All the Rage

LoveReading Says

One of our YA Books of the Year 2016.

February 2016 NewGen Book of the Month.

A deeply powerful novel for emotionally mature readers about surviving rape, speaking out and the ways in which women are forced to burden the blame for misogynist brutalities.

With her alcoholic dad out of the picture, Romy lives with her mom and her mom’s boyfriend. To Romy, make-up and the diligence with which she manicures her nails and reapplies her red lipstick is not, as her dad thought, “a shallow girl's sport”. Rather, to Romy, make-up is armour, and worn for good reason.

Since the sheriff’s son raped her, Romy’s peers have subjected her to torrents of abuse, accusing her of being an attention-seeking liar. Made to feel like an outcast, Romy’s only refuge is working in an out-of-town diner, where her past is a secret, and where she befriends compassionate Leon.

Romy goes missing on the night of the notorious annual lake party and wakes up on the roadside. When it emerges that another girl, Penny, went missing that same night, people turn on Romy again. They accuse her of diverting police attention from the search for Penny, believing that Romy getting ‘wasted’ and winding up on the roadside was another manifestation of her attention-seeking tendencies.

For a time Romy bears the abuse, but knows she has to break her silence about what really happened that night.

This is a smartly written, suitably stark exploration of what it’s like to be a girl in a world in which female voices are silenced, women’s bodies are objectified, and the lives of accused “promising” young men are valued more than those of the women they've assaulted. It’s hugely important that stories like Romy’s are told, and Summers does it with remarkable poise. ~ Joanne Owen

“It is absolutely critical that we stand against rape culture. Girls matter, their stories matter, and All the Rage is my way of letting them know”  Courtney Summers

Reviewed by Joanne Owen
Joanne Owen’s lifelong love of reading and writing began when she was growing up in Pembrokeshire, and very much wished that witches (and Mrs Pepperpot) were real.
More reviews by Joanne Owen

About All the Rage

Available now: I'M THE GIRL, the new "brutally captivating" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) queer thriller from Courtney Summers, based loosely on The Epstein case and "not for the faint of heart" (The New York Times) Named a "Best Book of 2015" by Bustle, Book Riot, Chicago Public Library, Quill and Quire, and the B&N Teen Blog! 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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