Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

It's been a while since I've posted a new blog, so my apologies. There have been a lot of other distractions, for lack of a better word, great books included! Now I've fallen behind, and so I'll work my patootie off (what is a patootie?) to get things back on track over here.

Anyway, a little over a week ago I picked up the second of my three gifted books, Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers. The giver had said so many wonderful things about this book, and I couldn't wait to dig in. The verdict? Uh. May. Zing. Amazing!

Regina Afton is the best friend of Anna, the most popular girl (bitch) in school. As I'm sure we all remember, high school and that climb up and down the popularity ladder can be nothing short of cruel. So when untrue rumors are spread that Regina hooked up with Anna's boyfriend, the results are absolutely brutal.

This book reminded me of the movie Mean Girls (and yes, I know this is based on a book, but I haven't read that book so I can't compare), except meaner. Regina's voice is so perfect for the telling of this tale, and I love how not perfect she is. This less-than-perfect protagonist seems to be an interesting theme with Courtney Summers' two books, the other which I will get to a few posts from now. It's refreshing to watch a character struggle with morals and make all the wrong decisions in an attempt at self-preservation. We were ALL like that in high school. No one knew all the answers, and no one was absolutely perfect. We made mistakes because we didn't know better and didn't have the insight or life lessons to back up our decisions. Summers really captures this beautifully.

The supporting characters are all equally dynamic, and the high school setting of this book really helps the plot along and builds to a wonderful crescendo. Despite the harshness of the events in the book, I hate to say that there is probably a good deal of truth in these pages. Big thumbs up for this book and author.