This book is important because of all the big issues it covers, including dating violence, bulimia, OCD, drug use, and cutting. It’s very heavy, but there are some light hearted moments. What this book boils down to is being true to one’s self, standing up for beliefs, and being a good friend.

3.5 stars

Hey, you!
You reading this book's reviews!
Stop it! Stop it immediately!
Okay, you can read mine, now that you're here, because I promise I'll keep it clean and spoiler-free.
Which is quite hard, considering even telling you the characters' names is a spoiler.
Basically, this books tells the story through the eyes of the abused girlfriend, the most popular girl in school, the pothead and the bulimic girl.
The writer leaves it up to you to figure their connection out. That's why I recommend diving into this book without previous plot knowledge.
It's a well-written story dealing with important topics.
Reasons I'm not rating it higher is that I felt it dragged towards the end, made me very angry and I didn't get a satisfying ending.

I found this title hard to get into, and slow to start.
The protagonist really grated on my last nerve, it was as though she was trying to be cooler than she really is?
I enjoyed the writing style and the pacing, once the book got going.
The characters (other than the protagonist) are well rounded, they really feel like real people.

Really special book about dating violence as a teen, and how quickly backs turn on the victim instead of the aggressor. Lots of mixed perspectives here, even though there are only two main characters. Queer MC, MC with OCD, MC with Bulimia.

Important topic. Very interesting book.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Difficult story but written so beautifully and with sensitivity. Mia suffers with bulimia and her boyfriend has been physically abusing her for months. Her best friend Junie, suffers with anxiety and cuts herself. One morning Mia goes to the high school principal’s office and tells that her boyfriend has been hitting her. But her boyfriend, Mike, is a golden boy, loved by everyone. So, will Mia be believed, and, if not, would it matter. The story is told from the POV of Mia and Junie. Beautifully done.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

It's about time we realize.mental illness is real. And it was portrayed perfectly by the author in this book.
'What kind of girl' teaches that a person can have contradicting personality traits. A girl can be popular and still insecure about her looks. It is a book that our generation needs desperately, I think a lot of us are facing things similar to Maya's and Junie's situations and reading this book might help a lot of people. Thabk you for writing this book.

I was given an early copy of What Kind Of Girl in exchange for an honest review. My short review follows, all opinions are my own.

Premise: It’s an important one for sure and one that although it’s fairly “popular” these days - can never be out there too much. Teenage girls being mistreated, abused, self harming and with eating disorders. Not pretty but must be talked about. Sad but true.

Thoughts: I wasn’t the biggest fan of the concept so to speak of how this topic (story) was layed out for the reader. At first I was just confused but figured it out fairly quickly. The second half makes much more sense. However, the internal dialogue was just weird and overdone to me. It seemed to be trying a bit too hard to drive the point home.

Overall: I did enjoy the meaning of The this book and feel it’s something teens should read. Perhaps the dialogue and writing would be more enjoyable if I were still a teen. It was a heartbreaking read no doubt. I give it a solid 3.5 ⭐️s as I do feel it’s an important topic.

I commend the writing for “going there” from a different perspective for sure.

I would recommend this - but it was hard for me to get through at times.

Thanks to NetGalley, author and publisher as always . Grateful reader here.

Thank you Net Galley for a preview to What Kind of Girl. This book is told by two High School girls that are best friends but with their own issues. Bulimia, date abuse, major anxiety, cutting and daily stressful high school life.

*Trigger Warning: depictions of dating abuse, bulimia, self harm & drug use*

It has been a few days since I have read What Kind of Girl and I am still speechless. What ever I write here will not do this book one ounce of the justice and praise it deserves in the slightest. I loved this book with all my heart, I loved the subjects is brought up, the way the author addressed them and the message that there is light at the end of the tunnel. What Kind of Girl is one of those books that impacts you and leaves you thinking about this issue and these characters even after you read the last page.

The book is told in two POVs. Mia whose boyfriend has been abusing her for months and suffers from bulimia and June, Mia's best friend, who suffers from severe anxiety and self harms. Both girls stories are complex and heart wrenching. Having gone through some of these issues myself, it was easy to relate to both of these girls. To feel there anger, pain, the hopelessness in the situations they are in.

Mia with a bruise on her face, walks into her principals office and accuses her boyfriend, Mike Parker of hitting her. But Mike is the most popular guy in school and him and Mia are the "it" couple. Sides are taken and not everyone believes Mia. Throughout the novel we watch Mia struggle with the acceptance of Mike's actions, whether she still loves him or not and was it her actions that caused Mike's actions. Since dating Mike, Mia has become extremely unhappy with her body and began to force herself to throw up and skip meals. It isn't until later on in the novel does she acknowledge it as as an eating disorder.

June, is Mia's best friend. After everything with Mia and Mike she decides to stage a protest for Mike's expulsion, since it seems he is only going to get away with this with a slap on the wrists. June's character is the one I related to the most. She suffers from bad anxiety and self harm tendencies. The way Sheinmel explains and treads with the discussion of June's anxiety, how she feels, the physical symptoms, the mental, the obsessive thoughts, the intrusive thoughts. I've never seen anxiety represented almost exactly as I have experienced before. (I've never understood when readers explain how they feel seen within a novel, but with What Kind of Girl I feel seen and heard and that I am not a lone.)

What Kind of Girl brings up important discussions that are needed to be have in the world of young adult novels. People often relate domestic abuse to older people. But what about younger people? It isn't just visible bruises and injuries. It's the little things as well. We see how Mike pinches Mia, grabs her a little to tight, how he is manipulative. For me, I feel like this book is going to be an eye opener for many readers.

Overall I really enjoyed What Kind of Girl and I hope others who read it do as well. Sheinmel's writing style and language is both beautiful and stunning and is going to leave her readers wanting more. The ending was left a little open ended, but I didn't mind it as much. The self acceptance and the recovery that both girls are working towards was enough for me.

What Kind of Girl is not to be missed in 2020 and I hope everyone takes away the message that Sheinmel's giving her readers.

Maya, the popular girl is dating the popular boy- Mike. She walks into the principals office on a Monday morning with a black eye, stating her boyfriend hit her. This starts a chain of events and ultimately divides the students between those who believe her and those who don't. Some question why she didn't say something sooner when she claims it's been going on for a few months. Maya herself is conflicted- she loves him, yet he hit her, how can that be?

The author does a wonderful job addressing so many issues that youth often face- self-harm, physical and emotional abuse, eating disorders and mental health issues. It's all to realistic. These are topics that need to be discussed openly to let young adults know they aren't alone and that's its OK to talk about these types of topics.

Thank you to Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Maya is very popular at high school. Her boyfriend Mike is popular and admired by everyone, including the teachers and staff. When Maya walks into the principal's office one day with a black eye and accuses Mike of hitting her. This starts a tumultuous series of events.

Sheinmel has created some interesting characters with some very serious problems. It brings date abuse, bulimia, cutting and anxiety into focus. These are important issues facing our youth today and the author does a good job of making it ok to tell. Maya is a brave young woman who is conflicted with the choice she has made but knows it's the right decision.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advance copy to read and review.

This is about a teenage girl named Maya. She's the popular girl, dating the golden boy but on Monday she shows up with a black eye. Maya tells the principal and the school starts dividing themselves into sides. Some don't believe Mike did it and the other side wants him expelled. Her best friend Junie wants to support her but she's dealing with her own issues.
I think this book was actually really well done. The plot wasn't great, but I enjoyed the characters working their way through their issues. The plot wasn't a focus of the story, it's really about the different abuse and issues woman face and how they deal with it individually. This can be with drugs, cutting, bulimia, etc. I think they were portrayed in a good way that was rather unflinching with showing the issues. I felt like reaction to Maya dealing with abuse was pretty good, I haven't been in her shoes but I thought it felt reasonable. Maya dealt with it for a couple months before coming forward and she didn't really know where to go made sense. Plus she's so young, as is Junie. I liked Junie dealing with her issues as well, that rang true to me of someone dealing with an anxiety disorder. I see some people didn't like the different titles because they didn't know who was talking at what time. I disagree with this, because I think The anxious girl, the girlfriend, etc. went with the title of what kind of girl. The voices were far enough apart for me to tell within a sentence or two who was speaking.
3.5/5
I'd recommend this to fans of hard hitting contemporary like Paperweight, Moxie, etc. It fits right in with those.
**Thanks Netgalley and Sourcebooks for the e-ARC**

This is an important book that every age group needs to read. The multiple viewpoints really capture each struggle that the characters are going through.

The first part of this book is pretty confusing, as well as a bit irritating when you find out that it turns out to be Maya saying things and responding in different ways to what she herself did. Then we get to the second part and it starts to make more sense. Overall I enjoyed this as a quick and easy read.

This book was shockingly realistic. It made my stomach churn with dread anticipating what was going to happen to the main character.

I thought this book was very interesting and surprising.

Told from several points of view of female characters, the book tells the story of Maya who finally decides to report the abuse she has been suffering at the hands of golden boy Mike. The book then explores the story from several perspectives as students begin to take sides.

The book deals realistically and interestingly with several issues teenagers face including drug use, self-harm, feeling pressure to fit in and eating disorders.

Maya's voice in the story will resonate with young girls who worry about finding their place and doing the right thing.

I will look forward to future books by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley.com, the publisher, and the author for my advance copy.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcefire Books for providing me with this complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review**

Stars: 3/5
Publication Date: Expected February 1, 2020

In What Kind of Girl, written by Alyssa B. Sheinmel, Maya reveals to the school principal that her boyfriend, Mike, hits her after enduring months of abuse. Soon, the entire school knows, including Maya’s best friend, Junie, who is dealing with problems of her own. Junie organizes a school rally to get Mike expelled, which begins to get out of hand when the whole school starts to pick which side of the story they believe.

I have to say this wasn’t my favorite book I read. While I think that the topics of domestic violence and mental health are extremely important, I didn’t love the way it was executed. For each section, the author would use different titles for the same narrator (ie. The Popular Girl, The Girlfriend, etc.). This was a bit confusing, especially in the beginning because I didn’t realize all of these chapters were supposed to be the same person. I also found the book to be just a little boring. I thought there was too much back and forth between the narrators’ own thoughts and that got a bit tedious for me.

I would, however, like to commend Alyssa B. Sheinmel on creating a book that discusses and portrays both domestic violence and mental illness. These are topics that need more recognition in our world and I love that this book touches on both. The author does a great job at getting inside the victims’ minds and showing all the different emotions and doubts they are having. She also showed how easy it can be to victim-blame and look for an easier answer to the problems we’re faced with.

If you like young adult books that touch on tough subjects, I recommend this one for you.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

This book got me in the feels. It is so hard to walk this earth in a female body. It is so hard to be a teenager. It is so hard to stand up for yourself. It is so hard to love yourself.

I’m taking one star off because the characters were a bit flat and just felt like a conduit to the book’s message. But it was definitely a message worth reading.

Never judge a book by its cover...

In this book we get to peek inside the minds of two best friends, Maya and Juniper as they each navigate through high school life in the various roles they play, student, girlfriend, daughter and friend.

At first reading, the different views was a bit confusing, but I realized what was going on soon enough. The book emphasizes that are so many sides to every person and it’s not as simple as being good or bad. There are so many labels that people assign, the golden boy or the assumed school junkie, but are they really who everyone thinks they are? Is anyone?

This is a YA book centered around physical abuse but also covers so much more. Other topics include cutting, bulimia, self-medicating, therapy, and all sorts of relationships.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing an advanced copy of this book.