Until You

This book blew me away. I read Bully the day it came out and absolutely fell in love with Tate and Jared. Funny story, this was in my pre-blogging days and I hadn't even heard about Bully, until I ran across it on Amazon. So why did I read it the day it came out when I had a TBR list a thousand miles long? I really cannot tell you why, I read the blurb and something just gripped me and I put all other books on the back burner. That was back in June. When I got the opportunity to review Until You I jumped at it. I couldn't wait to get inside Jared's head. While Bully is an all inclusive book, it is told from Tate's POV, so there are a bunch of feelings and experiences we didn't get to see from Jared. I have found that books told in show more different POVs are my weaknesses right now... if done well. I don't want to read the same book all over again. And believe me I felt like I was experiencing this story for the first time. It was absolutely fantastic!

"I hurt her, not because I hated her, but because I hated that I wasn't strong enough to not love her."
~Jared

"Tate, we are climbing out of this fucking mess one way or another, because no one ruins us."
~Jared

Because Bully was in Tate's POV we never really got a straight answer as to why Jared treated Tate the way he did. I mean kinda, but we get a MUCH clearer picture in Until You. Jared's POV was completely captivating. The struggles that he's experienced and his conflicting emotions towards Tate mesmerized me from beginning to end. We see a little glimpse of Jared's life during Tate's absence, and best of all we get an extended ending that will have you swooning galore! There wasn't a moment where I tired of Until You, thinking that I was just re-reading Bully. It was a totally fresh spin on the story of Tate and Jared finally finding their love for one another. I think even if, heaven forbid, you didn't like Jared in Bully, Until You will completely change your mind. His story is so much more that what we saw in Bully and I have to thank Penelope Douglas for sharing his side of things.

"Tate. My Tate. My best friend, and my worst enemy. The girl that turned my world upside down with her overalls and red baseball cap. The only person in every one of my good memories."
~Jared

"Annnnnd... I was fucking hard again."
~Jared
On another positive note, in my opinion, Until You is much steamier and dirtier than Bully. Jared has one filthy mind and it definitely took the heat level up a couple notches. But sex aspects aside, we also see Jared's interaction with his father (who is the devil incarnate IMO), and hear more of what happened that summer. Until You shows the full evolution of Jared and I enjoyed every second of it. And his inner thoughts concerning Tate and other guys.. hilarious! It was nice to see that under his rough exterior Jared could still be a possessive yet funny guy. I was almost relieved to see a different side of him, it showed that his father really hadn't killed his spirit. His inner reactions to Tate are golden though. Probably my favorite part of the book was when she started to stand up for himself, and he was like "Oh! Maybe she can handle my screwed up ass." Obviously, Until You makes it high up there on my faves of 2013. It was pure brilliance. And I can't wait for future books from the Fall Away series! I have feeling KC, Jax and Madoc are all going to have crazy, wonderful stories as well!

Happy Reading!
*ARC provided by the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review* show less

Nella sostanza un libro, a mio avviso, del tutto inutile, niente altro che la ripetizione del precedente solo narrato dal pov di Jared e che, alla fine, molto poco aggiunge a quanto già letto.
Sono, infatti, convinta che se l’autrice avesse scritto un unico volume comprensivo dei due pov di certo avrebbe confezionato una storia maggormente completa e con quel quid che l’avrebbe resa veramente speciale.
Diluendo il tutto in due volumi ha solo allungato inutilmente il brodo e perso l’occasione di scrivere un libro che avrebbe potuto probabilmente essere anche un indimenticabile.

I decided to review Bully and Until You together because they are basically the same story, just told from different POVs. Bully is told through Tate’s eyes, while Until You gives us Jared’s. There’s a lot of repetition between books (for obvious reasons), but there’s also details we missed out on.

Bully was soul crushing. Tate is back from a year abroad and the bullying her former best friend Jared dishes out towards her is getting worse. Before she left, Tate decided enough was enough and started standing up for herself. This fuels Jared’s desire to make her cry. It’s obvious how much Jared despises her, but like Tate, we’re left in the dark about why for quite some time. When the reason is revealed, I did not think Jared show more was at all justified, but you can’t help but feel for him. Eventually he starts worming his way into Tate’s heart (and mine), and proves he’s dedicated to righting his wrongs.

After reading Bully, I felt some compassion for Jared. While I’ll never believe bullying is ok, I was willing to give Jared a second chance like Tate. He came off as remorseful and his birthday gift was definitely a winning move. I truly believed he was redeemed.

When I saw Until You was in Jared’s POV, I wanted to gobble it up to see if I could like Jared a bit more, but my Lord was I disappointed. By the time I finished reading Until You, I hated Jared. Maybe we didn’t need the insight into his mind. He was fueled by such irrational hatred, it was ridiculous. I understand that it showcases how real bullying can come to be, but in a fictional ‘romance’, it just killed any positive feelings towards Jared. The only real positive I felt towards the book was seeing that Tate’s best friend wasn’t the unfeeling brat she came off as in Bully.

I do feel Ms. Douglas does know how to weave a strong story, her writing is hypnotizing. She was able to pull strong emotions out of me (and many readers). I am planning on reading the next book, Rival, when it comes Aug. 26. I enjoyed Madoc’s antics to get Jared to pull his head out of his butt when it came to Tate, so I’m hoping his book will be more enjoyable. show less

Actual Rating: 3.5/5 stars

I've read Bully prior to this one and I could say that I liked the first book more. Anyway, I couldn't really understand why authors like to write a book in the POV of one and rewrite it again in the POV of another. It didn't held some surprise since I've already read about this before.

However, Jared's thoughts and reasons, twisted as it is, was good to know.

Why did he bully Tatum? I thought they we're bestfriends? Then he explained why and I'm like: "Ahh. That's why." Although the reason behind it is messed-up, I understood him. I mean who doesn't have a sad story to tell?

I have a question though. Does needing something or someone too much really makes you a weak person? I mean, if you obsessed too much about show more it, that's seriously dangerous but Jared wasn't like that.

I liked the ending of this one. Jared spoke on something like an anti-bully seminar. How ironic, right? He's not a speaker or something but he used it to speak to Tatum. A different NA book that you'll surely like. :) show less

*I gave this audiobook an A- for the story and B- for the narration at AudioGals*

I originally started listening to this book without listening to Bully(Book 1 in the Fall Away series). Not being a fan of point of view series romances, it had been my intent to only listen to the hero’s perspective which is told in Until You. The author’s introductory note, however, suggests that you should listen to Bully first, which is told from the heroine’s perspective, so I capitulated. Boy am I glad I did! Unlike my prior experience with these types of series, Until You is not just a retelling of the prior story, but instead is essential to an understanding of the convoluted logic behind the hero’s seemingly, inexcusable bullying behavior. show more Not surprisingly, I came away from this book with a totally different perspective and liking of the hero.

Jared’s life completely changed the day that Tate moved next door. As kids, they became inseparable best friends, even enjoying clandestine sleepovers, courtesy of the tree that bridged their two bedroom windows. All that changed though, the summer before high school. Jared went away to spend the summer with his father, and when he returned, he was a different person.

For two years, Jared mercilessly bullies, and causes his friends to bully, Tate. From spreading untrue, embarrassing rumors, to playing pranks on her and ensuring that any guy interested in Tate quickly becomes uninterested, Jared made it his mission to make Tate’s life miserable. At the same time, he becomes the playboy and starts bedding every girl in school, but never keeping one for too long.

Then all of a sudden Tate is gone. Upon returning home from traveling abroad her junior year, she is no longer willing to just put up with Jared’s behavior. Instead she fights back. Interestingly, that only seems to heighten Jared’s interest in Tate.

As the fighting escalates, so does the emotional confusion and sexual tension. Soon both capitulate to the intensity, and as their intimacy reaches new heights, Jared is no longer able to deny his true feelings for Tate. However, will Jared be able to win over Tate’s heart after all the hurt he has caused her?

See the full review, including the narration review, at AudioGals at: http://www.audiogals.net/2014/08/until-you-by-penelope-douglas/#.U_9CI3R0zcs. show less

I loved Bully so much but I think I love this version better because now we get Jared’s story and side of things and I can understand why he did what he did better. Plus we get extra scenes.

First off I loved Bully (book 1).  I didn't think Until You (book 1.5) could top it.  A lot of times a series starts out strong and only goes down hill.  Also, hardly ever is a book that's over much of the same time period as the previous but in another character's POV a good idea.  So often it's just a repeat and boring.


This book is not one of those statistics!  Until You is even better than Bully.  The story is very different.  Most of the book is totally new scenes.  And you find out so much previously unknown info and background.



Tate and Jared met at 10 and were best friends until 14, until Jared's world fell apart, and he took it out on Tate.














"You were my tempest, my thunder cloud, my tree in the downpour.  I loved show more all of those things, and I loved you.  But now...you're a fucking drought.













We learned what went on in Tate's life from book one.  In this book we really get inside of Jared, and we also get a lot more info on the other characters which provides a great lead-in for the upcoming books.  A lot of book two is Jared's background, what he did while Tate was out of the country and his interactions with Madoc and Jax.  We get a much better understanding of him.






There's something to be said for acting like a five-year-old and breaking some shit.




She read me like a book.  She was light on the public displays of affection and heavy on the eye fucking.




"Now, I could go on about mommy didn't love me and daddy hit me, but who doesn't have a story right?"




I'm not going to give a long review because this book is a must read, and I don't want to spoil it.  I loved it.  And I must give a very huge shout out to the author for her music choices.  Bully and Until You both contain awesome music, my kind of music, the kind I don't find often in books.

toni




















Loved the book, super loved the music. My review can be found at http://fangirlmomentsandmytwocents.blogspot.com/2014/02/until-you-by-penelope-do... show less