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hollyyym's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
abbyreads2's review against another edition
3.0
I'm shocked. So many things happened and the book felt short and long. I extremely liked the ending. It felt realistic. But the fact that those girls didn't get in any kinds of troubles was outrageous. They get to be such nightmares and go on with their lives never having to worry about it is completely unfair. Although life is unfair, I wanted them to get expelled or something. That part was disappointing. I don't have much to say besides that it was good. It would've been better if she had dealt with things differently but everyone is different. They deal with things different. In the end, she didn't really feel at peace. I can tell she's on her way there though.
Edit: This book was infuriating. She kept fighting back and that was a bit admirable but at times, it didn't feel like she was fighting back. It felt like she was stepping to their levels, bullying them back rather than being stronger than they were. And that bothered me. At times, she could've easily let it go or report them but chosed to rather start a physical fight or worsen the situation. I hate how the story failed to acknowledge the assaults (sexual and physical). There were no consequences and none of them paid for their actions. Donnie may have lost weight and looked terrible but for all the wrong reasons, he should've been locked up. Josh should've been locked up for his dealing and suspended for bullying. Anna should've been expelled and arrested. And kara really needed to see a therapy as well as get suspended/expelled and arrested. They all basically got away with it. And I'm still upset that no one acknowledged that she was raped or almost raped (not sure) by donnie. It pisses me off. Till the end. And another thing that pisses me off is HOW NO ADULTS INTERVENED WHILE ALL THIS SHIT WAS GOING ON???? What the fuck were they doing? Sleeping? Eating? I mean all this shit AND NO ADULTS. None of them got caught or anything (besides the incident with Regina's locker). That is one horrible school with horrible teachers and horrible parents. I fail to understand how not a single adult noticed all this was going on. So disappointed. The ending was okay but it would've been better if they had gotten at least something out of it. If they had to deal with the consequences of their actions.
Edit: This book was infuriating. She kept fighting back and that was a bit admirable but at times, it didn't feel like she was fighting back. It felt like she was stepping to their levels, bullying them back rather than being stronger than they were. And that bothered me. At times, she could've easily let it go or report them but chosed to rather start a physical fight or worsen the situation. I hate how the story failed to acknowledge the assaults (sexual and physical). There were no consequences and none of them paid for their actions. Donnie may have lost weight and looked terrible but for all the wrong reasons, he should've been locked up. Josh should've been locked up for his dealing and suspended for bullying. Anna should've been expelled and arrested. And kara really needed to see a therapy as well as get suspended/expelled and arrested. They all basically got away with it. And I'm still upset that no one acknowledged that she was raped or almost raped (not sure) by donnie. It pisses me off. Till the end. And another thing that pisses me off is HOW NO ADULTS INTERVENED WHILE ALL THIS SHIT WAS GOING ON???? What the fuck were they doing? Sleeping? Eating? I mean all this shit AND NO ADULTS. None of them got caught or anything (besides the incident with Regina's locker). That is one horrible school with horrible teachers and horrible parents. I fail to understand how not a single adult noticed all this was going on. So disappointed. The ending was okay but it would've been better if they had gotten at least something out of it. If they had to deal with the consequences of their actions.
b0hemian_graham's review against another edition
5.0
this novel was painful to read. it was nauseating, breathtaking, heartbreaking, and just all around miserable to read. it needs to be read. still trying to wrap my head around what I read. this shouldn't be banned because parents don't want to face that this goes on in real life. too many girls like Liz, Anna, Kara, Regina, etc.
aliza503602's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
Minor: Rape
mehsi's review against another edition
3.0
I expected more of the book. It was ok. But I felt like the ending was just rushed, like oh we have to stop now, so lets just do this and that, and done. Like wait what? The girl went through hell and it is ends that easily? Sorry I am not believing it will end like this.
parpacifica's review against another edition
3.0
This could have been four stars. It really could have. But there was so much wrong. The revenge/retribution thing didn't sit well with me.
Look, I'm not Mother Theresa— I probably shouldn't even mention our names together in the same sentence, given how much I cuss. I am all for revenge and payback and going batshit fucking crazy.
But I am not okay with someone bullying their bully. You are hurt. I understand. You have every right to be. But will hurting that person make you any better than him/her? Maybe my ridiculous pacifist dad accidentally rubbed off on me, but I couldn't get over the violent ways Regina was tripping, hurting, getting back at the girls who hurt her, who hurt her because she hurt them, and she hurt them because they hurt her and DAMNIT IT IS A CYCLE. YOU DO NOT FEED VIOLENCE WITH VIOLENCE.
I grew up as the person who was mostly everyone's friends, so I was never really bullied. I usually called the lonely kids to my table because why the hell not? Most of those "lonely" kids ended up being my friends for years. During my school years, if you were an asshole, someone would call you on it. So my experience was pretty sheltered.
But with that being said, a lot of circumstances in this book were too wishful and unrealistic.
Mean Girls wearing matching outfits? I'm sorry but if a bunch of girls wearing watching pink shirts and white miniskirts walked uniformly in the hall, they would be snap chatted and tweeted about so fast. No one would take them seriously.
Bully falls in love with bully? I don't even want to answer that question. Regina ruined Michael's life, and you're telling me he is willing to overlook the bullying, abuse, rumours and pariah status he got from them, for her suddenly because she finally realizes that she is a little bitch? Man, maybe he's the Mother Theresa reincarnate.
The book ended off on a somewhat good note but I can't help but think that Regina didn't change throughout the book. She just...kind of...stayed a bitch.
Look, I'm not Mother Theresa— I probably shouldn't even mention our names together in the same sentence, given how much I cuss. I am all for revenge and payback and going batshit fucking crazy.
But I am not okay with someone bullying their bully. You are hurt. I understand. You have every right to be. But will hurting that person make you any better than him/her? Maybe my ridiculous pacifist dad accidentally rubbed off on me, but I couldn't get over the violent ways Regina was tripping, hurting, getting back at the girls who hurt her, who hurt her because she hurt them, and she hurt them because they hurt her and DAMNIT IT IS A CYCLE. YOU DO NOT FEED VIOLENCE WITH VIOLENCE.
I grew up as the person who was mostly everyone's friends, so I was never really bullied. I usually called the lonely kids to my table because why the hell not? Most of those "lonely" kids ended up being my friends for years. During my school years, if you were an asshole, someone would call you on it. So my experience was pretty sheltered.
But with that being said, a lot of circumstances in this book were too wishful and unrealistic.
Mean Girls wearing matching outfits? I'm sorry but if a bunch of girls wearing watching pink shirts and white miniskirts walked uniformly in the hall, they would be snap chatted and tweeted about so fast. No one would take them seriously.
Bully falls in love with bully? I don't even want to answer that question. Regina ruined Michael's life, and you're telling me he is willing to overlook the bullying, abuse, rumours and pariah status he got from them, for her suddenly because she finally realizes that she is a little bitch? Man, maybe he's the Mother Theresa reincarnate.
The book ended off on a somewhat good note but I can't help but think that Regina didn't change throughout the book. She just...kind of...stayed a bitch.
stephxsu's review against another edition
5.0
SOME GIRLS ARE is another powerful tale that establishes Courtney Summers as one of the most talented YA authors writing today. With her trademark simple but powerful writing, Summers explores the deepest, darkest sides of humanity that most of us are unwilling to admit actually exist.
Summers’ writing skips past the B.S. and overly excessive descriptions that often plague literature and get right to the heart of the story: nearly inexpressible raw emotions. Her words are the opposite of rich, and yet she expresses in one short sentence what other writers might take two pages doing. The writing draws you into Regina’s story and refuses to let you go, even through the most horrifying scenes, the ones you want to look away from, but can’t. Summers proves that simplicity is likely the best way to go in packing a punch.
The mean girls in SOME GIRLS ARE are a cross between the eighties John Hughes high school flicks and the nineties horror movies: you have trouble believing such horrid people can exist, and yet you hardly question their terrifying bullying. The combination of Summers’ writing style and the enthralling plot keeps your eyes glued to the pages even as worse forms of bullying than you can imagine keep unfolding. The way things build, it’s almost impossible to imagine how anyone could construct a happy ending to this story, but the ending that Summers gives us is ultimately satisfying, a well-earned bittersweetness that was difficult to achieve, and thus perfect.
It’s interesting and surprising how well we connect and empathize with Regina, who is, after all, one of the mean girls. Even in her fall she continues to plot and think like her old self, and readers can never be certain whether she has learned from what has happened to her or not. Similarly, Regina’s budding friendship and—later—relationship with Michael is unusual for a YA romance, but hardly unsatisfying. There is something delightful to be said about the subtle and unexpected way their relationship develops, and push-and-pull of old, simmering resentment and hatred versus new empathy and love.
Courtney Summers’ second novel removes all traces of doubt one might have about her writing power after her phenomenal debut novel, CRACKED UP TO BE. SOME GIRLS ARE is every bit as good as her first, and perhaps even better in terms of moral complexity. Courtney Summers is now firmly one of my favorite authors, and I will be a zealous devotee to any and every book she writes from now on.
Summers’ writing skips past the B.S. and overly excessive descriptions that often plague literature and get right to the heart of the story: nearly inexpressible raw emotions. Her words are the opposite of rich, and yet she expresses in one short sentence what other writers might take two pages doing. The writing draws you into Regina’s story and refuses to let you go, even through the most horrifying scenes, the ones you want to look away from, but can’t. Summers proves that simplicity is likely the best way to go in packing a punch.
The mean girls in SOME GIRLS ARE are a cross between the eighties John Hughes high school flicks and the nineties horror movies: you have trouble believing such horrid people can exist, and yet you hardly question their terrifying bullying. The combination of Summers’ writing style and the enthralling plot keeps your eyes glued to the pages even as worse forms of bullying than you can imagine keep unfolding. The way things build, it’s almost impossible to imagine how anyone could construct a happy ending to this story, but the ending that Summers gives us is ultimately satisfying, a well-earned bittersweetness that was difficult to achieve, and thus perfect.
It’s interesting and surprising how well we connect and empathize with Regina, who is, after all, one of the mean girls. Even in her fall she continues to plot and think like her old self, and readers can never be certain whether she has learned from what has happened to her or not. Similarly, Regina’s budding friendship and—later—relationship with Michael is unusual for a YA romance, but hardly unsatisfying. There is something delightful to be said about the subtle and unexpected way their relationship develops, and push-and-pull of old, simmering resentment and hatred versus new empathy and love.
Courtney Summers’ second novel removes all traces of doubt one might have about her writing power after her phenomenal debut novel, CRACKED UP TO BE. SOME GIRLS ARE is every bit as good as her first, and perhaps even better in terms of moral complexity. Courtney Summers is now firmly one of my favorite authors, and I will be a zealous devotee to any and every book she writes from now on.
laurenkara's review against another edition
3.0
Trigger Warnings: Everything?? Sexual assault (on page), suicide mentions, eating disorders, drug & alcohol abuse/use, mental illness, death threats, violence, bullying, fat shaming, there was some MI shaming that was challenged,
I honestly have no idea what to rate this book. It was extremely draining.
On one hand I 100% understand what it was trying to convey. Bullying is a SERIOUS issue that not enough people take seriously (and yes, sometimes that includes teachers because mine did not care even when I reported my bullying). I feel like Courtney Summers did an excellent job at portraying how cruel high school and its students can be. HOWEVER, I think it relied too heavily on the "not all girls" trope.
I get that a lot of the messages in this book weren't positive, but I think that's the point. We need to remember the darker aspects. Just because we don't want to see it, that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Some people's realities are this book and they deserve their stories told. I would have liked to have seen a bit more education though especially in regards of how to properly handle a bullying situation and/or mental illness. Whilst extremely jarring to read I think the sexual abuse was handled respectful although there was one scene that felt like it was a bit done for shock value.
Also in terms of the actual writing the ending was so rushed? I understand and appreciate that it wasn't sunshine and roses, but it just felt so incredibly abrupt. There was also a serious case of absent parents, but maybe that was supposed to represent the disconnect between parents and their children.
Anyway, I think this can definitely be an eye opening read especially for people who had positive school experiences. If you can handle the subject matter I'd still suggest giving it a read.
I honestly have no idea what to rate this book. It was extremely draining.
On one hand I 100% understand what it was trying to convey. Bullying is a SERIOUS issue that not enough people take seriously (and yes, sometimes that includes teachers because mine did not care even when I reported my bullying). I feel like Courtney Summers did an excellent job at portraying how cruel high school and its students can be. HOWEVER, I think it relied too heavily on the "not all girls" trope.
I get that a lot of the messages in this book weren't positive, but I think that's the point. We need to remember the darker aspects. Just because we don't want to see it, that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Some people's realities are this book and they deserve their stories told. I would have liked to have seen a bit more education though especially in regards of how to properly handle a bullying situation and/or mental illness. Whilst extremely jarring to read I think the sexual abuse was handled respectful although there was one scene that felt like it was a bit done for shock value.
Also in terms of the actual writing the ending was so rushed? I understand and appreciate that it wasn't sunshine and roses, but it just felt so incredibly abrupt. There was also a serious case of absent parents, but maybe that was supposed to represent the disconnect between parents and their children.
Anyway, I think this can definitely be an eye opening read especially for people who had positive school experiences. If you can handle the subject matter I'd still suggest giving it a read.
4saradouglas's review against another edition
4.0
Wow, this was a stressful read. It's like Mean Girls to the extreme. I was seriously afraid someone was going to get killed. You definitely feel all the raw emotions throughout and get sucked into the book. From memory, I can't remember a book like this where the victim fought back so fiercely. It goes against everything I stand for, but at times I couldn't help but cheer for Regina when she would trip someone down a flight of stairs. My one complaint about the book is that no adult had any clue any of this was going on. Wouldn't someone notice? Maybe now that I'm a teacher and a mother I'm just getting a little too naive. I certainly hope if this was happening in my school I would notice and do something about it.
rachcannoli's review against another edition
3.0
Let me start by saying my rating is not because this is a bad book by any means, it's simply because I think this story was trying to accomplish quite a lot and never quite got there for me. Courtney Summers excels in writing difficult topics that are hard to stomach, a theme I think she's perfected with All the Rage, but while that one is not only difficult but incredibly compelling, this one does not read the same way.
Some Girls Are tries to be a book about bullying, revenge, untrustworthy friends, rape, and teenager problems all in one, which is a lot of ground to cover. To me the strength of this book is the betrayal of people Regina thought were her closest friends and realizing how toxic those relationships are and how they brought out the absolute worst in her. The inciting incident being her almost rape seemed to take too much of the focus away from that. I understood it's use, but I felt there were a lot of ways to illicit the same result without someone so extreme, even just the bruises or him hurting her could have been enough.
I did not enjoy reading this book, at all. I can understand a lot of the decisions made by the characters, no matter how horrific I think they are, but since I'm not a teenage girl I just got supremely frustrated. She should've just ignored everything and not fired back. She's such a dick to Michael for the majority of the book, I understand she deserves a break and he's a wonderful person and feels bad, but I just didn't quite see her make enough changes to deserve his love and it felt a bit rushed and extremely predictable. Did I want it to happen? Sure, since he was literally the only good thing in this entire book, but it still made me extremely frustrated.
Every other character is basically a garbage person, including Regina herself. Why the heck doesn't she tell her parents anything? I know that she's a teenager and thinks they can't do anything, but come on. Also they'd notice her bruises. There was one point after they beat her that her parents thought it was an accident from gym class...I mean come on thick can you get? I also understand that high school is such a status thing, but then just ignore everyone else, if it doesn't have power of you than it shouldn't affect you.
There are unfortunately parts of this book that are realistic. People can be truly terrible in high school, especially if you're even a little bit different, and there are incredibly toxic people that can get away with pretty much anything just because they're attractive. And toxic friends can also yield good memories, but as a whole you have to know they're not worth it. I think my biggest issue with this is Regina doesn't really learn anything. She fights back because she stops valuing her own preservation and the only way they can get to her is hurting someone else, so she may value her relationship with one person but I still don't feel she understands or learns really anything from the whole ordeal. Part of the problem is it just ends after they 'solve it' which isn't really solving anything, it's just another person threatening someone else. There's no closure between anyone and no one is better off for it except maybe poor Michael who was spared what could have happened by leaking his journal.
This is one of Summers older books, so I really do think it's just her having so many good ideas and not being able to properly channel them in the best possible way. The book is also quite short and could totally benefit from another 100 pages to flesh it out a bit more, but I can understand no one wanting to read more of how brutal her treatment was since they weren't really working towards proper catharsis. This could also be a more beneficial book for a younger audience since they wouldn't find the problems so irritating and trivial and hopefully open their eyes to simply be kind and treat others better. Not my favorite of hers and I probably won't ever reread it, but I can respect and understand why others like it a lot.
Some Girls Are tries to be a book about bullying, revenge, untrustworthy friends, rape, and teenager problems all in one, which is a lot of ground to cover. To me the strength of this book is the betrayal of people Regina thought were her closest friends and realizing how toxic those relationships are and how they brought out the absolute worst in her. The inciting incident being her almost rape seemed to take too much of the focus away from that. I understood it's use, but I felt there were a lot of ways to illicit the same result without someone so extreme, even just the bruises or him hurting her could have been enough.
I did not enjoy reading this book, at all. I can understand a lot of the decisions made by the characters, no matter how horrific I think they are, but since I'm not a teenage girl I just got supremely frustrated. She should've just ignored everything and not fired back. She's such a dick to Michael for the majority of the book, I understand she deserves a break and he's a wonderful person and feels bad, but I just didn't quite see her make enough changes to deserve his love and it felt a bit rushed and extremely predictable. Did I want it to happen? Sure, since he was literally the only good thing in this entire book, but it still made me extremely frustrated.
Every other character is basically a garbage person, including Regina herself. Why the heck doesn't she tell her parents anything? I know that she's a teenager and thinks they can't do anything, but come on. Also they'd notice her bruises. There was one point after they beat her that her parents thought it was an accident from gym class...I mean come on thick can you get? I also understand that high school is such a status thing, but then just ignore everyone else, if it doesn't have power of you than it shouldn't affect you.
There are unfortunately parts of this book that are realistic. People can be truly terrible in high school, especially if you're even a little bit different, and there are incredibly toxic people that can get away with pretty much anything just because they're attractive. And toxic friends can also yield good memories, but as a whole you have to know they're not worth it. I think my biggest issue with this is Regina doesn't really learn anything. She fights back because she stops valuing her own preservation and the only way they can get to her is hurting someone else, so she may value her relationship with one person but I still don't feel she understands or learns really anything from the whole ordeal. Part of the problem is it just ends after they 'solve it' which isn't really solving anything, it's just another person threatening someone else. There's no closure between anyone and no one is better off for it except maybe poor Michael who was spared what could have happened by leaking his journal.
This is one of Summers older books, so I really do think it's just her having so many good ideas and not being able to properly channel them in the best possible way. The book is also quite short and could totally benefit from another 100 pages to flesh it out a bit more, but I can understand no one wanting to read more of how brutal her treatment was since they weren't really working towards proper catharsis. This could also be a more beneficial book for a younger audience since they wouldn't find the problems so irritating and trivial and hopefully open their eyes to simply be kind and treat others better. Not my favorite of hers and I probably won't ever reread it, but I can respect and understand why others like it a lot.