Welcome to my eight-part blog series about the main themes in Atlantic Split. Each Thursday, I will be discussing one of the themes in my blog, and this week I’m discussing the theme of bullying. Warning: This blog contains some mild spoilers.

Theme 1: Prejudice

Theme 2: Growing up

Theme 3: Optimism

Theme 4: Courage

Theme 5: Friendship

Theme 6: Family

Bullying is a key part of ‘Atlantic Split’ and standing up to bullies in authority remains an important theme throughout The Luke Bright Series. One main character that stands out is Marco Brown – a corrupt police officer who is Luke’s first police partner. He’s willing to bend rules in his favour and Luke soon becomes a target for his bullying. However, as Marco is in a position of authority, Luke feels he cannot stand up to Marco due to fear but when he realises Marco’s true nature, Luke knows that this is something he can’t let lie.

Luke’s experienced bullying in his childhood so he knows what it’s like and he’s determined not to let that carry on into his adulthood. Throughout The Luke Bright Series, Luke faces numerous bullies, some of which may seem unlikely with unexpected motives. However, as Luke grows up he realises the importance of taking a stand and learns an important lesson which I hope young people who read the book series will be able to use in their daily lives.

Bullies only hold power over you if you don’t out them. That is the one lesson that I hope young people who may be in similar situations should learn from. What they do is their issue, not yours, and if they make out as though you’re the one at fault or you’re deserving of what happens, then by outing them, they will lose all power and control. With the real life example of the #Metoo campaign against figures like Harvey Weinstein occurring in the modern day world, Atlantic Split is extremely relevant. I wanted readers to realises that if bullying in any form can happen to someone like Luke, then it can happen to anyone. It’s important to talk to someone you trust because their power will diminish.

I end this blog with a quote from Atlantic Split about bullying. As Luke finally gets to confront a bully from his past, he lets all his old feelings come to the surface and by outing this bully, the hold he had over Luke is lifted. It’s a very pivotal and powerful moment which I hope readers will sympathise with.

“There are people like you everywhere. People like you who think they can get away with anything, do all this stuff to vulnerable people and not even consider how it makes them feel? You people are the lowest of the low and I have carried those scars from the past for years, and I will never be able to get those years back because of you.” Luke Bright – Atlantic Split

Thank you for reading this blog, and next Thursday I’ll be back with the final theme of Atlantic Split: Morality.

Atlantic Split is the first book in The Luke Bright Series and is available to purchase NOW! Please follow me on my blog and my social media links below and use the links on my website to purchase a copy if you have not done so. Don’t forget to leave a review! Thank you once again for taking the time to read this blog post.

N.A.K.