Some Boys - Patty Blount

Ali Mark
Jul 25, 2016
3 min read

Gut Instinct Rating - 5

Characters - 4.5

Believability for type and topics - 5

Similarity to other books - 4

Writing Style - 4

Excitement Factor - 4.5

Story Line - 5

Title Relevance - 5

Cover art - 5

Goodreads users gave this book a 4.09. I think it was more deserving of a 4.67.

Emoji Meter: 😢 😡 😌

Published in 2014.

Pages: 317.

Number of books by author: 8.

Genre: YA Fiction.

Quotes that matter: "I should have been able to stand there buck naked and be safe."

HOLY CRAP. This book gave me all the feels... and almost had me in tears. This reminded me of my story so much. (It's simply coincidence that I read two stories about a sexual assault back-to-back.) But, seeing your offender in person, at school, and having every slut-shame you and your friends taking his side; 'Blount NAILED it. This definitely makes my top 20, possibly my top 10 for 2016. Her other book, Send, that I read in March, got 4.72 stars. So, I think it's without question that Blount is really just a talented writer... but to be sure, I'm adding TMI to my TBR. Okay, back to Some Boys! I was a little annoyed with the characters. Now, maybe some of this was from experience, but Ian was so back and forth and so wishy-washy, but why weren't her friends back and forth? Why weren't they more involved? I wanted more from them. I felt like there could've been more depth to the story line if we saw a bit more from them. I felt there was too much focus on the romantic possibilities, which made the character story lines too predictable, which I don't love. For me, I just needed more depth there. But, I felt like there was a good composition of personalities, attitudes, ages, and backgrounds. I didn't feel like I was dealing with all, white males, and one white female. I really felt like I was picturing different races and ages, and expressions, even though I don't ever recall any of that being described except for in the case of Grace. It was all so believable, which I

mentioned initially. It's what made me love this book so much; and it's what makes it pull at your heart's strings that connect to your tear ducts. It wasn't all that unique, nor was it super similar to every other "rape story." I mean, some aspects were - I think, being caught in the middle is something I haven't seen all that much - we saw it a little in Speak, but I felt that was more with her friends, as opposed to with the victim's romantic interest. We saw it with the school as a whole in both settings, but when it's looked at specifically, there were some major differences that made both stories unique. I hated the way it was written. I'm not a fan of the writing style. I feel like we could've received the same message, just as strong actually, without the back-and-forth chapter narration. I just don't love that writing style. I find it predictable and annoying. I want one voice telling me a story the entire way through. It was done well, I suppose, but it's not something I enjoy in a book. The book was done in fast-paced, so I never felt like we were sitting back waiting for something to happen. The story moved quickly and we were constantly learning about a new symptom or a new perspective or a new fact on what was being experienced or what was happening. But nothing was rushed over or excluded because the story moved quickly, except for the ending, maybe. I would've liked a bit nicer of an ending since it felt kind of abrupt, but it was fine. The title was great. I think it summarizes a larger social theme than maybe a young adult (which most book stores and publishers categorizes as 13 and 14 years old) might pick up on, so it was clever. And the artwork was good. The girl could've been just a tad bit more perfect... a little more goth. I pictured her with longer hair, a larger nose ring, darker make-up, darker clothes. But if we're not being incredibly picky (which I am), this girl is perfect.