All the Rage, Courtney Summers
Amanda
Published: April 14th 2015 by St. Martin’s Griffin
Hardcover, 336 pages
Source: Shelf Awareness Giveaway
From Goodreads…
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?
ALL THE STARS to All the Rage.
I don’t read a lot of YA contemporary but something about this book drew me to request it. While at the same time I was also honestly afraid to read it based on the description. This book was not what I expected with respect to the sexual violence- the violence is largely in the past and Romy is an incredibly brave young woman going on every day. Romy’s rape is over, but she’s still constantly being attacked. She can’t go to school or go out with her mother without being mocked or humiliated in some way for being brave enough to say she was raped. Yet she paints on her armor of red lipstick and nailpolish and tries to hold her head high. Romy is not perfect by any stretch, but she feels so real.
Aside from being a powerful book addressing sexual violence, shame, abuse of power, and horrible high school classmates All the Rage has incredibly moving writing, a compelling mystery and a sweet and hopeful romance. I’ve been trying to find the words to review this book for months and I still feel like I’m failing. Just read it okay and talk to me about it! Courtney Summers made me cry and made me rage and I will definitely be reading all of her books.
This is such an important book to read and discuss. We live in a rape culture and we lose so many young women before they have a real chance. How do we fix that? How do we channel the rage and help our girls?
5 stars
Thank you Shelf Awareness and St. Martin’s Griffin for this advance copy!
Gun In Act One 
I struggled writing the review for this one too. I guess that is the highest honor we can bestow on a book – it was too good for words!
I totally agree!
I had trouble writing my review too. I thought I was prepared because I had read all of Courtney Summer’s previous books, but while a few made me emotional none of them hit me like this one did. I cried like a baby for the good last quarter of the whole thing.
I’m normally a crier and I was too caught up to even cry! I have to go back and read all her books now.
You’re right, it does sound similar in some respects to When Everything Feels Like the Movies! YA is just killing it with books that make you sit up and take notice.