Justine's Thoughts: Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

Some Girls Are
By Courtney Summers

Source: Library
Pages: 246
Book Description:

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-g...more 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.

A quote:

Time passes too quickly when you’re getting ready to do something you don’t want to do.

Any thoughts:

I honestly cannot explain why I’ve given Some Girls Are a full-on five stars. It’s not a bad thing; it’s just that I don’t have enough words. The following review cannot possibly do justice on how breathtaking this novel is. Courtney Summers is seriously an author to watch.

Fifty pages in the novel and already my eyes started leaking. I could not stop the tears from flowing. The awful presence of bullying to the point where it leads to extreme mental and physical abuse makes my heart ache from helplessness. Especially through the voice of Regina, who - from time to time - I hated, I sympathized with, I adored and I cheered for, the reality is right in front of your face that it just makes my face crumple.

And wow, those absolutely crazy girls who make me want to rip their faces off. They are the “Fearsome Foursome” and they scare the entire school due to their infamous titles of putting down other students in the most dreadful ways. Worst of all are the teachers. How ignorant and heartless and infuriating and disgusting they appear to me. The school as a whole is a giant high-school nightmare, an ideal place to hate.

Some Girls Are is soul wrenching , very emotional yet inspiring. I admired Regina’s determination to keep standing up after each fall and go through another day of torture in school. I understood why she so badly wants to get revenge on everyone that initially had control of her. But you get the usual phrase: “If you play with fire, you get burned”. Still, she appeared to me as headstrong, for she is always thinking to herself, “Do something”, instead of letting everything consume her. Throughout the toughest obstacles, she barely considered the easy and quick way out -- suicide. She just wants everyone and everything bad that was happening to stop. She fought hard and dirty.

Now it may seem as if I have mixed feelings about this novel. But frustration, admiration and understanding can equal to a thought-provoking, brilliant novel. I loved Courtney Summers’ debut novel, Cracked Up To Be. And I truly love Some Girls Are even more.

Justine's Thoughts: Cracked Up To Be by Courtney Summers

Cracked Up To Be
By Courtney Summers

Pages:

214

Book Description:

When “Perfect” Parker Fadley starts drinking at school and failing her classes, all of St. Peter’s High goes on alert. How has the cheerleading captain, girlfriend of the most popular guy in school, consummate teacher’s pet, and future valedictorian fallen so far from grace?

Parker doesn’t want to talk about it. She’d just like to be left alone, to disappear, to be ignored. But her parents have placed her on suicide watch and her counsellors are demanding the truth. Worse, there’s a nice guy falling in love with her and he’s making her feel things again when she’d really rather not to be feeling anything at all.

Nobody would have guessed she’d turn out like this. But nobody knows the truth.

Something horrible has happened, and it just might be her fault.

A quote:

...there’s no such thing as a decent human being. It’s just an illusion.
And when it’s gone, it’s really gone.

Any thoughts:

This novel was fast-paced, written in a style that would make you want to continue reading and never stop. And I really, really loved it.

At first, I thought there was going to be a “before” and an “after”, explaining how Parker’s life fell apart. I was wrong. It takes place after the whole event happened, but at certain times in the novel, a retelling of what occurred will pop out...because Parker will never forget it, and the battle between her and her memories clearly show. No one knows why she’s like this, including the reader. It’s not till the very end when you get the upsetting truth. Sure, throughout the novel I was guessing why she had become like this and I’ve had some interesting guesses, however none of them were right. That’s one of the reasons why this novel is so good -- it’ll keep you intrigued.

I also wasn’t aware of the foul language that was used. But that’s what makes it realistic. Courtney Summers writes this novel with a teenage voice, exactly how a teenager would respond to certain things, which goes to say that you can relate with Parker. Parker has always wanted everything to be perfect, the way she wants everything to be. And she does, she has. But that leads to a problem as she creates her own downfall and everything falls apart from there. The message being sent out is that not everything perfect is cracked up to be which is so powerful that I will keep this book in my head for the next few days.