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Until It Hurts to Stop Jennifer Hubbard Books

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Until It Hurts to Stop Jennifer Hubbard Books

Jennifer R. Hubbard's YA novel Until It Hurts to Stop is a first person account about how bullying manifests itself in the victim’s mind. I feel this novel shows bullying on two fronts: in the school for the protagonist Maggie and on the home front for her friend Nick.

Like every good story, the plot unfolds slowly. And like a good story, there are both internal and external problems to face. The reader gets inside the daily struggles of Maggie through her mindset. She is an awkward, shy girl who doesn’t have many friends, a perfect target for bullies. She’s not like the other girls. She likes to read about mushrooms and climb mountains with her best friend Nick.

Both characters in the novel turn to nature to feel free from life’s troubles. I can relate to this as I go camping with five kids at national and state parks, many times climbing mountains as Maggie and Nick do. My family finds nature freeing from life’s stress, too. My son and daughter and I have backpacked the Appalachian Trail several times and can relate to trekking up a mountainside with fully loaded packs.

Maggie holds onto her past experiences with bullying and allows them to color her present days. Hubbard’s novel comes full circle as Maggie grows and learns how to deal with her past and finally moves on with her life.

If you want to understand what bullying does to a person or help someone overcome bullying, Jennifer R. Hubbard's YA novel Until It Hurts to Stop is an excellent book to read.


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Until It Hurts to Stop Jennifer Hubbard Books Reviews

3.5 stars

A few months ago I featured this book as a Waiting on Wednesday pick. I've actually had pretty crappy luck with my Waiting on Wednesday picks, I would say I probably end up disliking the books I pick more than I end up liking them. Maybe at the end of the year I'll end up doing some kind of recap and try to figure out how to be better, but for now I am just happy to say that this was a winning Waiting on Wednesday pick.

But I didn't realize it was a winner right away. My first two thoughts on starting this book were "I love a character named Maggie" (although the best friend/love interest is named Nick which is my brother's name so that's kind of weird for me) and "wow this dialogue is kind of really awkward." After finishing I don't know why I thought the dialogue was so awkward at first, because I didn't think that through the rest of the book. The book starts in the middle of Maggie's birthday with her best friends Nick and Sylvie giving her gifts. Looking back it made sense, but at the time I felt like I was just being dropped into the middle of this story.

Maggie and Nick have been best friends since middle school. They met because their mothers work together, but they didn't actually attend middle school together. Unfortunately for Maggie middle school was not a good experience. A mean girl named Raleigh pretty much went to war on Maggie and turned the entire school against her, calling her names, tripping her, locking her in bathroom stalls, and even telling her to go hang herself. Luckily for Maggie, Raleigh moved to Italy after junior high and by the time high school started everyone had moved on, except for Maggie.

This was one of the most difficult parts of the book for me how stuck Maggie is in the past. I don't know what it's like to be bullied like that and I get that my perspective as a 28-year-old is a lot different than Maggie's as a 16-year-old, but I really just wanted to tell her that everyone is not spending all their time plotting against her and that she needs to get over herself. I felt bad for thinking that, but, even though I did like her, she really drove me crazy at times.

This is really a book about Maggie growing up and confronting her demons, but a big portion of it is also about Maggie's relationship with her best friend Nick. From the beginning of the book it's obvious that there's a deeper connection between them, but Maggie is so beaten down from her middle school bullies that she doesn't have the self-confidence to see it. They kiss one afternoon and after the kiss Maggie flees and doesn't hear from Nick until she contacts him two days later. I liked how her concerns about pursuing a relationship with Nick involved both her deep-seated insecurities and also everyday girl stuff like being afraid of ruining your relationship with your best friend and being worried when you haven't heard from him.

After they finally talk again Maggie and Nick decide to just be friends and try to go back to the way they were before. Obviously that's a difficult thing to do, but I enjoyed watching how they tried to do the every day things they did before, like hiking (I loved their hiking trips) and try new things like Nick dating a girl in Maggie's French class. I guess you could call it a love triangle, but it didn't bother me (I tend to not like love triangles), I think because the main focus of the book was on Maggie as a person, not on the romance.

The one major criticism I have of this book is the cover. What is up with the cover? It's a girl? Staring at water? With a bird flying by? It's so menacing, and the book certainly is menacing, I never quite knew what was going to happen and I was on edge about Raleigh starting up her campaign against Maggie again, but the menacing on the cover has nothing to do with the menacing in the book. There's no water in the book and I was going to say there were no birds, but then I remembered Maggie and Nick did come across birds while hiking, but it has nothing to do with the way birds are depicted on the cover.

What really won me over on this book and bumped it up to 3.5 stars from 3 stars in my mind was the ending. I honestly don't know if I've ever read a more perfect ending for a book. The whole time I was reading I had my dream ending in mind, but no way did I think it would actually end that way. BUT IT DID! I was shocked and so happy. I really think that Jennifer R. Hubbard hit the nail perfectly on the head with the ending. Plus I loved how the title of the book worked itself into the book. Going into the book I assumed the title referred to something to the bullying, but really it was something very hopeful and sweet.

Bottom Line This is an interesting, sad look at the ramifications of being bullied. Thankfully the characters, even the bad ones, ring true and the book does a great job of showing how to deal and how not to deal with being bullied. There's a small romantic component, but mostly this is a book about a girl coming to terms with what happened to her and moving on from it and I really appreciated that.

I received an electronic review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley (thank you!). All opinions are my own.
UNTIL IT HURTS TO STOP, Margaret is a girl just trying to get through the drama and heartaches of High School. Her best friend Nick is the kind of guy buys her a pocketknife and plans they plan to go hiking. Somewhere along the way, they develop a crush on each other. This becomes awkward for their relationship, and they just stay cool with one another. Nick becomes interested in Vanessa, and they start seeing one another. Of course Margaret gets jealous, but has to keep it on the down low. Instead she just acts weird around Nick, as teenagers often do. They still climb the trails, and hang out here and there. Both of their parents are harping on them to make college decisions. Yet, they push it aside and continue with their daily routine. Margaret gets wind her big bully from junior high is returning to the area. Raleigh is her name, and nastiness was her game. Maggie was teased and taunted beyond repair by Raleigh. Reminding me of my bullies, and how cruel kids act. They create difficulty and make every school day miserable. Unbelievable at times really, being ridiculed among peers, and having daily torture. No wonder why kids have confidence issues, and become emotionally unwell. Nick has issues with his dad also being harsh and calling him a looser. During this time the kids encounter other friends, and continue normal school activities. Finally near the end, Nick and Maggie are able to communicate openly. They realize above all else, being honest reveals they have a lot in common. Maggie stands up to Raleigh, and now feels comfortable walking the halls and fitting in. Everyone has an agenda, a schedule, and a life. The day goes much smoother when life falls into place, and the worries of a teenager are lessened. This is a cute story, which reminds us of the complex issues in a teenager’s life. Specifically the bullying, parental pressures, dating, social stigma, and activities shared in this book. There has to be time to just be a kid and enjoy nature by hiking a trail. I give the book four out of five stars. I hope the author continues the storyline with Maggie and Nick or each individually. Sharing and bringing awareness maybe to college issues. Great message shared in this book.
Jennifer R. Hubbard's YA novel Until It Hurts to Stop is a first person account about how bullying manifests itself in the victim’s mind. I feel this novel shows bullying on two fronts in the school for the protagonist Maggie and on the home front for her friend Nick.

Like every good story, the plot unfolds slowly. And like a good story, there are both internal and external problems to face. The reader gets inside the daily struggles of Maggie through her mindset. She is an awkward, shy girl who doesn’t have many friends, a perfect target for bullies. She’s not like the other girls. She likes to read about mushrooms and climb mountains with her best friend Nick.

Both characters in the novel turn to nature to feel free from life’s troubles. I can relate to this as I go camping with five kids at national and state parks, many times climbing mountains as Maggie and Nick do. My family finds nature freeing from life’s stress, too. My son and daughter and I have backpacked the Appalachian Trail several times and can relate to trekking up a mountainside with fully loaded packs.

Maggie holds onto her past experiences with bullying and allows them to color her present days. Hubbard’s novel comes full circle as Maggie grows and learns how to deal with her past and finally moves on with her life.

If you want to understand what bullying does to a person or help someone overcome bullying, Jennifer R. Hubbard's YA novel Until It Hurts to Stop is an excellent book to read.