The final discussion for Some Girls Are in the Courtney Summers Read Along, hosted by Lost at Midnight is here! To read my first Some Girls Are discussion post, click here. I’ve intertwined my answers to this week’s discussion in my book review below. Check it out:

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers
Release Date: January 5, 2010
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
ISBN: 978-0312573805
Source: Bought What Goes Around Around
Add it to Goodreads

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 one of the best books I’ve read this year. It will stay with me forever. These characters will stay with me forever. These characters were real and broken and truly relatable. This is as raw and vulnerable as it gets. Regina Afton is taken advantage of and has chance after chance to speak up for herself and take a stand but instead chooses silence and is dragged through the mud. This is a tough read, without a doubt it’s disturbing. But it’s a wonderful character study and fascinating reminder of the power silence can hold over your life.

That said, great stories don’t boil down to one thing. I came out of this story seeing that some people just simply are cruel people but even if you don’t take a stand for yourself, there’s hope that someone else will take it for you. I came out of this story seeing that even if someone will take a stand for you, change only happens if you accept it and choose to grow with it. I came out of this story seeing that good people are right beside you just as the cruel ones are and it’s up to you to open your eyes.

People usually only see what they think they deserve. They never see grace. Grace is overlooked, tossed out, misunderstood. But Michael and Liz are prime examples that grace exists. Anna is a prime example that grace extends to everyone. If you think this story is solely about getting even, you missed the point. It’s not about getting what you deserve, it’s about getting what you don’t. Grace. The gift that comes and goes around, reaching every single person whether we like it or not. A gift easily abused but some girls are smart and know when to take this gift.

All of these feelings come towards the end. When you’re in the trenches of Some Girls Are, dread, panic, rage, sadness, all these emotions fill you up. I love how Ciara put it in her post when she wrote, “Helplessness gnaws at you.” That it does. When you think it’s going to get better, it gets worse. Because no one wants to face the truth.

Regina’s former group of friends are vicious. Anna doesn’t stop until the ball drops. She doesn’t stop until she’s put in a position that paralyzes her with the fear of consequences. Also, Anna fears grace. Because for her, facing grace means she has to be a big enough person to do the right thing the next time around so she won’t need it. She’ll learn. There will always be consequences and there will always be grace. The real question is, is she always willing to do the right thing? Then she’ll have to figure out just what the right thing is since her idea of the right thing is clearly skewed. Yeah, Anna has a lot of growing to do. Everyone in this book does.

You see, grace asks you to be the best person you can be just as much as consequences do. No one likes to mention that. Just as words can be more powerful than physical harm can ever be, just as silence can be more powerful than words can ever be, grace can be more powerful than consequences can ever be.

Yes, “we get the jagged broken pieces handed to us,” but that’s all we have to give too. That’s all we have. Thinking about what keeps us whole, or at least what keeps me whole? It comes down to grace, hope, and love. So if you come away feeling more torn than you were before, I understand. But don’t miss it. Don’t miss the message. You can do something about the position you’re in. There’s Grace. Love. Hope. It’s all there for the taking. Take it.

Take it and grow.

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers is available now.