Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers Also by this author: Fall for Anything, All the Rage, Sadie
Published by Macmillan on 2010-01-05
Genres: Physical & Emotional Abuse, Social Issues, Young Adult
Pages: 256
Format: Paperback
Source: Gifted
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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 ofCracked Up To Be.
Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers is like Mean Girls, only not funny at all. I’m not sure what took me so long to hop aboard the Courtney Summers love train, but damn girl can pen a book. Some Girls Are is an intricate look at bullying, victim blaming, and cliques. Regina is part of the mean girls clique. Rude, and a bully to others, she rules the high school with her queen bee best friend, Anna. Until one day, all of that changes. When Regina is sexually assaulted by Anna’s boyfriend, instead of blaming the perpetrator, everyone blames Regina and she is turned into a social pariah.
My heart hurts just writing this review. Summers perfectly captures the pain of adolescence and being on the receiving end of bullying. Some Girls Are is gripping. It just begs to be read from beginning to end in a single sitting and will sticking in your conscience for a long time afterwards.
What I like is how complicated this is. Regina is no angel, yet I can’t help but feel sympathy for her. I mean, it’s hard to resist peer pressure. Judge not lest ye be judged. I realize that in the beginning, when Regina was cool, she did some horrid things. And while yeah, she gets her comeuppance, no one deserves what happens to her, no one.
Perhaps the thing that I love most about Some Girls Are is that it shows the pervasive practice of victim blaming. Too often people ask victims why didn’t you do this or say well you should have done that, placing the onus of responsibility on the victim. This pretty much happens to Regina. As a reader, one can’t help but get pissed on her behalf. I like that this stirs up indignation and hope that will carry over into the real life of readers. As we should be supporting victims of assault, instead of turning them into pariahs, blaming them because they dressed a certain way or god forbid, consumed alcohol.
Disclosure: Shanyn sent me this book for my birthday!
Other Reviews:
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Bookworm1858
Melanie’s Musings
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This is a great review! I will definitely have to pick this one up soon, as I have a copy. Summers’s books all sound amazing.
It is amazing! I have Cracked Up To Be left to be read and can’t wait until Summers writes something else.
Cracked Up to Be is a very good novel!
Yes and yay! I love this book.
High school sure does sound scary in this one. I’ve heard a lot of good things about this book but I feel like I have to prepare myself before I read it.
On another note, yay for getting a book for your birthday. 🙂
Well, high school can be very scary. Also getting books certainly trumps getting a sweater, or something else dumb.
ya!
I just read my first Courtney Summers book too (Fall For Anything, which is just brilliant) and now I’m thinking I need to read every word she’s ever written. I’m actually a little scared of this one because I think it’ll be painful to read, but it sounds like I should definitely brave it.
UM yes, you do need to read everything she’s ever written. I think SGA was more painful to read than FFA, but perhaps that’s because I related to Regina more than Eddie.
I’ve been wanting to read this one for a while now. It sounds like it will be a very moving read. Great review!
You should definitely get on reading SGA, it’s SO good!
I loved this book so much. It kind of destroyed me emotionally when I finished. It was so raw, gritty, and, like you said, gripping. I pretty much forced it on one of my blogging partners when we visited a bookstore together. I can’t wait to read Courtney Summers’ new book!
Some Girls Are definitely destroyed me as well. I felt so bad for Regina, regardless of how mean she was.