Summary:
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. (from GoodReads)
Review:Wow! This novel was so crazy. It was difficult to read because of the content, but at the same time I couldn't put it down. Some Girls Are makes you look at high school a lot differently.
Some Girls Are details bullying in one of its most extreme forms. The popular crowd, known as the "Fearsome Fivesome," engages in humiliation, isolation, cyber bullying and various types of physical and emotional abuse. This mistreatment isn't just limited to the normal student body: if one of the members has a falling out with the group, they are also subject to this torture. It's truly horrible and you can't help feeling bad for Regina, even though she did the same awful things beforehand.
It's hard for me to comprehend how people are able to go through their day spreading rumors, locking others in supply closets and pushing them into lockers. It takes a lot of time and energy for these wars, not to mention some creative manipulation. Is the average high school girl clever enough for the schemes that Courtney Summers outlines? I'm not quite sure. Also, how prevalent is this type of bullying? I must have had an exceptionally good high school because none of this ever happened. I'm not saying there wasn't bullying, but these all-out offensives against one person in which most of the school either participates or knows about? That didn't happen. Most of the bullying I saw was people being left out or teasing. Maybe I was just naïve.
Even though most of the characters acted like sociopaths, Some Girls Are is very engaging. You want to see Regina win and watch how her relationship with Michael develops. There were some interesting twists that will keep you on your toes. Unfortunately, the book kind of just ends. I wish there was more resolution than what we got. I liked the book, but obviously didn't at the same since I'm not really a fan of seeing people be constantly bullied.
Rating: 7 out of 10.
FTC: borrowed from the library
2010/St. Martin's Griffin/246 pages
Summary:
It’s the end of the world. Six students have taken cover in Cortege High but shelter is little comfort when the dead outside won’t stop pounding on the doors. One bite is all it takes to kill a person and bring them back as a monstrous version of their former self. To Sloane Price, that doesn’t sound so bad. Six months ago, her world collapsed and since then, she’s failed to find a reason to keep going. Now seems like the perfect time to give up. As Sloane eagerly waits for the barricades to fall, she’s forced to witness the apocalypse through the eyes of five people who actually want to live. But as the days crawl by, the motivations for survival change in startling ways and soon the group’s fate is determined less and less by what’s happening outside and more and more by the unpredictable and violent bids for life—and death—inside. When everything is gone, what do you hold on to? (from GoodReads)
Review:
I read This is Not a Test in one sitting and it's definitely the type of novel that lends itself to this - it's gripping and hard to put down. I really enjoyed the blending of contemporary YA themes and a zombie apocalypse, and I think This is Not a Test delivers something new to the zombie genre.
This is Not a Test was very similar to Lord of the Flies, in which there is a group of teenagers stranded in a dangerous situation where the issue of leadership and power takes center stage. Unfortunately, the six characters stuck in Cortege High School during the zombie takeover are not great friends, nor do they get along too well. This leads to power struggles, which I think is a great commentary on human behavior in crisis. Sometimes the characters could be super annoying; there was a lot of crying, moping and overall helplessness and hopelessness. However, I honestly believe the majority of teenagers would act this way, so I think Courtney Summers depicted a very accurate reaction.
Our narrator is Sloane and she has had a very tough life. She's dealt with both physical and emotional abuse from her father, her mother is dead and her sister (her only friend and confidante) recently took off. So the zombie apocalypse is perfect for Sloane because she's already suicidal. It was tough to read Sloane's point-of-view because she does want to kill herself and that's an awful mindset to be in. Seeing her change throughout the novel and open up to the other students was really nice. I think she started to see the importance and meaning of life.
Some people on GoodReads complained that the book was boring because the characters are stuck in a high school for the most part. While I agree that the book isn't terribly exciting in the middle, I think it's very realistic. The students are barricaded inside and there's nothing to do, but there's still the claustrophobia of the zombies outside and the drama of living in close quarters with five other traumatized teenagers.
Overall, I really enjoyed This Is Not a Test and thought it was a gripping, harrowing read. If you like zombie books be sure to check this out!
Rating: 9 out of 10.
FTC: borrowed from the library.
2012/St. Martin's Griffin/323 pages.
Summary:
From the author of Cracked Up to Be and Some Girls Are comes a gripping story about one girl’s search for clues into the mysterious death of her father.
When Eddie Reeves’s father commits suicide her life is consumed by the nagging question of why? Why when he was a legendary photographer and a brilliant teacher? Why when he seemed to find inspiration in everything he saw? And, most important, why when he had a daughter who loved him more than anyone else in the world? When she meets Culler Evans, a former student of her father’s and a photographer himself, an instant and dangerous attraction begins. Culler seems to know more about her father than she does and could possibly hold the key to the mystery surrounding his death. But Eddie’s vulnerability has weakened her and Culler Evans is getting too close. Her need for the truth keeps her hanging on...but are some questions better left unanswered? (from GoodReads)
Review:
Just like the previous book, this is the first novel I've read by Courtney Summers. I've heard great things about her writing so I'm glad that I finally got a chance to review her work.
Even though Fall for Anything deals with suicide and grief, I wasn't expecting it to be quite as dark as it was. That tone is definitely understandable, and I'm actually glad that the author took the chance of making this dark. I could really feel what Eddie was feeling: her sadness, her confusion, her desire to know why her father did what he did. There were so many emotions in Fall for Anything and I was glad that Eddie was able to keep it together through all this.
There weren't that many supporting characters, but some were an important part of Eddie's healing, such as her best friend, Milo. I really liked him because he cared so much for Eddie and it was obvious by his actions that he would do anything for her. There is the mysterious Culler who Eddie finds out was her father's protegee. His motivations were intriguing and I wanted to learn more about who he was. In Eddie's household, there's her mother, who is barely hanging on (that part is pretty sad to read about). There's also her mother's best friend Beth who moves in with them to help out. Eddie hates Beth because she insists on being chipper and tries to get Eddie to do "mom" things (like clean her room, take vitamins, etc). I actually didn't mind Beth because I thought it was so nice that she was trying to help out their family and I think her idea of having a positive attitude was actually a good one.
The ending of Fall for Anything was a little vague, but I think it makes sense with reality. Because for many people, there will always be mystery surrounding why someone committed suicide. Since they're not here anymore, sometimes you just don't know and I think Fall for Anything tried to highlight that.
Fall for Anything was pretty depressing because of its subject matter, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless.
Rating: 7 out of 10.
FTC: borrowed from the library.
2010/St. Martin's Griffin/230 pages.
