Review: Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

Title: Some Girls Are
Author: Courtney Summers
Published: St Martin's Griffin (Jan 5th 2010)
No. of Pages: 256
Grade Rating: A+

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.

Some Girls Are is a raw, emotional story following the life of Regina as she is severely bullied at her highschool. This book was just amazing and had you reading right until the very end.

Courtney Summers is an unbelievably skilled writer. She is so clever at creating her characters, you couldn't help but have extremely strong emotions towards them. Regina had fallen from her position as one of the most popular (but hated) girls in school and was now a wreck emotionally and physically. Yes it's true, she is a bitch. Or was a bitch. She was so intent on having her revenge on her former friends, you were able to feel sorry for her but at the same time think she was stupid for bringing so much trouble on herself. What amazed me was how brutal these characters were. Summers didn't hold back when writing Regina. She was a complete state but you just felt so sorry for her anyway. And the rest of the Fearsome Five. They were so evil. Not just mean evil but proper torturing kittens evil. It was appalling to see how they treated Regina after knowing what happened to her. It just shows popularity isn't worth it.

The bullying was harsh and extremly brutal. Everyone in their school experience must have been bullied or at least picked on but nothing compares to the lengths these girls would go to. Coming from someone who's still in school, I wouldn't have been able to cope like Regina. School is sometimes a horrible place but when you read this, you'll feel lucky.

This is very unique and not at all what I was expecting. I thought this was going to be a very cliche highschool tale about the obvious It Girls and their helpless victims but it was so much more than that. It was very original, namely the reasons behind this were the characters and poetic writing style. You couldn't tear your eyes away from the page. This book made me more horrified than the most gruesome horror novel. I'm craving more of Summer's work.