Alyssa Sheinmel

Told in multiple voices, when popular Mike Parker's girlfriend informs North Bay Academy's principal that he has been hitting her, students react differently, revealing their own insecurities and problems.

What Kind of Girl

kelsey

marked as dnf @ 38%. the writing was done well i just can’t read part II because of the depictions of self harm it’s too triggering for me

I connected with the characters in different ways. I like how the book portrayed all the different perspectives of being a girl. 

Lulu Evensen

I connected with the characters in different ways. I like how the book portrayed all the different perspectives of being a girl. 



Campbell Berry

I really loved this book. Although the POVs did get a little tricky at time, I loved the way the author portrayed the victim and how much doubt she felt about what she did. I really loved the ending.

Brooke Barnett

Michelle Boyea

Please note, I received a free copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This was a hard book to read. Language wise, it was simple to understand. The chapters flowed together, there wasn’t much confusion on who was who, and it was easy to follow along. But the subject matter.....that was the hard part to read. Both of the main topics discussed are ones that many, many people face nowadays. And people aren’t sure how to handle them.

Anxiety/OCD. If you have it...you understand. If you don’t have it....you can try to understand, but you never truly will. Feeling like the world is ending, not being able to shut off your brain, constantly wondering, hoping that the thoughts will go away. Many people do resort to various activities to “self-medicate”. And they should not be thought of any less for that. They are trying to cope with something in the way that they think will help. And it does help them, for awhile. Until it doesn’t. Until it makes it worse. Asking for help is the hardest part. What if they don’t understand? What if they judge you? Are you a failure to them? The hardest part to grasp is that those who truly love you, will help you. They won’t judge you. And they will be there for you no matter what.

Domestic Abuse. There is never a reason why you should be hit/slapped. Never. Unfortunately, it still happens. And you will never be able to understand what triggers someone. Because those triggers can change. And it is never your fault. It is always their fault. This is something that can happen at any age. But is also one that is not normally discussed during high school. It is always a hypothetical. You think of it as happening once you are married and older. Not when you are 16/17. And you never think it can happen to you. It happens to “other people”. But it can happen to anyone. Abusers don’t discriminate.

This book was very well written and was a tough book to read. It beautifully handled the issues and brought them to life at an age where you do not normally think about them. I highly highly recommend.

Megan Leprich

Thank you so much to Sourcebooks Fire for the complimentary copy of this book for my honest review. 

The last Alyssa Sheinmel book I read, A Danger to Herself and Others, I also DNFed so this wasn’t too much of a surprise for me that I couldn’t read this either. 

I commend the author for writing about all of the hard topics that teenagers go through and while I can appreciate a hard hitting contemporary, this was way too problematic for me. I didn’t agree with a lot of what was said and as a girl that suffered from physical and sexual abuse, I don’t feel that it was written the write way. Parts of this book made me actually scoff at how it was written and how certain things were portrayed. 

I’m sure this is a great book for a lot of people but this was not for me.

Leelynn Brady

Full review on my blog  Sometimes Leelynn Reads.  Will post at 12pm EST on May 26, 2021.



Eating Disorder (bulimia), Self-Harm (cutting), Domestic Abuse, Mental Health (Anxiety, Panic Attacks), Drug Use/Abuse

I’ll remind you again that if any of the above trigger warnings are an issue for you, I would skip this novel or read it when you’re able to deal with the content in a healthy way. This was a great example of having a nuanced conversation about domestic violence and self harm. Characters weren’t misguided by others thinking that getting rid of these negative aspects will suddenly make life better. They were also encouraged to speak to a professional or even join support groups to help them process their trauma. This novel also didn’t romanticize either of the difficult topics involved, which is really important to me when I read a story. While I don’t know if I could handle reading this again in the near future, I would recommend it to those that want to read more novels that deal with mental health.

"Both timely and timeless, a powerful exploration of abuse in its many forms, as well as the strength it takes to rise up and speak your truth."—AMBER SMITH, New York Times bestselling author of The Way I Used to Be What kind of girl stays after her boyfriend hits her? The girls at North Bay Academy are taking sides. It all started when Mike Parker's girlfriend showed up with a bruise on her face. Or, more specifically, when she walked into the principal's office and said Mike hit her. But her classmates have questions. Why did she go to the principal and not the police? Why did she stay so long if Mike was hurting her? Obviously, if it's true, Mike should be expelled. But is it true? Some girls want to rally for his expulsion—and some want to rally around Mike. The only thing that the entire student body can agree on? Someone is lying. And the truth has to come out. From New York Times bestselling author Alyssa Sheinmel comes an unflinching and resonant tale that examines how society treats women and girls and inspires the power to claim your worth. Praise for What Kind of Girl: "A poignant, thought-provoking novel that will resonate deeply."—Kirkus "A rallying cry."—Booklist "I immediately saw myself in this book, which so thoroughly explains the thought process when coming to terms with victimhood and survivorship. I felt understood."—Chessy Prout, author of I Have the Right To "Important, raw, timely, and ultimately hopeful...demands readers discuss the trauma of teen dating violence and how girls are so often taught—even expected—to internalize their victimization."—Shannon M. Parker, author of The Girl Who Fell and The Rattled Bones

Trigger warnings: (view spoiler)[domestic/relationship abuse, bullimia, non-suicidal self-injury, drug use (hide spoiler)]

This book was a tough read. But it was also important, strong, and beautiful. Please pay attention to the trigger warnings for this book though. Some content is very graphic.

What Kind of Girl is written and developed in a way that I haven't seen often in YA contemporaries. Portions of the book are told through multiple unnamed narratives. Giving Breakfast Club vibes, the reader is instead introduced to characters by their labels: the popular girl, the girlfriend, the burn-out etc.

While it can be slightly off-kilter at the beginning, as you get your head around it, the reasoning for it is gorgeous and genius. You need to read it to understand.

If you've read the synopsis, you already know that this book deals with some tough topics. Domestic abuse, also labelled dating or relationship abuse in the book, is a topic that easily could have become problematic. And while it does contain problematic thinking from a lot of characters, the book develops incredibly well. It doesn't shy away from the toxic views many people have surrounding the subject, but it clearly highlights the complexity and harm that comes from such a circumstance as well. 

**Please note that I am not an #ownvoices reviewer for this content - my views may not be accurate to experience**


  "Because I'm the kind of girl who stays."


What Kind of Girl also tackles mental health brilliantly, in my opinion. Anxiety, bulimia and self-injury all play a huge part in this story. As an #ownvoice reviewer for 2/3 of these, I applaud the work the author did creating these scenes throughout the book. 

Some scenes are incredibly graphic and hard-hitting. Please note, these are not off-the-page scenes. But they are also not glorified or over dramatic either. I wish that the bulimia had maybe been explored a little bit more. But with so much going on in the story, I understand why it wasn't.


  "I think it was bad love."


There are so many other themes that this book explored brilliantly. The impact of assumed parental expectations. The concept of consent; the impact of asking vs. not. How peers, communities, and authority figures react to publicly standing up for one's self. 

The biggest take-away was that girls are allowed to be messy and complicated and contradictory.



  Note: Review copy (audio) received via NetGalley. This does not impact opinions within this review.


blog •  trigger warning database • more links

Happy reading! ❤

Katie

This book has such an important message and is certain to help victims of abuse. It is a very quick, easy read that tends to tell you information directly so you're not left wondering. I especially loved the first chapter in this book. Just amazing, perfectly attention grabbing, perfectly written. It really helped set the tone for the rest of the story, and it was an enjoyable read for me.

That being said, I do think the author was a bit ambitious in that she tried to cover many different issues in this book, not only domestic abuse, but OCD, bulimia, anxiety, and so on. While these are also topics we need to be talking about, I feel she tried to do too much in a single book and the rest fell a little flat. I would love to read more from Sheinmel in the future focusing in on just one (or two at the most) of these issues.

Also this is SUCH a minor nitpick but she named one of the characters Hiram Bingham, you know, like after the archaeologist who excavated Machu Picchu? I don't recall it ever being directly addressed in the book either (other than "HIGH ram What a weird name haha", please correct me if I'm wrong). It was such a strange choice of a name and I found it breaking my immersion every single time I read his name, which ultimately caused me to knock down my star rating because it was SO distracting.

3.5 stars

What Kind of Girl

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