ARC Review: All The Rage - Courtney Summers

Title: All The Rage
Author: Courtney Summers
Pub Date: April 14th, 2015
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Page Count: 336

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, Courtney Summers' new novel All the Rage examines the shame and silence inflicted upon young women in a culture that refuses to protect them.

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This book tells no lies. There is rage. Rage at what the main character has to go through, rage at the way she can't do anything for a period of time and rage that this stuff happens in real life. - Nova @ Out of Time

I loved this book. When I say "rage," I don't mean negatively towards the way the book is written. Oh no, my rage is at the injustice of the world of the book [and in real life.] Because for me, I never go into a book expecting to get worked up about social issues but this book brought it on.

All The Rage focuses on a character named Romy. Initially, I didn't connect with her because she felt a little flat to me. Once I got into the story, though, everything changed. I was completely sucked into the world and Romy's character. I really don't want to say too much because when I was reading, I wasn't really aware of the story beforehand. There's something different about knowing what's going to happen in a book and not knowing when you read it. All I want to say is that when I started reading, I found it really boring and generic but then there was a turning point and boom, instant change for me. So if/when you read this and you feel like it's a little boring, push through -I promise it's worth it.

In terms of feels, this book made me all kinds of angry and upset and I had to put the book down multiple times. One of the first lines in the book goes like, "You know how to get a girl to stop crying? Cover her mouth." This line broke me from the inside. I shut the book and had to contemplate whether I would be able to read this. And I did. A lot of it made me sick and so angry with the world but I did.

I think the part that completely haunted me after I finished was when someone [i’m having a case of book amnesia. Professional, I know] had a baby and Romy wished it wasn't a girl. Just that thought made me want to rage because why should something as sick as rape make people feel like girls would be better off “not born?”

Courtney Summers does not hold back at all when it comes to writing. This book is gritty to its core and that's what I can really appreciate about this book. Too often authors take issues and soften them because, "We're teenagers. it's too much for us." I can't stand that. I need the whole truth and as crazy as it sounds, I'd rather feel upset over a perfectly written story than feel unsatisfied. This book is honest, brave and the way Romy handles the situation is so inspiring. There are rape scenes written that have enough detail to make it hurt but not enough to make it sexually explicit. As well, we get a real sense of what the location of this book is like and the people around it really bring it to life.

I'm not used to reading gritty books because most of the time, I can't do it. This book was an example of one where I had to push through. I'm so upset that things like this happen in real life. And it makes me wonder: how do people even become rapists? Because I know a bunch of rude people in my school but I would never consider anyone a potential rapist. And that thought ran through my mind while I was reading the book -even now, when I'm finished, the thought hasn't left me.

Not for a second.

I also wanted to take the time to show this photo I took with All The Rage. 

The nail polish is symbolic and was totally worth sacrificing the bottle of MAC.

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COURTNEY SUMMERS was born in Belleville, Ontario in 1986 and currently resides in a small town not far from there. To date, she has authored five novels. Her first novel, Cracked Up to Be, was published when she was 22 and went on to win the 2009 CYBIL award in YA fiction. Since then, she’s published three more books–2011 YALSA Top 10 Quick Pick and White Pine Honour book, Some Girls Are, 2012 YALSA Quick Pick, Fall for Anything, and 2013 YALSA Top 10 Quick Pick and White Pine Honour book This is Not a Test. Her next projects are an e-novella, Please Remain Calm (a sequel to This is Not a Test) and a new novel, All the Rage, both out in 2015.