He hit her. Again. But this time, she cannot hide it under her clothes, her eye is visible to everybody in school and therefore Maya goes forward to their principal and tells her what Mike Parker, everybody’s darling and sports superstar, has done. Even though it is quite obvious and Maya has no reason to lie, questions like “maybe she provoked him?” and “maybe it was just an accident?” blame her for being the victim. The school is divided and so are the friends. Yet, not only Maya goes through a hard time, her formerly best friend Juniper does so, too, apart from feeling ashamed for not having been the friend Maya would have needed, her break-up with Tess combined with her psychological struggles already keep her mind busy. But this is something that needs action and that’s what Juniper’s parents educated her for: standing up for those who are in need.

I was immediately hooked by Alyssa Sheinmel’s novel, she brilliantly captivates Maya’s thoughts which oscillate between not wanting to be the victim but speaking out for her rights and being strong on the one hand, and feeling insecure about what happened, questioning herself, her own contribution to bringing her boyfriend so far as to hit her again and again on the other. She is young and even though she knows exactly what is right and what is wrong, emotions are not that easy and rarely only black and white.

Providing different perspectives also adds to underline the complexity of a topic which seems so easy to make an opinion about. At first, however, I was a bit confused by the headlines of the chapters which introduce the respective character talking, I first assumed that wide range of girls would be presented until I realised that it is just the two of them perceiving themselves in different roles depending on their mood.

Unfortunately, after a great start, the novel lost focus a bit for my liking. Of course, it is only natural that all teenagers have their own struggles, that none of them really lives a carefree life where all is perfect. Yet, it was a bit too much here: Maya and the violence, Juniper cutting herself and suffering from OCD, drugs abuse – adding too many big topics quite naturally lead to a very shallow and superficial treatment of all of them. Not only did the author miss the chance to provide some insight in the psychological background of each, she treats them like some small bruise that can easily be overcome by just being friends again with your BFF. Simply focussing on Maya and Juniper also did not seize the extent of such an accusation and what it really does to a small community like a school.

Nevertheless, a great read that I enjoyed and which provides some food for thought.

Certainly a thought-provoking read with a twist at the end of part one that will delight teens. It touches on so many topical themes though & at times it feels a bit overdone & characters' motivation doesn't always convince. Solid teen appeal tho.

«What Kind of Girl» is not an easy read and it’s not the book for everyone. I can see why some people will absolutely love it, and others might be forced to love it because of all the different things it talks about.


Written in a very interesting way, in «What Kind of Girl» we follow two girls, the best friends from the North Bay Academy - Maya and Juniper, who deal with emotional and physical abuse, anxiety, depression, bulimia, self-harm, OCD… the list goes on and on.

This book should come with a big disclaimer on the front cover, and if you have suffered from any of the mentioned above, I wouldn’t advise you to read this book. Detailed descriptions often made me squirm and I’ve never dealt with anxiety or depression before myself.

The strongest point of this book, as for me, is the way it’s written. Alyssa B. Sheinmel chose a very unique writing technique to tell the story, and also to make the reader understand her characters better.

The book, as I mentioned, is told from two perspectives - Maya and Juniper, but at the same time, their parts are also divided into smaller chapters - “The Anxious Girl”, “The Girlfriend”, “The Popular Girl”, etc. At first, this was slightly confusing to me as I didn’t understand who I was reading about and how many PoVs there actually was, but once I figured out what was going on, I really enjoyed this method.

Nowadays, authors, when writing for a younger audience, are not afraid to spill the truth. They won’t hide the inconveniences of life, instead, they will bring to light the worse possible things - bullying, the pressure to perform, anxiety over growing up, and try to show them as real as they are. This can help but also harm.

When reading something so affecting, I usually don’t even notice if the characters were well fleshed out, if the plot was interesting enough or whether the relationships between characters felt real, because neither of these things was the main focus of the story.

If the book lacked anything of the abovementioned characteristics, I didn’t notice. For me, it was a very well written, emotional and sad story about self-love and self-discovery.

DNFed at 50%. I think this may be partially due to me and my reading mood, but I really did try and force myself to continue, but the book just made it almost impossible for me. It's a real shame as I did really appreciate the subject matter it was tackling.
This book follows multiple female perspectives during the week that a girl reports to her Principal that her boyfriend has been abusing her, in this case by hitting her, and she couldn't deal with it anymore. This book looks at the different reactions of the student body as this news starts to spread.
In concept, this sounded like just my sort of book, but it just didn't work. Like I said, we follow multiple perspectives, which I usually don't mind, but there was a ridiculous amount of repetition. When switching between perspectives we repeat the same events again and again, making the book feel stagnant and directionless. And even within the same perspective, the author just says the same thing over and over again. The same thoughts and feelings were stated on almost every page, and again made the book feel very directionless and like it didn't have enough plot to fill the book.
This, along with detached writing which may or may not have been on purpose, I'm not sure, just meant it was painful to push myself through and I genuinely couldn't read another page. I've decided to give it 2 stars as I am pleased it's a topic that's being discussed and I'm sure there are plenty of people who will enjoy this book, I just wasn't one of those people.

Trigger Warning: this book deals with self harm, bullemia, domestic abuse and anxiety so if any of those triggers you don’t read this one.
(I got a copy from Netgalley for review)

Do you like:
✨heard hitting contemporaries.
✨great friendships.
✨stories about serious topics.
✨flawed characters.
Then you’re going to like this be it has all of that and more!
For me I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand it deals with some serious topics that I think are important to have stories about and it’s done in a pretty good way, but there was this thing revealed at the end of part 1 that made no sense and it slightly ruined it for me because for the rest of the book I was just thinking and trying to make the reveal fit with what I read and it was hard.
I also didn’t love how the bullemia was addressed or portrayed because it felt like this minor unimportant thing that the MC makes jokes about. I did like how the abuse itself was portrayed though because it definitely gave an accurate portrayal of what it’s like being in that type of situation and how you don’t always recognize what’s happening as being abusive or wrong, because it’s not hitting just pinching and grabbing and shoving so is it really that wrong. Overall I think it was an important read and I mostly liked it.

A tough read but a compelling oneA girl wh suffers with abuse from her boyfriend a girl with ocd.A dark story a book you will not forget.#netgalley #littlebrownuk

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. I enjoyed this story very much and felt like I knew each character personally due to the description of them. I enjoyed the storyline. This is not my usual genre but in this instance I am extremely pleased and grateful for opening up my mind to something totally different. Thanks again.

This was such a complex book. It makes a reader feel, experience and question so many different things! I love the first part with the different stereotypes giving their point of view, it was beautifully done and showed just how complex we humans are. The references to puzzle pieces and us discovering new bits of ourselves as we go really resonated and I think it's really important for YA novels to remind teens they are so much more than ONE thing.
Another great thing about the book is it didn't shy away from the conflicting realities of anxiety, self-harm, bulimia and domestic abuse.
I actually think it was wonderful how Scheinmel made Maya an "imperfect" victim as it makes a valuable point. Even if you aren't perfect, even if you do cheat, do you really deserve to be controlled and hurt? No of course not, none of things make you any less a victim.
Junie's battle with her anxiety felt so real while I read it. The descriptions of how those thought loops went round and round in her mind constantly and how accepting medication felt like an acceptance that she was broken were incredibly clever and realistic.
Overall, a great read for teens and adults alike all about friendship, honesty, relationships and standing up for yourself.

In What Kind Of Girl we follow ‘golden boy’ Mike Parker’s girlfriend as she walks in to the principals office to report he had hit her, causing a black eye. Rumours soon spread throughout the school and everyone has an opinion on who is telling the truth.

The next part is told from four different points of view- The girlfriend, The popular girl, the burnout and the bulimic. There are no names mentioned in this part, the author leaves it up to the reader to figure out their connection until later in the story.

I enjoyed this book, I think it was well written and the topics it covered- domestic violence, drug use, bulimia, OCD and anxiety, are important for young people to read about. It did take me a few chapters to get used to the nameless narratives but I quite liked the idea once I realised who the voices belonged to.

I have marked this book down in my rating and that’s for two reasons. First of all I feel that Juniper’s story completely overshadowed everything else that was going on in the book, I wanted less of her story and more of Mya’s and secondly I wasn’t satisfied with the ending. There was good personal progress for each girl in the end but it lacked the details and depth that I wanted, it felt rushed.. at the very least I wanted to find out the outcome of the meeting and the repercussions that followed.

A solid 3.5 stars.

I already had gotten a copy, and didn’t realize, since cover was different! Anyhow, this was one of those amazing, heartbreaking, and full of emotional turmoil books. It shook me to my core and made many of my emotions show themselves! Well written, excellent character development, and absolutely gut wrenching at times! Highly recommend!
Will make sure I buzz it up on different platforms!

What Kind of Girl is very much an issues-driven YA – which in itself is no bad thing. But on this occasion I did find myself wishing for a little more plot to break up the issues. Sheinmel tackles a lot of important themes that will resonate with teens - dating abuse, eating disorders, anxiety, drugs and self-harm, to name a few - and while I think she makes a very valid point in linking all these multifaceted issues within two main pov protagonists, I felt the story lacked the substance required to really reinforce the message.

It's very much an introspective novel, and the highlights are where the characters muddle through their conflicting thoughts and realise things about themselves and the world. Both Maya and Junie undergo an intense week-long coming of age, with Maya especially reaching some important and relatable home truths. I particularly loved their relationship – the blurb might be all about Maya’s romance with the abusive Mike, but it's her friendship with Junie that really makes this book.

What Kind of Girl is a flawed but valuable read, a powerful feminist YA.

What Kind Of Girl is a really well written piece of teen drama, featuring engaging and realistic characters and touching on some emotionally resonant themes.

Maya walks into her principals office and reports boyfriend Mike for abuse. The black eye she is sporting creates gossip and division amongst her peers, best friend Junie is determined to bring Mike down and the author explores the group dynamic beautifully - the underneath of it all, the thoughts and decisions and fallout - and for the most part it is utterly compelling. 

This should really be a tour de force given the quality writing and the relevance of the story being told and it kind of is but also, for me, kind of pulled it's punches, throwing too many issues into the mix and therefore diluting the issue at hand. Almost everyone you meet has some kind of underlying problem, at times I felt like I was drowning in angst and whilst every issue was important in and of itself, throwing them all in there was just too much in the end. 

Overall though a very good read even with the slightly unsatisfactory resolution, I was gripped by Maya's tough decisions and with her feelings and processes, if that had been and remained the focus throughout I think this would have been stunning. As it is though I still recommend it, there are lessons here that are important and it does hold attention throughout.

The issue of abusive relationships is one that needs to be shouted about. Personally, this is something that I feel incredibly strongly about and I was drawn to What Kind of Girl because of its core issue. I felt like Sheinmel showed aspects of abuse really well, from the more subtle and insidious manipulation, coercive control and gaslighting, to the physical and sexual abuse. Showing these different aspects highlights how it's not just physical violence that constitutes abuse, which I think a lot of people my age aren't necessarily aware of.

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 the students have questions: Why did she go to the principal and not the police? Why did she stay so long if he 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.

Sheinmel has crafted an interesting cast of characters, particularly the main narrators . Without spoiling who they are, these are relatable, complex, realistic female characters, grappling with huge issues. They feel well-rounded and in-depth, allowing me to connect and almost share their thoughts and feelings. You can feel their sheer hopelessness at points, but I really liked the message that while recovery isn't easy or a straight path, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

The chapters are literally labelled and we don't learn the name of the victim until the end of the first section, which I thought was a really interesting way of showing how the victim is often marginalised and ignored in a toxic culture. The conversation often pivots around the accused and how the accusation may impact their life, sidelining the victim and this needs to stop. 

I really liked how the writing style matched the confusion of the characters, with a very stream-of-consciousness style that helped me navigativate the messy complications of each situation. The structure of the story also forced me to reexamine my thoughts about what had gone before and I really liked this introspective, thought-provoking aspect of the book.

Full review will be published on my blog ( A Short Book Lover) around the time of the release date.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this novel!

So, from the blurb that I read this was meant to be a book about a girl who gets abused by her boyfriend and then speaks up about it and the repercussions this action has in her schook life. It's an interesting take on the subject because there are many YA books about sexual assault but not about abuse (in my opinion) and it's important that abuse is explored from all the different angles.

But like I said: this was meant to be a book about that - it did not feel like it. There are a few issues that I had with the book but the first would be the narrative style. There are two protagonists, Maya and Junie, which struck me as odd because the story was meant to focus on Maya and her story as the book centers on her abuse. However, as we read the book, and even though it is a dual narrative, I can't help but feel that a lot of attention is put on Junie and her story which I genuinely believe could have had it's own novel rather than trying to fit in two big stories. There was also the chapter headings such as "the burnout," "the girlfriend", "the bulimic" - I found these unnecessary especially because they a) turn out to be the same person and b) it really had nothing to contribute to the story.

The writing: there was room for so much more of Maya's story but it got overshadowed by Junie's. Maya's character wasn't strong enough for me to root for and I didn't feel personally invested. The chapters were at times too long and served very little to no purpose.

The timeline: everything happens in a week and by the end of it, it's not even resolved. There wasn't enough to happen over the span of a week and this drastically reduced the quality of the novel.

Saying all this, I did find the concept interesting - it was just poorly executed.

Scheduled for publication in February 2020, this is a book to shout about and encourage people to read.
The action of the book takes place over just one week, and it is a pivotal week in the lives of the characters we encounter. It’s the kind of week that changes lives.
Initially I was unsure about the way this book started. Each chapter was titled something different - the girlfriend, the dropout etc - and I was under the impression there were a number of characters. The reality was quite different, but these different voices melded together well and learning how they all connected actually made the message more powerful.
The story is quite simple. Maya goes to school one Monday morning with a black eye. She tells her Principal that her boyfriend, school golden boy Mike, did it. For the remainder of that week she negotiates school as people talk about her admission and what it might mean.
Along the way she and her best friend, Junie, do a fair amount of soul-searching. We learn a little more of their backgrounds and the various issues they are trying to navigate. We learn about some of the pressures they - and many like them - will face. Both girls are portrayed honestly, and with sympathy. Readers may have nothing in common with them, or they may nod knowingly...however, they won’t be able to ignore them or the topics this book explores.
Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this prior to publication. I really look forward to seeing how this fares.

I already knew I was going to like this book but the begging alone...pure Alyssa Sheinmel genius.

For a big part of this book, we don’t know the names of the girls narrating, only whichever characteristic they define themselves by and that forced me to not only analyze why they were a certain way and were reaching certain conclusions but also why I was, and that was eye-opening.

My absolute favorite thing about this book is that it makes it clear that you can feel more than one thing for a person that hurts you. You see that in the way that the girls interact with their parents and each other but its most obvious when it comes to the guilt the “girlfriend” feels about making her boyfriend’s life harder by coming forward.
That may at first sound ridiculous, but I promise you it is not and is something that a lot of victims of domestic violence have to deal with. It reminded me of a lot of Celeste from Big Little Lies and all the reasons she gave herself to stay with her abusive husband.

Something more I really liked and that is an actual line in the book is that the author makes it clear that we do not live “in a vacuum”: our lives are impacted by others and with most characters being in high school that ended up meaning that a lot of their strengths and weaknesses came from or despite the way they were raised and I enjoyed seeing parents that recognized their imperfections and pledged to listen and do better.

I also liked the big emphasis that is put on therapy, support systems and “sisterhood” and I have one last thing to say about the last one: despite this being a book about an abusive relationship, it is never by no means implied that boys or even men are at fault in general: not all men are abusive but there is a system in place that protects abusive men and that is why women (and men) feeling safe about coming forward is so important. This book has both female characters that are supportive and female characters that try to intimidate and slut-shame the accuser. There are boys that intimidate and beat others and boys that support their female friends and respect their girlfriends. Gender is a guarantee of nothing.

The only thing that bothered me in the entire book was how the ending felt at the same time to scripted (when it came to how quickly the main characters changed their mindsets) and not well wrapped enough when it came to how a lot of things were left unresolved but I also understand that a lot of this book was about what was going inside those characters minds and what happened in the real world was secondary.

Thank you to Edelweiss and Netgalley for this DRC and Hachette UK for this beautiful ARC.