Review by Alex- Some Girls Are

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers
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.

First Impressions: This is Courtney Summers, author of the fantastic Cracked Up To Be. 'Nuff said.

Some Girls Are is a blistering novel about the ruthlessness of girls, and how messed up our world can become. People are cruel. They'll make you cry. They'll punch you when you're at your worst. They won't believe you when you tell the truth.

But they'll also fall in love. They'll do the right thing because it's the right thing. They can remind you about what's good in life.

Some Girls Are is not a light novel, and whoever thinks high school is a light and trivial topic is dead wrong. High school is instrumental in our lives to creating who we are. The novel proves this point beautifully.

Regina is just... almost beyond words. She can be pathetic and weak, then big hearted and hopeful, then malicious and cruel, all in the span of a mere 250 some pages. And she goes through those phases many, many times. I've no clue how Courtney Summers does it, but Regina is one heck of a messed up character.

Which means I, and no doubt countless others, love her all the more for it.

I wish I could give justice to this mind-blowing novel, but it's impossible. The plot flows at a quick pace, with it starting with the incident that freezes out Regina, and therefore jumping the gun without really delving into an initial situation. That's fine- it's not needed. I was instantly hooked by page one. Every single way to get back at Regina is done, and the acts start getting worse and worse and worse, even going so far to target the one person that Regina likes: Michael.

Getting onto the topic of Michael: it's hard not to feel for the guy. He transferred to the high school and was suddenly hated by Anna, hateful Queen Bee, and therefore her gang, which at the time, included Regina. The girls did everything they could to make him miserable, and then his mom dies, and he obviously is not a happy-go-lucky guy. Yet he still manages to feel for Regina, and lend out a hand to her when she needs it.

With a bevy of characters you can hate but sympathize with at the same time, a whole lot of back stapping and viciously cruel acts, Some Girls Are kept me enthralled (which is not exactly good as I should be studying for exams). I'd consider it impossible to put down this novel without finishing it. Put down this novel, yes, because it is sheer horribleness acts of bullying, but then pick it right back up.

I love Courtney Summers' blunt prose with it's no nonsense attitude that dives right into the thick of the problem. Avoiding nothing, not abuse, not drugs, not swearing, she writes about what happens to teenagers when they go terribly, terribly wrong. Some Girls Are is what happens when girls are cruel to others to raise their own self esteems, when kids don't trust each other and in fact hate each others guts, when parents neglected their children so much they're ignorant to huge events happening.

Some Girls Are is heart-wrenching and just all around fantasticawesomemustreadworthy stuff. If this review is scrambled and makes no sense, it is because Some Girls Are has blown my mind away, and I am writing on pure, raw emotions. Because that's what the novel is about (in my opinion). Basic human instinct- self preservation and a dogged sense of stubbornness to never give in- flies until fights ensue in the novel, and tears and laughter are provoked from the reader.

Just- just read the novel. Mind you, it's not for the faint of heart, nor for the young of mind, because it does deal with weighty topics. But if you like those utterly depressing and impossibly heart-carving novels that still somehow remain hopeful and attracting throughout, you'll devour Some Girls Are.

Final Impressions: Pretty sure you can tell by my less than coherent review, but I was blown away. I knew Some Girls Are would be fantastic- but I didn't know it would be so to such a high degree.

Favourite Character: Regina, for being so complex I guess. But Michael is so lovable, so he's a very close second.