Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Review: All The Rage by Courtney Summers

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21853636-all-the-rage
All The Rage
by Courtney Summers
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Publication Date: April 14th 2015
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Pages: 321
ISBN: 9781250021915
Genre: Young Adult | Contemporary | Realistic Fiction
Source: Netgalley

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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?
(Goodreads)
I was really looking forward to reading All The Rage by Courtney Summers. I read This Is Not A Test last year, and really enjoyed how unique the storyline was. I couldn’t wait to see what Summers’ had come up with in her newest book.

To be honest, All the Rage was a really hard book to read. The storyline for the book involves rape and abuse, and it completely blew me away. Actually, it made me angry. SO SUPER ANGRY. I was so angry for everything that this poor girl went through, not only at the hands of her rapist, but also by all those around her who made her life completely miserable. The world in which she lived was cruel, probably one of the cruelest stories that I’ve read about so far. And it was so very realistic as well; it makes me sick to know that stuff that happened in the book happens in real life all the time, and nothing is ever done about it. That makes me so incredibly angry, and so very sad.

I felt so insanely sad for Romy throughout the whole book, but I do have to admit, she handled everything that she went through so much better than I imagine most people would have. She was so strong and determined just to do what she had to do to get by. I kept waiting and waiting for her to talk to someone about what she was going through, her mom, someone, anyone. It’s so not healthy to hold things inside. While she had absolutely no friends or teachers to support her at school, she did have people that cared about her at home and at her work, and I was wishing that she would confide in someone. But she was surviving the best she could, and you can’t blame her for that.

I am really happy to say that Romy’s mom was a great mother. While her father wasn’t exactly in the picture, her mother was there, and she was very well written. As a mom to two teenage girls, this is something I always appreciate when I read books. I do, however, wish that the mom would have pushed a little more with Romy, to get her to talk, to find out exactly what was going on at the school. Sometimes giving space is a good thing, and sometimes it can cause you to completely miss what’s going on in life.

There are SO many people in this book that I wanted to rage at. I have read books where people were against the main character, but never a book like this. Never one where it seemed that almost everyone was against one person. They didn’t care, and you could read it plain as day.

The storyline for the book deals with so many sensitive topics, and it does it in a way that will make you hurt. But I am SO glad to see books like this coming out. The story was so realistic, and again, it makes me so sad to know that something like really happens.

Overall; while All The Rage was a really hard book to read, I’m glad I read it. It’s definitely an eye opener, and it will make people stop and think. I really hope that the young adults that read this book will take away a strong message; that they are not alone, that there are people out there to help, that they don’t have to suffer in silence. Read this book, and take away from it a message of hope.


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2 comments:

  1. Great review! I just saw my library received this book so I'm putting it on hold so I can read it. I agree, I am glad books like these are coming.

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  2. Fantastic review! I have an ARC of this one and I'll need to read it soon. It does sound like such an emotional and devastating story but I hope like you do that it will help teens who have experienced something similar to not feel alone or helpless.

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