Sunday, April 10, 2011

Review: Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

Pages: 256
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Published: January 5th, 2010
IBSN:  9780312573805





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 was 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 who 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.



[Synopsis by Goodreads]



I really shouldn't have read this book so soon after Fall For Anything (my review of which goes up tomorrow). Courtney Summers's books are so powerful, raw and intense that they shake you to the core. Reading two of them in a row? I'm going to be emotionally useless for days.

I've heard this book likened to Mean Girls so much that I wasn't prepared for how raw and honest it was, as opposed to funny and light. Though I can see the similarities between the two, Some Girls Are was much deeper.

The characters are distinct from one another and well written. Even the most effed up characters were made to feel realistic. Our main character, Regina, is easy to relate to, and I felt sympathetic for her through most of the book (I wanted to slap her at the end).

Some Girls Are is one of those books that makes you genuinely care about what the characters are doing. In other books, I'll sometimes think, "I don't like what they're doing", but in this, I was like,"Dammit, WHAT are you doing?!"

A must-read for anyone with not-so-fond memories of high school. Hell, a must-read for anyone. I give Some Girls Are a 5 out of 5.