With a situation involving this kind of brutal bullying, it’s hard for me as a parent not to want adults involved. So I both appreciate and understand why that wasn’t the direction Summers took with the resolution of SOME GIRLS ARE. Having a grown-up soar in and rescue the protagonist is a storytelling no-no. In YA, resolving an issue with any kind of adult involvement gets really tricky. I needed to see like three chapters more showing that she’d really changed and that she and Michael (whom I absolutely LOVED!!!) could work out together. Unfortunately, I think I just didn’t really believe in her transformation at the end. Regina isn’t the stereotypical novel victim, and I loved that. I think choosing to tell SOME GIRLS ARE from Regina’s perspective and bringing her passion for revenge to the forefront were really bold decisions and carried an important message. Instead, it continues the vicious cycle, only adding more fuel to the fires of revenge. She retaliates against her former friends in an effort to bring them down low enough that they’ll leave her alone. In SOME GIRLS ARE, Regina comes to regret her role in bullying other students, but in some ways, it still feels like that’s all she knows. I also connected more with Romy, the protagonist in ALL THE RAGE. I think I liked ALL THE RAGE better because it dealt more with the way the town as a whole responded to a rape allegation and some brutal high school bullying. It’s hard for me not to compare this book to ALL THE RAGE, a more recently published novel by Courtney Summers which deals with some of the same issues (see content warning). 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. 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.

She takes solace in the company of Michael Hayden, a misfit with a tragic past whom she herself used to bully. If Regina were 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.

Now Regina’s been frozen out, and her ex-best friends are out for revenge. 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. Martin’s Griffin Amazon | Bookshop | GoodreadsĬlimbing to the top of the social ladder is hard-falling from it is even harder.

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers