All The Rage by Courtney Summers

All The Rage by Courtney Summers
Buy All The Rage by Courtney Summers at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Teens
Reviewer: Vikki Patis
Summary: A current, thrilling novel, that will stay with you long after the last page.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 336	Date: January 2016
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-1509817597
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In a small town, where everyone knows everything about everyone else, a teenage girl is raped. All The Rage is as simple as that, and yet it is so much more complicated too. It touches upon the blame that is laid at the victim's feet; the ways in which survivors cope with the days and weeks and years after such an ordeal; the idea that, while it changes you, it cannot fully erase what makes you you.

What feels like the epidemic of young women being taken advantage of by young men is very much at the forefront of the minds of many feminists, and so the issues dealt with in this novel are extremely current. But the way in which they are portrayed is what sticks in my mind after reaching the final page this afternoon. Summers manages to fully embody Romy and everything she is; rape victim, teenager, survivor, waitress, woman. The red nails and lips are a large, necessary middle finger to the idea that women somehow bring rape upon themselves by dressing or looking a certain way. Facing ridicule and disbelief for speaking out, being too terrified to say anything, doubting yourself and your memories. Romy is a fully alive character; she is real, she is you or I. She is inspired by us, the girls.

A brilliant novel that slices right to the heart of what being a girl in this day and age entails. Summers deals with the subject of rape delicately yet honestly. She doesn't shy away from the horror, and yet there is still light shining through the pages. She is clearly a young feminist, fully aware of the issues around her, and has managed to cover so many of them in what felt like far too short a book.

An absolute triumph. This book really is all the rage.

Further reading suggestion: Meet Me At The Boathouse by Suzanne Bugler

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You can read more book reviews or buy All The Rage by Courtney Summers at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy All The Rage by Courtney Summers at Amazon.com.

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