Amerie - Because You Love to Hate Me: 13 Tales of Villainy

Because You Love to Hate Me copyright 2017 by Amerie Mi Marie Nicholson Introduction copyright 2017 by Amerie Mi Marie Nicholson; The Blood of Imuriv copyright 2017 by Rene Ahdieh; The Evil Vaccine: Keep the Darkness at Bay copyright 2017 by Christine Riccio; Jack copyright 2017 by Amerie Mi Marie Nicholson; Giants and Tyrants copyright 2017 by Tina Burke; Gwen and Art and Lance copyright 2017 by Soman Chainani; The Bad Girl Hall of Fame copyright 2017 by Samantha Lane; Shirley & Jim copyright 2017 by Susan Dennard; Dear Sasha, the 411 for Villains copyright 2017 by Sasha Alsberg; The Blessing of Little Wants copyright 2017 by Sarah Enni; Will the Real Villain Please Stand Up? copyright 2017 by Sophia Lee; The Sea Witch copyright 2017 by Rampion Books, Inc.; Villain or Hero? You Decide! copyright 2017 by Zo Herdt; Beautiful Venom copyright 2017 by Cindy Pon; Without the Evil in the World, How Do We See the Good? copyright 2017 by Benjamin Alderson; Death Knell copyright 2017 by Victoria Schwab; Dear Death copyright 2017 by Jesse George; Marigold copyright 2017 by Samantha Shannon; Evil Revealed copyright 2017 by Regan Perusse; You, You, Its All about You copyright 2017 by Adam Silvera; Behind the Villains Mask copyright 2017 by Catriona Feeney; Julian Breaks Every Rule copyright 2017 by Andrew Smith; Julian Powell: Teen Psycho Extraordinaire copyright 2017 by Raeleen Lemay; Indigo and Shade copyright 2017 by April Genevieve Tucholke; Glamorized Recovery: Expectations vs. Reality copyright 2017 by Whitney Atkinson; Sera copyright 2017 by Nicola Yoon; The Bad Girls Guide to Villainy copyright 2017 by Steph Sinclair and Kat Kennedy

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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the authors imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

First published in the United States of America in July 2017 by Bloomsbury Childrens Books

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This electronic edition published in 2017 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

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ISBN 978-1-6811-9364-9 (HB) ISBN 978-1-6811-9365-6 (eBook)

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To the unapologetically empathetic and the smiling devil emoji in us all

CONTENTS

by Amerie

by RENE AHDIEH

by CHRISTINE RICCIO (PolandbananasBOOKS)

by Amerie

by TINA BURKE (The Lushables)

by SOMAN CHAINANI

by SAMANTHA LANE (Thoughts on Tomes)

by SUSAN DENNARD

by SASHA ALSBERG (abookutopia)

by SARAH ENNI

by SOPHIA LEE (thebookbasement)

by MARISSA MEYER

by ZO HERDT (readbyzoe)

by CINDY PON

by BENJAMIN ALDERSON (Benjaminoftomes)

by VICTORIA SCHWAB

by JESSE GEORGE (JessetheReader)

by SAMANTHA SHANNON

by REGAN PERUSSE (PeruseProject)

by ADAM SILVERA

by CATRIONA FEENEY (Little BookOwl)

by ANDREW SMITH

by RAELEEN LEMAY (padfootandprongs07)

by APRIL GENEVIEVE TUCHOLKE

by WHITNEY ATKINSON (WhittyNovels)

by NICOLA YOON

by STEPH SINCLAIR and KAT KENNEDY (Cuddlebuggery)

INTRODUCTION

You dont have the guts to be what you wanna be. You need people like me. You need people like me so you can point your f@*$!n fingers and say Thats the bad guy.

TONY MONTANA IN SCARFACE

Villains. Stories are nothing without them. Heroes cannot rise to greatness without them. In the absence of an enemy, our beloved protagonists are left kicking rocks in the Shire or taking tea and biscuits in a mind-numbingly cheery Spare Oom. We love villains because they turn their aches into action, their bruises into battering rams. They push through niceties and against societal restraints to propel the story forward. Unlike our lovable protagonists, villainsfor better or worsestop at literally nothing to achieve their goals. Its why we secretly root for them, why we find ourselves hoping they make their grand escape, and its why our shoulders sag with equal parts relief and disappointment when they are caught. After all, how can you not give it up to someone who works that damned hard for what they want?

For as long as I can remember, Ive empathized with the underdog, the misunderstood, the so-called wicked. Perhaps it has much to do with my worldview, which questions the very existence of good and evil in the first place. Maybe what is considered good today is foolish tomorrow; perhaps the terrible deeds done now will prove themselves necessary evils in a years time, a hundred years time. Ive always found the concept of good and evil to be wholly complicated, ever since learning as a kid about that conversation God had with Satan regarding Job. It was like seeing your best friend commiserating with your sworn nemesis: Hold up, you guys are on speaking terms?

Villains arent created in a vacuum; theyve likely suffered devastations and made the best choices available, never mind that their decisions might differ from our own. Theyve also had their share of oft-forgotten moments of truth and honor (Jaime Lannister, anyone?). Villains take the risks our heroes cant afford to take and make the choices our heroes are too afraid to make. They live in the Grey, and I, for one, love that sliver of space between light and dark, where things tend to be more interesting, people are more complex, and its harder to draw clean lines. Look into a villains eyes long enough and we might find our shadow selves, our uncut what-ifs and unchecked ambitions, a blurry line if ever there was one.

Because You Love to Hate Me isnt just about badass villains, its also about ourselves, in all our horror and glory. Within these pages, you will find thirteen stories of villainy written by some of todays greatest writers and paired with commentary by thirteen of the most influential booktubers and bloggers on YouTube and in the blogosphere. (Unlucky #13, reppin baddies since 1307.) Youll see nefarious old favorites and new faces, some reimagined, some twisted out of context, but not in the ways you might expect. The perspectives explored in these stories force us to reexamine our most fiercely held notions of good and evil, right and wrong, and what it is to be human. To be alive. Life, death, hate, love, vengeance, heartbreakits all here.