All the Rage

by Courtney Summers

From the bestselling author of Sadie, Courtney Summers' All the Rage is a powerful novel about a teenage girl who stays strong and speaks up.

'The footsteps stop but the birds are still singing, singing about a girl who wakes up on a dirt road and doesn't know what happened to her the night before . . .'

Romy Grey wears her lipstick like armour, ever since the night she was raped by Kellan Turner, the sheriff's son.

Romy refuses to be a victim, but speaking up has cost her everything. No one wants to believe Kellan is not the golden boy they thought he was, and Romy has given up trying to make herself heard.

But when another girl goes missing after a party, Romy must decide whether the cost of her silence might be more than she can bear.

• ISBN10: 150981759X
• ISBN13: 9781509817597
• Publish Date: 28 January 2016 (first published 14 April 2015)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Imprint: Macmillan
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[Bianca]

She died, you know that? You know all the ways you can kill a girl? God, there are so many.

[Jo]

Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.

When it was announced that All the Rage by Courtney Summers is going to be released in the UK in January 2016, I was so glad to hear it! More books seem to be coming out that are tackling this important subject of rape and rape culture, and the conversation they're creating is brilliant. Macmillan Children's Books have allowed me to review All the Rage two months early to include it in the Sex Crimes Week of Sex in Teen Lit Month II, and it's such a fantastic story!

I'm not using the summary on Goodreads, because it contains minor spoilers, but also because, for the most part, it doesn't really tackle the main plot of the story. So this time round, I'm including just my own summary.

Last year, Romy was raped by Kellan Turner, son of important influential people; the Sheriff of the town and the founder of a successful national auto supply chain. No-one believes her. Even her best friend Penny turned her back on her. She was drunk, she was wearing provocative clothing, she fancied Kellan, she wanted it, and there's no way the son of the sheriff would even dream of raping someone. She's an attention seeker. She's lying. Only she's not, and no-one cares.

When Romy wakes up the morning after a party on the the side of a highway, she has no idea how she got there. Nor does she understand why her shirt is open, her bra undone, and the words "rape me" are written on her stomach in lipstick. She can't remember anything from the party, but she knows she would never have drunk alcohol. So why is she there? What's worse, Penny has also disappeared, and has yet to be found. What happened to Penny? Are the two linked? It's hard to face each day when there's no news, especially when the people who hate you, hate you even more for being the one who was found.

All the Rage is such a brilliant story, but it's a hard one. It's emotionally draining, in the best way. Romy has spent so long having to deal with the crap she's getting from people. She was the one who was violated, yet she's the one who's the pariah. It's disgusting and so upsetting, and completely awful to read.

Kellan is the older brother of Penny's boyfriend, Alek. He's also the sheriff's son - who made it quite clear that Romy'll be torn to pieces if she reports her lies about his son. Her best friend turned on her, and with Penny and Alek being popular, and with Kellan being loved by all, so did everyone else, the whole community. No-one believes her, especially as she fancied Kellan, and actually thought she wanted to sleep with him before she was attacked - an email about which Penny gave to Sheriff Turner - and she now has jokes made about her rape at school.

The only good thing in her life is Leon, a guy who starts work at the diner she works at. He's from the neighbouring town, and so he doesn't know what happened to Romy, and as he doesn't know, he doesn't have an opinion on it. And he likes Romy; he sees her and he likes her, when most people can't stand her. Romy likes how Leon sees her, and wants to be that girl.

Because she doesn't like who she is now - a girl who was raped. Doesn't want to be this "dead girl". And as Leon doesn't know she's been raped, she gets to be the old her, a girl who is "alive". She tries so hard to keep her past from him, telling so many lies to keep it a secret, desperately trying to hold on to who he sees, how he makes her feel, because she can feel the "dead girl" starting to take over. She's really not coping with what happened to her, or how she's being treated, so seeing her try so hard to cling to who Leon sees is so heartbreaking. It's eating her up, and she just wants something good.

Romy also has issues with her body because of what was done to her, to it. There are so many upsetting moments where she talks about her body, how wishes she didn't have one, about who she is. It's like she can't find her identity any more, her sense of self. It's like she is, to herself, the Raped Girl, and can't seem to define herself outside of that. She is obsessed with having perfectly painted red nails and lips; it's how she presents herself to the world, her armour - she cannot be seen chipped or smudged. I never really understood that completely, but it's something she fixates on; she's not ready until they're perfect, and she can't function until they're ready. She almost has panic attacks at the thought that she smudged her lipstick, or she might chip her nail varnish. I think it's part of her trying to find her own self. She wants to be the girl with perfect red nails and red lipstick. Without it, she's just the girl who was raped.

The disappearance of Penny is huge to the town, but also to Romy personally. What happened to her? What happened that night? Why hasn't she been found? She's desperate for good news, but also doesn't want it to come too soon, because while everyone's talking about Penny, they're not talking about her. But because Romy went missing the same night and was found, there's talk of the wrong girl being found, of how the police looking for her might have found Penny if they weren't. It's terrible to hear, such derision, how little people care about Romt, but also for Romy to think about. Would Penny have been found if she hadn't wound up, however she did, on that highway? But she also thinks how if the tables were turned, the town wouldn't care; if Penny was found but she wasn't, no-one would be interested in finding her. There wouldn't be heartbreak at the school, the community wouldn't pull together to search for her. She simply doesn't matter.

I need to talk about the relationship between Romy and her mum and her mum's boyfriend, Todd. The relationship isn't perfect - they don't talk like they should, her mum and Todd don't really know the best way to help her, and mistakes are made - but they don't doubt her. They aren't ashamed of her. They love her, and are there for her. Sure, I could talk about how they should have done this and they should have done that, but her mum was so lost with how to help her, her drunk of a father disappeared on them, and they tried their best. When thinking about how Emma's parents reacted in Louise O'Neill's Asking For It, Romy's mum and Todd are such better parents, even if they get things wrong. They're behind her and support her. I just wish they had someone to help them help Romy.

All the Rage is an incredible novel, and the ending is so... painful. When everything comes together, and we have our answers, it's unbelievable. Just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes. But also a measure of hope. All the Rage is a tragic novel in so many different ways, but it's a perfect story for all it shows us. And I'm so thankful we're getting, slowly but surely, more novels talking about this.

Thank you to Macmillan Children's Books via NetGalley for the e-Proof.

[reveriesociety_]

You must already know it by now. But it never hurts to be sure. This story is powerful. The cover alone says it's not a happy one, and it'll be hard to read. And it was.

There are brief flashbacks of the rape incident itself, nothing too graphic. But it still manages to be raw, and thought-provoking, because I was in Romy's head, and Romy wasn't sure she wanted what was happening to her and she was crying and it was awful.

And then, nothing.

Nothing is done about it. She prefers to put it behind her and move on with her life. Only, it's not possible. It's always there. In the way she has to armor herself with indifference and makeup.

After the disaster that was reading Cracked Up to Be, this book made me remember why I respected and loved Courtney Summers' stories; beginning with Some Girls Are. 

There were some truly heartbreaking things in this book that made me rage at the world. Because like a most of the  stuff feminists fight about, it's there in our daily lives but we take it as a default, instead of speaking up. This is a story of a girl who tried and no one protected her.

I hope it's not a girl. -Romy about another woman's unborn child.

 

All the things coming Ava's way they won't be able to control. Things she won't ask for because she's a girl. She doesn't even know how hard it's going to be yet, but she will, because all girls find out.

Excuse me, but that's one of the saddest things I've ever read. And it's true. Don't get me wrong, I love being a girl, but it sucks when the world is hell bent on holding you back.

Romy herself seemed very well-described to me. I was afraid at first that I'd be reading about an unreasonable character that was too affected, or not affected enough. But I think there was balance here. It's always a delicate thing, with a book with themes like rape and bullying.

I was a little disappointed at the end, but I keep reminding myself not everything can be wrapped-up with a tidy bow. It was an ending that worked, so don't worry about it.

I think this is an important book to read, not sure if worth all of the hype, but definitely something.

Find this review also at A Writer's Tales

[kimbacaffeinate]

If you grew up in a rural town that still has social ladders where everyone knows your name, and your family secrets and some family names are untouchable then you will at once identify with the characters and events in this book.

Chillingly realistic Summers’ shares the story of Romy Grey a girl from the wrong side of the tracks. Who had to endure the unthinkable and when she spoke out, she was branded a liar by the town. Friends of Kellan Turner relentlessly bully her. He is the wildly popular sheriff’s son who changed her life in a single evening. He is one of the untouchables. Summers shares Romy’s deepest thoughts and fears as we see her try to find normalcy. When another girl goes missing and rumors begin to circulate that a girl in another town was assaulted Romy has to decide to fight or live with the consequences.

We spend a lot of time in Romy’s head and it is a very dark and difficult place to be. We experience her emotions, witness her coping mechanisms and see her try to adjust as she deals with the bullying, a romantic interest and her concerned parents. We feel her anguish, the constant need to be clean and the fragile shell she has become. You can feel her rage, tears and frustrations just below the surface. Imagine no one believing that one of the most horrific things to happen to you actual happened. You are told you are a liar, you were wasted and that these pleas for attention need to stop. Summers’ does not stop there, as our protagonist needs to make a stand, and speak out for the sake of others. As difficult, as the subject matter is I was riveted and my emotions ranged from outraged to frustration. If I were Romy's parent I would be in jail right now.

In typical Summers’ fashion, she balances the darkness with light and in All the Rage; she does that with a young man named Leon. Patient, sweet Leon who dares to fall for a girl that is fragile and cracked. The romance was light, sweet and not without hurdles. Leon works at the diner a place where Romy feels some anonymity. The diner is located on the outskirts of town and is not a local hangout for her peers. Her job waitressing offers her an escape. Her parents are present and supportive but even they feel the pressures from this small-town.

All the Rage while gritty really makes the reader think about the shame and stigma young girls face when they speak up. If you ever wondered, why so many rapes go unreported step into Romy’s shoes. If you have read any of Summers’ book you know they tend to open ended and while we got some closure a lot was left open. I have come to appreciate the way in which she ends her stories and this one was exceptional and left us with hope.

Copy provided by publisher. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer