Review: Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Bought
Publicatio Date: January 5th, 2010
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Point of View: 1st Person & Feminine
Recommended Age: 13+
Genres &  Themes: Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, High School, Abuse, Bullying, Friendship

BLURB:

Climbing to the top of the social ladder is hard—falling from it is even harder.  Regina Afton used to be a member of the Fearsome Fivesome, an all-girl clique both feared and revered by the students at Hallowell High… until vicious rumors about her—and her best friend’s boyfriend—start going around.  Now Regina’s been frozen out, and her ex-best friends are out for revenge.  If Regina were guilty, it would be one thing, but the rumors are far from the terrifying truth, and the bullying is getting more intense by the day.  She takes solace in the company of Michael Hayden, a misfit with a tragic past whom she herself used to bully.  Friendship doesn’t come easily for these onetime enemies, and as Regina works hard to make amends for her past, she realizes Michael could be more than just a friend…if threats from the Fearsome Foursome don’t break them both first.

Tensions grow and the abuse worsens, as the final days of senior year march toward an explosive conclusion in this dark new tale from the author of Cracked Up To Be.

REVIEW:

Someone please order my heart to be quiet. It won’t listen to me.

I feel so tired. It’s like reading this book took all my strength and left me with a melancholic sentiment.

I shake it off.

There you go. I feel better already.

Liar. How can someone just go on with their lives after they’ve read Some Girls Are and not give it a second thought? It’s so impossible I can’t even imagine an alternative universe where such thing is fathomable.

Regina used to be a terror. But then she went to a party and Anna’s – the monster queen – boyfriend tried to rape her. Everyone thinks they had sex, and that they both wanted it.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Yet, no one believes Regina when she cries RAPE. Now, she has to deal with bullies at every corner of her school’s hallways.

It’s a strange feeling to be in the body of a bully being bullied. We don’t know what to think of the character… Should we sympathize? Should we do our best to understand her or hope for her destruction instead?

Some Girls Are is reminiscent of Courtney Summers’s All the Rage. It explores the idea of telling the truth but having no one believe us. It’s not only frustrating but also gut-wrenchingly sad.

This book takes some unexpected turns.

Instead of standing there and taking all the hatred in, Regina acts. She revolts against her assailers. At one point, we even go as far as asking ourselves if Regina is any better than Anna, the one orchestrating the attacks.

She’s a very flawed character. She challenges us into debating if she deserves what’s happening to her or not. I love how it raises plural ethical questions.

Talking about the book calms me. I just want to warn interested readers that it’s not for the faint of heart and that it will possibly make you cry.

It’s a risk you’ll have to take.

But it’s worth it.

Because Courtney Summers

never

disappoints.

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