Tuesday, June 17, 2014

That Night by Chevy Stevens


Bullying and prison life were the main themes in THAT NIGHT.

The main character, Toni, had been bullied in high school because she was not in the "in" crowd.  This bullying influenced her life in a negative way.  Toni was very disliked by a group of girls in high school, and they kept after her for no other reason than to be mean. 


Being accused of murdering her sweet sister and having the folks that bullied her testify that she always lied about things definitely didn't help her defense.  She and her boyfriend were accused of the murder even though they were innocent and victims themselves and were sent to prison for 15 years.


Prison wasn't any better for Toni.  Prison seemed like an extension of her high school problems.


THAT NIGHT is the second book I read by Chevy Stevens.  To me it was not as good as the other book I read, but it did send a very powerful message​.  


As I was reading, I was truly frightened which most likely was the author's purpose in getting across the points of the damaging and horrible aspects of bullying.  

I really wasn't pulled in because of the beginning pages, but I kept coming back to learn about bullying and the repercussions of how it ruins a person's  life.  Stevens did a great deal of research and did a marvelous job of having the reader feel the fear caused by the bullying. 


To me Ms. Steven's was unquestionably raising the awareness of bullying and excellently conveyed it in her book. 


The book was very frightening as I was visualizing the scenes and thinking about what reaction I would have had in a bullying situation.  If you have been bullied, you won't want to read this book; it will bring back too many unsettling memories. I never was bullied,  but I was very shaken upon seeing how people act and the cruel things they do.


My rating is mainly affected by the first 200 pages that only talked of high school antics and their jealousy of each other. If you can get past the first 200 pages of high school drama and adolescent problems, the final pages are quite good.


I would have given the book a 2/5 because of the beginning pages, but I am changing the rating to a 3/5. 

This rating is changed mainly because the ending pages were excellent as the true story of the murder became revealed and because bullying needs to be addressed.  The public's awareness of bullying needs to be more in the open and needs to make the public realize this issue does exist and is a major social problem.

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review.


What do you think?  

Will you read Chevy Stevens' newest book?


16 comments:

  1. Thanks for stopping by, everyone.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This will probably be my first book by Stevens so I'm kind of bummed that you didn't love it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It took too long to get interesting.

    The ending redeemed the book.

    Thanks for stopping, Kathy.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I actually loved this book....but that just goes to show you, right? I'm sorry you didn't love it more.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I recently downloaded Still Missing by Chevy Stevens and comes with high praise. Let's hope it doesn't disappoint me like this one apparently did you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great review Elizabeth. I'm sorry you didn't love this book. I loved, I think it really highlights the horrors of bullying.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh...this book definitely addressed bullying, and that is wonderful.

    My problem with the book is that the beginning was too much background before it got to the good parts.

    THANKS for stopping, Pat.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Chevy Stevens' other books are good. This one just took too long to get to the point.

    Thanks for stopping, Carmen.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I haven't read anything by this author yet but I do have a copy of this book. I plan to read it later this summer. I hope I like it more than you did. I see Laurel loved it! :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. It was just the beginning that wasn't of interest, Laurel, but the rest of the book was a good mystery and great story.

    THANKS for stopping, Laurel.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I agree that bullying needs to be a priority in order to put a stop to it. I will probably not read this book as my daughter was a victim of bullying in middle school. Thankfully, it was resolved in a short time with caring parents of all involved parties.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Good to hear the bullying was solved.

    Thanks for stopping, Nise. I wouldn't read it either.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love all of Chevy's previous books and can't wait to read this. It's waiting on my bookshelf, staring at me!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I think I'm going to skip this one.It sounds too emotionally harrowing.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I only skimmed your review because I just started reading this one. I've liked the first 40 pages or so! This is my first Stevens book.

    ReplyDelete
  16. It is a very emotional read.

    Thanks for stopping, Laura.

    ReplyDelete