BOOK REVIEW: All The Rage – by Courtney Summers

Title: All The Rage
Author: Courtney Summers
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Mystery
First published: April 14th 2015
Finished reading: May 9th 2016
Pages: 321

“But just because something starts out sweet doesn’t mean it won’t push itself so far past anything you could call sweet anymore. And if it all starts like this, how do you see what’s coming?”

I have had this book on my radar even before it was first published last year, but somehow it took me a long time to actually pick it up. All The Rage is a story with a complicated topic and definitely shouldn’t be considered as a light or easy read. Why? In this novel by Courtney Summers you will find numerous mentions of sexual violence, abuse and bullying and the way the victim in the story is treated after the facts is quite horrible. I normally don’t mind stories with shocking elements, but in this case it was hard to focus on the actual facts and feel sorry for the main character. I’m not saying what happened to Romy wasn’t horrible and she must feel terrible that nobody seems to believe her, but still… Why has she have to be so unlikeable?! Most of the other characters weren’t exactly likeable either, and that made it really hard to connect to the story itself or have proper feelings while reading it. It’s not that All The Rage is badly written and it actually reads pretty fast, but I’m not sure what happened to Romy and the fact that (almost) nobody seems to help this poor girl is actually credible. What I do appreciate is that this story brings attention to sexual violence and how it can affect its victims. Maybe one day warning signs will actually always be investigated no matter how crazy they might sound. (Unlike in the case of All The Rage, where the suspect is the sheriff’s son and protected by his father and the community.)

Romy Grey has a horrible secret, and nobody seems to believe her. Kellan Turner is the sheriff’s son and seems to be the perfect golden boy, but Romy knows for a fact that is not true. But no one wants to believe a girl from the wrong side of town and from a family with a bad reputation in the community… In fact, telling the truth about what happened took away everything good in her life. Romy is called a liar by the whole community and bullied by the same people she used to hang out with. The only way she can escape reality is during her shifts at a diner where she works outside of tome, where nobody knows her name or past. Things change forever when both Romy and a girl she used to be friends with go missing after a party… Romy shows up alive the next day, but the other girl isn’t so lucky. Now the whole community seems to wish it was Romy still missing… And Romy doesn’t know whether she should fight to get the truth out or ignore the fact that more girls could get hurt if she doesn’t.

The message behind All The Rage is an important one and I appreciate the fact that it brings attention to (the consequences of) sexual abuse and bullying. I wasn’t completely convinced by the prose though. I understand the chapters are the way they are to build up tension and keep you guessing about what really happened, but it did make it less enjoyable to read. Still, the main problem probably is the fact that most of the characters are completely unlikeable and almost nobody seems to even consider helping Romy in the first place. It made it a lot harder to connect to the story and feel sympathy for the main character. Would I recommend reading this story? Probably, if you enjoy the genre and don’t mind unlikeable characters.