REVERSE | ✔

Facts & Answers

Hey everyone!

There are some things which were not directly mentioned in his letters but may need to be addressed in order for you to completely grasp the idea of his story.

So here are a few fun facts some of you might have been wanting to know ;)

F A C T S

1. No, the bully doesn't have a name. I never thought of a name for him because for me it was always like writing what a bully might've been going through and I just wanted to share that. I never really wanted to give the bully an identity since I was aiming to write it in a general way but as the story progressed I realised that he is his own person and an actual character so I had to develop a proper backstory and what he thought he deserved.

2. He was bullied before in his old school back in another state. He along with his parents moved to a completely new state for a clean slate. He was severely bullied in all ways possible. Physically, verbally, and even cyber bullied. He was mentally scarred and emotionally not ready. He took a long break from school after his bullies went too far which pushed him off the edge. His attempt at ending his life failed. Hence why when he came back from rehab he wanted to be alone and didn't interact with anyone because in his mind, everyone is the same and someone's always out to get him. This is also provides the reason why he wanted everyone to know not to cross his path because he saw how his bullies, the so called 'populars' and the 'bad boys' were treated at his school [which was like royalty] so he chose to take the same path.

3. Part of the reason why he chose Josephine to bully was that his bully's name was Joseph. Josephine's name reminded him of his bad days more than he wanted to admit to himself. He found pleasure in beating her up and pretending it was Joseph. It worked for some time until in the end, it was Josephine's face that flashed in his mind instead of Joseph's when he was remembering his "sessions" with her. The other reason was that he found her annoying although she did nothing intentionally but in his mind, she had it out for him.

4. All the chapters although written in letter form, were his thoughts. Many must have wondered how he sent them or whatever, but in reality these were just his thoughts leading up to the end.

5. I wrote this whole book in 2 days. No joke. Although not continuously two days but till chapter 7, it was one day and from there onwards I wrote it all on another day a few months later when I eventually found inspiration xD

I think that's all for the facts. Below are the answers to the questions you guys asked.

Q & A

Did you write this story in a way to kill the cliche that some bullies go ahead and bully the girl because he likes her?

First of all, I find that idea of 'the bully liking the girl hence why he bullies her' completely absurd. From the beginning, I was never going for this. I advise everyone to please, never romanticize this. It might be happening in real life somewhere but in books where you have teenage readers, you shouldn't encourage it. They might think  that if they're being bullied, it's completely alright and that their bully likes them. No, please avoid this.

In conclusion, yes I wanted to break that cliche. But, I also wrote Reverse because I wanted to show that boys also have their problems and that they shouldn't be ignored. I also wanted to portray what might be going through a bully's mind during such a situation. Although, this is not always the case; please notice my emphasization on might.

How did you come up with the idea to write this book with letters as chapters and not like an ordinary book?

As I've already said, the letters were actually just his thoughts so that helped. Also, The main idea of this book [without the plot] sparked after reading "Dear Bully" by TeaRainAndLove which is an amazing book by the way, check it out. After reading that book I thought 'hm, what did the bully think all this while?'  but the real push was when I read "The Girl He Left Behind" and "Everlasting" by TahliePurvis. And thus, Reverse was born with its own little twists. :D

Sequel???

Nope, no sequel. This story has unfolded, there's nothing left to tell. :)

What happens to Josephine after this whole ordeal?

Let's just say she eventually gets her happily ever after even with all the bumps on the road and the hurdles in life that she later faces head on.

That is all for the questions I got until now but if anyone has anymore questions, you can comment them on this line and I'll add them in here if they haven't been answered already.

This is it, goodbye.

Love.