Be warned about these triggers: domestic violence, drug use, cheating,self-harm, bulimia, panic attacks.

This book would be very hard to rate for me.
It is not easy to read. Not because of the topic, even if there are really hard and triggering topics so be warned (see below) but because of the writing style.
Alyssa Sheinmel chose to have us be in both heroine’s heads. And even better, the first part we have many “girls” to follow: The Popular Girl, The Girlfriend, The Bulimic, The … So many different points of view. And a big surprise by the end of the first part.
The second part is about another set of girls: The burnout, the …
Every girl is thinking SO MUCH! They have so many inner dialogs, self-doubts, questions, fears, theories ….it was exhausting to read and also made for a very slow pacing. I was so confused in the beginning!
Yet even if the reading experience was laborious it was also genius to make us FEEL what these girls were going through. And I was thinking: “My God, they are so lost, alone, afraid. Being them must be exhausting.”

This is for the reason why I won’t rate that book as I am conflicted between the arduous reading experience yet conscious of the audacity and brilliance of the writing choice and topics broached.

Now what is this book about?

I don’t want to spoil your fun but the synopsis does not give many things to build upon yet triggers have to be mentioned.
This book is about “the girlfriend” who has been hit one time too many by Mike Parker, school golden boy, and decides to go to the school’s principal.
So one topic is about abuse.
The school and even parents will talk about it and people will question why she did not report Mike sooner as he beat her for months. She has to hide something right? Maybe he didn’t do it? Maybe she got confused? Surely, he is too polite, too good to do such thing right?
““Was it always this bad?” Mom gestures to my eye. I shake my head, and she looks relieved. She doesn’t want to think that I stayed when it was this bad. She wants to think that the minute it crossed the line (what line? Who says where the line is?), I stood up for myself. That’s what any self-respecting girl would do in this day and age. That’s the kind of girl she wants to believe she raised me to be. And she wants to think that if it had always been this bad, she would’ve seen it sooner.”

This topic is cleverly analyzed in all its complexity and contradictory emotions and choices.

But other girls are part of this story where the school takes sides.
You have the bulimic.
You have the anxious girl.
You have the burnout…
“But other people don’t understand how hurting yourself could possibly feel more right than not. Even though I know it shouldn’t.”


This story is a window into some very heavy suffering some teenagers (or even adults) go through when faced with high expectations and pressure. From teachers, from parents, from friends, from lovers …
Being a teenager is a hard time and that’s “What Kind of Girl” demonstrates. With enormous empathy and compassion for these girls who wear masks to meet what they think are others expectations.

It also shows that humans have so many facets and we choose the ones we want others to see, sometimes with grave consequences for our self being or others. No one is perfect, no one is made of only one facet and accepting them as a whole is liberating.
“I take my hands out of my pockets. They’re still shaking, just a little bit. But I’m done hiding them. I’m done hiding me.”

Reading this story is painful but reading this story is also eye opening and …just. We owe it to everyone going through rough times. To acknowledge and recognize their pain. To understand their torments. To let them know that they have the right to be loved for who they really are, flaws and all.

Amazing, heart wrenching book! This book was one of those books that left me shook up inside. It had my emotions all over the place, but I found it to be so utterly real and in its ugliness beautiful. I think it’s a must read for parents, teenagers, and any one else working with younger people, because it really hits on tough subjects in a manner that lets readers see realities and maybe learn from them and help others from that knowledge. I highly recommend to those who love books on tough subjects, which don’t just skim over in minor details but show you the heart breaking realities.
Will definitely be recommending to everyone!

What an unexpected and intriguing read! I went in with no knowledge of the book besides the cover and the NetGalley synopsis. This book is so much more than its synopsis! I will admit I struggled against the lack of information about our narrator. But when I accepted it, I found myself completely inside her head. It felt like I was back in high school, with a million questions and opinions floating in my head, trying to make decisions for me. I would highly recommend this book for teens and adults alike.

Trigger/content warnings: domestic violence, drug use, self-harm, bulimia, panic attacks, cheating.

I was provided an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this but it definitely wasn't perfect. I really liked the way it dealt with domestic violence and the exploration of the emotions surrounding it. I liked the main characters and the journey they each go on, both separately and together. However, I wasn't a fan of the mystery surrounding the identities of the main characters. I also didn't love the addition of the second POV.
Probably the main thing I didn't like was the graphic depictions of self-harm and bulimia. Be wary that there are multiple detailed scenes of self-harm and bulimia that may be triggering.
I also was so dissatisfied by the ending. I was prepared to give this 4 stars but the ending really knocked it down for me.
There were a lot of things I wasn't happy with in this book. However, I appreciated the way this book handled domestic violence, mental illness, and other serious topics and I liked it. I didn't want to put it down and would definitely recommend if it sounds like something you're interested in.

This was an intense, beautiful story of two girls who are each fighting their own battles that they believe make them abnormal, or label them as "having issues". One is the victim of domestic abuse among other things and the other is dealing with powerful bouts of anxiety and manic-behaviors/tendencies. There are a few twists as characters are revealed that was cleverly constructed by the author. The girls (no names as they are spoilers) both learn very important messages about themselves and each other, as well as what is TRULY meaningful...and HINT HINT it is NOT what other people think.

This would have been a 5 star read if a few of the syntax-related problems would have (or will be) fixed such as the repeated use of "then again," and an incessant internal questioning from both girls which was in character for ONE, but not so much the other. If these are tuned up, it will be a five star read, no doubt!


***Trigger warnings for domestic abuse, anxiety, self-harm, and bulimia (less)

I read another book by this author at the beginning of this year called A Danger to Herself and Others. You can find the review for that title here. I liked her take on mental illness as it was very intriguing. Since I liked that one, I decided to request this book in hopes I would like it just as much. Unfortunately, there was just too much to try to grasp and it made the book lack in certain areas along with being quite slow at times.

One of the issues I had from the beginning was how the chapters were separated. It was hard trying to figure out if each person (the burnout, the girlfriend, the popular girl, the bulimic) were in fact the same person. This was also the case in part two of the book, except the titles were different. I didn't start to realize that the book was two point-of-views until after part two. It was only then did it make more sense and that part one was Maya, the girl in an abusive relationship with other issues, and her best friend, who also had issues of her own. Even though it made more sense, the two characters still felt like they had the same voice and there wasn't much to distinguish between the two voices.

When it came to the issues that the girls dealt with, I can't speak on every one because I have never been in any of the situations besides being bulimic. I have struggled with my weight since I was young and as I got older I struggled with Anorexia and Bulimia. The bulimia in the book is mentioned just a couple of times and then is glossed over. There is no resolution for it or at least her getting help with it. I felt that even though the book was trying to bring light to the issue it shouldn't have been included if it wasn't going to be more informative. The other topics like OCD, self-harm, abuse, and drugs, were discussed more. I thought that most were pretty informative but if the author would have talked about just a few then it could have been more effective.

Overall, I understand why this book would be important for teenagers to read but feel that it could have been executed better.

As someone who works with teenagers, I very much appreciate any novel which tries to bring more difficult topics into the conversational realm.
"What kind of girl" delves into a lot of subjects which are really important to be having discussions about, with young adults and otherwise, but aren't always easy to do so. Domestic abuse, the divide between accused and accuser, drug use/abuse, mental health issues and so on. However, it doesn't always do it in the most nuanced of ways.
While some of the teenage characters are believable, they aren't always truly authentic feeling and while the aforementioned issues were raised (in thoughts and conversations etc), some felt like they were glossed over to a certain degree. Maybe this was intentional due to how a teenager may be percieved to react (in terms of their actual depth of knowledge etc), but I felt it was a shame that everything couldn't have been dealt with in a way that really felt genuinely beneficial.
It is worth a read for a YA audience as it should raise some questions for them, but I wish it informed them a bit more on the journey to coming up with what those questions were.

I received a copy of WHAT KIND OF GIRL from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to the author and publisher.

FIVE STARS and here’s why:

This book really opened my eyes to the world of drug use, domestic abuse, and mental health. Not only is this a story grounded in realism, which I appreciate immensely, but it also helped me understand what it is like to be struggling with these hard issues as a teen. There are no guarantees in life; there’s only hope. The story teaches us that no one should assume anything at face value and that no one is safe from prejudice or misunderstanding or judgment. All that glitters is never just gold. Each character is well written, the dialogue realistic, and the plot kept me up all night to learn what happens next. Highly recommend this story as required reading in schools.

This book was okay but the pacing was so slow. It was a chore to finish. I normally devour this type of book, but I just did not care enough.

I thought there were a lot of real strengths in this novel. There’s a lot of great authenticity about how a teen might react to someone they love being hit. I think most of the time Maya’s thoughts also feel authentic, but perhaps less so than Juniper’s.
I felt torn about the format of the novel. I like the point being made—that inside each person there are many layers of identity, sometimes conflicting—but I didn’t like the application. It distracted from what I see as the more relevant threads: the abuse, the self doubt, the mental illness. I would’ve rather seen less gimmick and more of the realistic, clean writing style.

While I was excited to read this book and still find the topics and themes not only important, but essential to teenagers today, I didn’t find this book to be at an actual teenage level. It was a bit juvenile and just skimmed the surface of topics that need real books and real conversations.

I loved this story! This is a tough topic and I think it's very important for readers to be provided a different insight. Dating violence is a important topic. Mike is a likable guy that no one thinks would ever hurt his girlfriend. That's what some people think at least. Then there is the other side who think he should be expelled. This is a great read that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Happy Reading!

What Kind of Girl gives a gritty and poignant insight into the mental health of two girls as they navigate the fallout from a shocking accusation of abuse that divides their school and leaves everyone looking for an answer that is easier to stomach than the truth. One day, a girl walks into school with a bruise (growing more noticeable by the minute) and confides to the principal that her beloved school athlete boyfriend is abusive. Now, the whole school is wondering...What kind of girl finds herself in an abusive relationship? What kind of girl stays in one? What kind of girl hides the truth from her best friend?
Junie is The Cool Girl. The one that always knows what to say and never appears too attached. Her best friend Maya is The Popular Girl. The one who is always impeccably dressed and liked by everyone. Both girls prove that labels only describe what is on the outside. Inside each is struggling with dark secrets that threaten to tear them apart. Meanwhile, family, friends and love interests unwittingly add to the pressure by expecting Maya and Junie to represent the labels that have been placed upon them.

A rather timely novel about the struggle for young women to be believed, What Kind of Girl follows Maya as she deals with a relationship punctuated with domestic violence, as well as perspectives from multiple characters as the school and community grapple with whether or not to believe that such a serious topic could rest so close to home. The author does a great job exploring themes such as abuse, self harm, and drug use in a mature way. However, I found the "voices" of the characters to be significantly younger/more naive than what I know of modern high school aged people to sound like, which makes the characters seem dumbed down to its audience.

A special thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

The subject matter was mature, but it was beautifully done by giving each character a specific voice and viewpoint. I will be putting a hard copy of this in my classroom library for my students to enjoy.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
DNF at about 100 pages in. And that was only because I skimmed through the start of Part 2. The author tried to create suspense and mystery by using descriptions like “The popular girl” or “The Bulimic” instead of character names, but it really did not keep me in suspense or intrigue me. I didn’t enjoy the writing style – often something was said just for it to be repeated in a slightly different way. I was so disappointed that this book wasn’t good enough to keep me hooked because I think it deals with an important topic.

What Kind of Girl by author Alyssa Sheinmel is a fast paced, head on book for teens and young adults. This book did not disappoint and I loved how real life it was. School (especially high school and college) can be a crazy hectic and shine or not time in ones life!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Releases in February 2020!

** The formatting for this ARC is a little wonky; I didn't take it into account while reviewing, but you may want to fix that! **

At the onset I had a bit of a rough time getting into this, but it all started to come together by the end of part one. As part two unfolded, I found myself reevaluating the situation and my initial impressions; part three went straight for my heart/feels and had me literally tearing up. So it's not at all an exaggeration to say that this book is An Experience in the best possible way.

The prose is very stream-of-consciousness, which won't appeal to all readers but which I found perfectly fitting. It's a messy, confusing situation, and that hits home through the narrators' struggle with what to think and how to react to everything going on. (Some of the parentheticals are a bit much, but otherwise the writing flows almost effortlessly.)

All the portrayed relationships are nuanced and relatable, but I want to point out the parent/child relationships in particular because I so rarely see them done this well. YA lit is full of abusive and absent adults, so it was especially poignant to see flawed but well-meaning parents in this novel. Adolescence is a time when you're in between depending on and wanting to be free of your parents, which makes for a tricky dynamic; and yet each of the parents is a complex, distinct character with a complex, distinct relationship with their child.

Some of the social justice themes are pretty blunt, but it <i>is</i> an integral part of the narrative. Apparently sensitivity and thoughtfulness is "practically in the school catalog", and it shows: the students pride themselves on believing the victim, though they're conflicted on whether that's Mike or his girlfriend. They're not perfect. It's frustrating, and it's completely true to life.

Finally, this really isn't all that important (especially compared to the weightier topics in this book), but the NorCal representation made me so happy! California isn't all beaches and sunshine, especially in the northern part, yet I so rarely see books that acknowledge this.

Omg! Ok first of all this book made me so angry. Angrier to the point that I wanted to smash my Kindle but not because of the author or because of the story. I was angry at Mike. I was angry at Maya's situation. I was angry at the school and everything that happen after Maya spoke to the principal. I been there, I know how it feels but unlike Maya I never found my voice, I just let things go. This is an excellent story, and I'm proud of Maya for finding her voice.

The Quick Cut: A high school goes into anarchy after a girl accuses her popular track star boyfriend of abuse.

A Real Review:
Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In today's hyper aware society, everything is up for social commentary and far too often the public opinion is the one that takes primary position. So when that type of social setup grapples with as sensitive a situation as abuse from a partner, how does the truth come to the surface and the victim get the care they need? This is the topic at the heart of this novel.

A girl goes to her Principal's office first thing in the morning and tells her that her popular track star boyfriend has been hitting her. With a newly darkened eye and a seriously uncomfortable feeling, her honesty about what happened the night before starts a trail of school meltdowns and everyone weighing in on where they stand. Who should they trust: they girl with the bruised eye or the star athlete? Is there more going on?

It's so hard to talk about this book without spilling too many details! The chapters are devilishly genius in the way that they're narrated by different people, but for the first two parts the names aren't given. Rather than names, labels are used and many are a little... Controversial shall we say? It's a smart writing technique in this situation even if it did confuse me at first.

There are many complex topics battled in this book, including bulimia, anxiety disorders, and OCD. The teens in this book go through between relationships, school pressure, and social expectations is intense. To be average isn't acceptable, they have to exceed expectations. Although it provides interesting insight and was clearly carefully written, it still deserves a warning as the content is sensitive in nature.

With multiple difficult topics, this book expertly navigates the struggles of abuse in relationships.

My rating: 4.5 out of 5