Review: All the Rage by Courtney Summers

Release Date: April 14, 2015

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Pages: 336
Source: Borrowed from the lovely Sara @ TheHidingSpot

ISBN-10:  125002191X

Rating: 5 Stars

Book Description

"The sheriff’s son, Kellan Turner, is not the golden boy everyone thinks he is, and Romy Grey knows that for a fact. Because no one wants to believe a girl from the wrong side of town, the truth about him has cost her everything—friends, family, and her community. Branded a liar and bullied relentlessly by a group of kids she used to hang out with, Romy’s only refuge is the diner where she works outside of town. No one knows her name or her past there; she can finally be anonymous. But when a girl with ties to both Romy and Kellan goes missing after a party, and news of him assaulting another girl in a town close by gets out, Romy must decide whether she wants to fight or carry the burden of knowing more girls could get hurt if she doesn’t speak up. Nobody believed her the first time—and they certainly won’t now — but the cost of her silence might be more than she can bear.　

With a shocking conclusion and writing that will absolutely knock you out, All the Rage examines the shame and silence inflicted upon young women after an act of sexual violence, forcing us to ask ourselves: In a culture that refuses to protect its young girls, how can they survive?"

Review

Short and Sweet:

This is one of those super hard books to review because All the Rage will wreck you. I hated what was happening, but loved that it was being written about. I want the whole world to read this book.

To Elaborate...

 What happens to Romy in this book is ugly and beyond heartbreaking. All the 'rage' in this book isn't the victim's towards what happened to her, it's the community's rage at what they refuse to believe happened to her. Romy is raped and then she is raped again by her friends, her community and each and every time someone looks at her with hateful disbelief and anger. She is torn down to a fragment of herself. She protects her mom from the truth by isolating herself. She puts on her armor of red nail polish and lipstick and she endures it day after day.... alone. Because she feels dead inside.

However, after awaking on a dirt road, undressed and abandoned with the words 'Rape Me' written on her body, she makes a shocking discovery and finds out that she's no longer the only one at risk. Knowing that no one cares, or believes what she has to say, but needing to fight back and make a difference in her own small brave ways, Romy returns slowly to the land of the living one heartbreaking step at a time. Like most of Courtney Summers' books, the ending doesn't perfectly satisfy, but is powerful, emotional and hopeful.
   
All the Rage is a picture of what mob mentality can do to a person who has been so thoroughly dehumanized. Without going into much detail, I'm going to say that I can relate to this book. And I know that many, MANY of you will too. That is so devastating and I can't form the words to tell you about the grief in my heart for you. I care and if I could, I'd hug each and every one of you. The truth is that this happens to people every day and it's so easy to say, think, believe that it doesn't. However, stories like this one have the power to open eyes and change perceptions. Victim blaming has got to stop and so much needs to change, but literature like this makes me feel hopeful that we're getting there, slowly and bravely just like Romy.

I hope that you will read All the Rage and pass it on, and let's be the change we wish to see in the world, lovelies. Xo!


5 Hearts!