A lot of topics are covered in this book. It begins with abuse and covers drugs, self-harm and eating disorders (bulimia). Told from varying points of view, no characters in this book that have it all figured out, although on the surface, as all teens do, they may give that impression. That is what struck me as the most realistic aspect of this book - every character has an issue. The varying abuses were merely the transport used to delve into society's rules (conditions) and the different maxims we all strive to live by; it was about anxiety and the problems faced by teens to fit in and conform, whilst plying their own brush of do's and dont's. The book dissolved the question of morals and settled more firmly on self-empowerment, or lack thereof.
I'm re-reading it as I think I missed a lot of the subliminal connections along the way.

While abuse by a teenage golden boy is the catalyst to this story, it's truly about the girls who must navigate the effects of that abuse coming to light. As someone who was in an (emotionally) abusive relationship as a teenager, I can say that Alyssa Sheinmel GETS IT. She gets the way it impacts friendships. She gets the guilt & shame that comes with staying with someone who mistreats you, along with the confusion of still loving that person. She gets it all. And it comes through these girls who are messy & complicated & so very real. I wish SO HARD that this book was around when I was in high school. I'm so glad it's around now.

Trigger warning: Abuse, self-harm, bulimia

I think this book did a very good job of showcasing how domestic violence can occur with teens. The last time I recall having a big discussion about this was when that Lifeftime movie starring Fred Savage and Candace Cameron called "No One Would Tell" that followed a young couple in love, but the boy in questions starts abusing the girlfriend. That movie showed how many people knew what was going on and how more people should speak up when they suspect someone they love is being abused. That said, the book's switching POVs among several teen girls was distracting and caused me to not engage as much as I should have while reading. Everything is eventually revealed, but I felt myself slightly annoyed because this book really didn't need a gimmick.

"What Kind of Girl" shows the different people who are linked together after one of the most popular boys at North Bay Academy, Mike Parker, is accused by his girlfriend of him hitting her. The book follows different teen girls in this one with them only being identified as "the girlfriend," "the popular girl," "the bulimic," and "the pothead." Eventually the author reveals who is who in this one.

I didn't get a very good sense of the male in this story, Mike Parker. He's obviously abusive, but the book chooses (rightfully so) to focus on the teen girls in this story and the widening sides at the school with those who don't believe Mike hit his girlfriend and those that do. The girlfriend chapters were the best in my mind. That said, I just got tired of jumping around after a while. When the book reveals who is who though it was much easier to read in my opinion. It just felt very gimmicky and I don't think the book needed that, that's the main reason I gave this book three stars. The book also starts to read as repetitive after a while. When Sheinmel reveals who the girls are in the book things become clearer, but I think that could have been dealt with better earlier. I can see this turning off some readers after a while with them not wanting to wade through all of this.

The setting of this book is North Bay Academy. Through the multiple POVs you get the sense the school is diverse, but also has a lot of wealthy classmates mixed in with many people, the principal included, shocked that Mike could hit anyone. And of course there are a lot of people questioning why "the girlfriend" put up with it then. I thought this book tackled a lot of strong subject matter well, and others a little rushed. I think it was good though that we have a young adult book talking about abuse between younger people. I think the last young adult book that did that I read was Sarah Dessen's "Dreamland."

The ending was okay, the book really didn't grab me much except when I was trying to work out the connection between all of the girls in this one.

It took me a bit of time to get into this book, as I didn't like the voice of the main character. I liked it when I persisted, and when narration flipped between Maya and Juniper, however. I like how everything ties together, though I did find it a little predictable at times. Some descriptions were unnecessary (too much detail about why someone wears what they wear for example, the old 'show not tell' rule applies!)

All in all, it was quite a good story, with relevant and up-to-date topics, that teenage readers should relate to easily.

As if someone pushed aside the drapes to allow a real look into the kind of girl who - stays in an abusive relationship, cuts herself to feel better, throws up on purpose, smokes to escape, or shakes with anxiety all the time.

This book is so good!! Like so so good. I was slightly confused in the beginning but it totally all fell into place and I had the AH-HA moment. I’m so happy with Maya and Junie’s development in this book and would absolutely read a sequel if there were to be one. I think this book would appeal to high school girls and up.

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.

Full disclosure: I was ready to DNF this book at 25%, mostly due to the fact that it seemed to jump around a lot and that it was slow-moving. But since I enjoyed this author’s other book, A Danger To Herself and Others, at the beginning of the year, I decided to give it another try. I am SO GLAD I DID. Because Maya and Junie’s tale is a memorable one.

I think this book is important for teens because it explores a very timely topic: abuse within a relationship. Maya’s boyfriend Mike hits her, but she remains silent, like so many women do, because he’s the golden boy and somehow she feels like people would think she’s lying about the abuse or that she deserves it in some way. Apart from that, she also struggles with bulimia. I think the author explores these issues without glorifying or romanticizing them, but rather showing how someone truly struggles in those situations.

I also think this book sends out a very positive message for young readers as it shows the power of friendship and the importance of standing up for oneself even when you feel like the rest of the world would be against you. I recommend this book for all those that want to broach these difficult topics with their children but don’t know how. This could be a way to start the conversation.

I really enjoyed this book. At first, I was a bit confused with the switching of POVs but when I finally caught on, it was brilliant.

What Kind of Girl by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

First sentence:

It’s hard not to want to defend him.

What Kind of Girl examines many of the problems that teenagers face today with the focal point on dating violence. The book centers on the aftermath that occurs when a teen girl, Maya, accuses her very popular and well-liked boyfriend, Mike, of physically abusing her.

The story is told in three parts, mostly narrated by Maya and her best friend, Juniper aka Junie. There are some parts that are narrated by others i.e. The Best Friend of Mike and it was especially hard to understand exactly what was going on and who was talking for the first third of the book. This was distracting and confusing for me and interrupted the forward movement of the book. I kept going back to re-read the previous chapter to try and figure out who exactly was who.

I think the author did an excellent job shining a light on dating violence and the lines that are drawn when accusations are made. The emotions that Maya goes through, self-doubt, guilt, struggling with feelings that maybe she deserved it, etc.… I think these are all things that victims often feel. Ms. Sheinmel does a great job illuminating these areas throughout the book along with the attention she brings to the matters of bulimia, drug abuse, anxiety, and self-harm.

It’s a worthy read that sheds light on What Kind of Girl stays with a boy that hits her, why she stayed, and what her friends, family and peers think about it

A big thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for allowing me to read and review this title.

This book goes into some topics that most YA novels don't fully go into detail about. It really delves into the world of dating violence, bulimia and self-harm. This is a truly powerful book that I believe many young readers should give a shot. It's extremely realistic, almost sadly so. It's written so beautifully that it hurts your heart a bit.

There's a part of me that hated this book because it made me terrified for my daughter for high school! There is a huge trigger warning about dating abuse, bulimia and self-harm.
Its a book about bravery especially in the age of the "Me Too" movement. There are some really tough topics that are brought into focus in the book and I really don't want to give too much away with this.

There are the typical high school stereotypes but then the book peels those layers away from the characters and you come to know them on a personal level and also what issues are facing kids today. They become more than just their stereotype would lead you to believe.

Thank you so much NetGalley for the ARC

@AlyssaSheinmel
reading an advanced reader’s copy of #WhatKindOfGirl what a well thought out & thought-provoking novel. All the labels we give girls, all the expectations. So tempted to make it our SNR girl’s Bookclub next year. Still to finish only up to section 3 chapter 4. ❤️ (20/8/2019 - Twitter @libchelle1)
This will be one of our senior students' book club book suggestions for 2020

**Will be posted on my blog http://pastmidnight.home.blog on January 22, 2020 closer to publication date,**

Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

First and foremost, this book has triggers all throughout the story. It delves into the thoughts and actions of two teenagers, one who is a girl who reports that her boyfriend abused her. The other girl is her friend, who is a cutter, dealing with life’s pressures in unhealthy ways.

But the way it’s written in the beginning can get a little confusing. There is more than one perspective being told but no name, just a label: The Girlfriend, The Popular Girl, The Bulimic, The Burn Out. The more you read on you understand this is the girlfriend, Mike Parker’s accuser. We get into her thoughts a lot about what happens when she tells her secret. People question her, blame her and in turn she also questions herself and blames herself. It’s no wonder why people who are abused don’t report it when it occurs. We also see her thoughts about how she felt about Mike, how he made her feel, how she had to question if what they had was love? Can it be love still, if he hit her? We are there in her thought process and it’s frustrating but eye-opening, and we eventually learn her name is Maya.

Then in part two we get a different perspective from Maya’s best friend, Juniper, but she too has issues. She’s a cutter. She’s dealing with anxiety, OCD and panic attacks. We get into her head as well and it’s stressful in there.

I really like how the story evolved. I’ve often wondered why people stay with abusers, even though I’ve seen it happen to my own friends and family members. And Maya’s character gives us a chance to see how someone can waver, blame herself, see people question her and then she in turns question herself. I mean Mike is the star athlete at school with everything going for him. People wanted to take his side and given the chance they totally did. But we see Maya is also dealing with other things like her parents’ divorce and bulimia.

Then we see questions come from Juniper as well. They are best friends but even Juniper judged Maya on the situation. Juniper has issues of her own trying to balance her parents expectations, trying to figure out if she’s good enough for her girlfriend Tess, and cutting helps release the pressure from her daily life. She plans a protest to get Mike expelled but things don’t go as planned and it pushes her over the edge.

There was a little relief for me when the best friends finally told each other their secrets. They needed each other and didn’t know what they were going through individually. In the end these two girls choose another label for themselves, the kind of girl who stands up for their truth. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

It is a story that brings up relevant issues about dating abuse, self harm and mental illness. Overall it’s an engaging and emotional read about some hard subjects.

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!

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.