Friday, March 28, 2014

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers Review


"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."

Believe me, it's easy to cry over this book. In fact, I cried over this book (while reading it, of course) twice. One was somewhere in the middle. The other was at the end, because the end is so perfect. 

Regina Afton deserves an award for being stupid. None of this could had happened if she had just reported attempted rape to the police. She has bruises and his DNA to prove that he tried to rape her. Of course, the author basically had to make it the hard way. Unfortunately, everyone has to suffer. Oh, the opportunity to tell someone about this abuse (bullying and cyberbullying) arises over and over again. Sometimes, I want to yell, "Dangit, woman!" but that's meaningless. Regina can't hear me. She's a character and she has to find her way out of the solution. I just want to point out an easy way out of the story/situation for all those kids who are being tortured by their peers. If you are being bullied (by anyone), please tell someone about it. It's never good to let anger be contained. Overtime, you become a ticking time bomb which will explode. 

Moving on from my advice. 

Some Girls Are needs an award. Oh, wait. It has many. Never mind, I have to continue on about this wonderful book. Some Girls Are is about Regina Afton going against her four former friends. As she falls down from the social pyramid, she finds all the things she has done wrong. Eventually, she will have to make the wrongs right. But of course, this is a book. So it's going to be much harder than that. "I'm sorry" won't cut it. There's no feeling behind those words. It's kind of the way you tell someone when you accidentally bumped into them. The words just slip out. Regina is going to have to do much better than those simple words. 

The ending of Some Girls Are is perhaps the most truthful words ever. There's more to life than high school. There's somethings after it. It's not just endless drama, fighting, war, and boyfriends. We have a long journey and high school? It's just the simple beginning. Even if you are forty years old, your story is not done it. It's not over. There's still more to come. That's pretty much the author's message to the readers. Other than "more to life," the message is "Don't be stupid, tell someone." Telling someone is awesome. Just make sure that you are far away from the crossfires. It's nasty.

Overall, I think Some Girls Are is a perfect combination of emotion, words, and tears (my tears). I just loved reading this book. 

Rating: Four out of Five (Regina is an idiot). 

No comments:

Post a Comment