based on all of these elements and the overall reading experience, I cannot give this book more than 1 out of 4 stars. The book needs a significant amount of editing from structural and developmental to proofreading. While I think it has potential, it needs work.

I would not recommend this book to other readers given the writing. It appears as it would be a good read for kids, however, readers should be aware that it has potential mental health triggers, as well as explicit language.

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The Year I Was Bullied
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[Rachel_Emmanuel]

Such as shame. The book has a whole lot of potentials but with this truck load of errors, it would be a waste of time reading it. I hope all errors would be corrected and the message passed across clear. Everyone would benefit so much from the book.

[shannonkate8]

Such as shame. The book has a whole lot of potentials but with this truck load of errors, it would be a waste of time reading it. I hope all errors would be corrected and the message passed across clear. Everyone would benefit so much from the book.

I agree. It's very relevant and could be a great book. Really just needs a good editor.

[Adanna Inya]

The unsolved cliffhangers can be quite annoying. But this is a great book anyways. I mean, bullying has taken the lives of many kids and teens. We don't talk about it nearly enough. I love that this book addresses it from a personal point of view and experience.

[shannonkate8]

The unsolved cliffhangers can be quite annoying. But this is a great book anyways. I mean, bullying has taken the lives of many kids and teens. We don't talk about it nearly enough. I love that this book addresses it from a personal point of view and experience.

I certainly agree with that aspect. Bullying does need to be addressed. But I think this book could reach so many more people with better writing and editing. If you can't keep people reading, you aren't going to get your point across.