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A review by bookph1le
All the Rage by Courtney Summers
5.0
The hardest thing about reviewing a book like this is how raw it left me feeling, so raw that the words just want to explode out of me faster than I could possibly type them. This is a book that will rip you apart from the inside out, a book that will definitely make you feel all the rage. So many lines from this book resonate with me, but in so many ways this one encapsulates everything this book is about: "Because it was easier." Because it's easier to blame the victim than it is to face up to the fact that we, as a society, have a serious problem that's devastating about one out of every five women. Because it's easier to throw words like "legitimate" in front of one of the most heinous crimes one human being can commit against another than it is to accept that humans are capable of committing such crimes. Because it's easier to lament the "promising" young man whose life is ruined by such accusations than it is to think about the lasting psychological damage done to his victim. This is a book that everyone who's taken the easier route need to read, because maybe if they put themselves in the shoes of the victim, they might learn what empathy and compassion look like. This is not an easy book to read, and it shouldn't be. This is not an easy topic to discuss, but it must be discussed. Some spoilers to follow.
What impresses me most about this book is the virtuosity of Summers's prose. This book is nothing short of visceral. I could feel everything Romy felt, and Summers does a terrifyingly convincing job of portraying Romy's struggles to move on in the aftermath of her assault. She portrays with brutal detail the ways in which Romy is spiraling downward. It hurt me on two levels. One, because I'm a woman, and like every woman I know, there are few things I fear more than the thought of being violated the way Romy was violated. The second is because I am a mother, and throughout my reading I never ceased to be horrified at the thought of Romy suffering without telling her mother, without letting her mother try to help her. I think this book could do a lot of good, but it would be especially good if it could convince even one reader not to keep a crime like this to herself, not to suffer in silence without reaching out to others for help. Our justice system fails girls like Romy far too frequently, but no one should have to go through something like this alone, and if a girl or a woman doesn't have friends or family members who will help, there are organizations that will.
There's an undeniable strain of feminism that runs through this novel. In some ways it's confrontational, but not in a sensational way. It's confrontational in the way that the reality of a sexist world is confrontational to the women who must maneuver through it every single day. Summers deftly touches on a range of issues, from the everyday harassment so many girls face while simply walking through the halls of their school, to the men who just won't take no for an answer, to the indignity of the many, many forms of judgement women face--not only from men, but from other women too. Not every woman's experience will have been like Romy's. I wish no woman's experience would be like hers. But plenty of women will find a great deal of truth in this novel, will find themselves nodding and thinking of times they've faced similar situations.
The imagery in this book is so powerful. Romy's careful descriptions of the minutiae of how she applies her nail polish, her philosophy of how lipstick should properly be applied, has all the resonance of any scene of men putting on war paint before heading off to battle. This is one image that's sure to stick with me for a very long time. Everyone wears masks at times, that's true, but women head out into the world without their armor at their own peril. It's excruciatingly painful to watch Romy try to maintain an image, try to split off the various parts of herself, stuff them in boxes and lock them up so that she can simply survive. Her world may not be an actual battlefield, but it's a literal battlefield, and I found myself wondering how she found the strength to go on, to get up every day and have crimes committed against her again and again, as if the first crime hadn't been far more punishment than anyone deserves.
I cried when I finished this book. I read a great deal and I enjoy many books, but very few of them deeply affect me. Very few of them fill me with the sense of anger that this book did. And yet I don't think it ends on a completely depressing note. What Romy wants more than anything is for someone to look at her. What women need more than perhaps anything else is for someone to look at them. By writing this book, Summers is contributing to a conversation it's imperative that we have, a conversation that has started to gain more and more attention in both the media and the collective social consciousness. It is this fact that gives me hope that someday we may never need books like this one.
What impresses me most about this book is the virtuosity of Summers's prose. This book is nothing short of visceral. I could feel everything Romy felt, and Summers does a terrifyingly convincing job of portraying Romy's struggles to move on in the aftermath of her assault. She portrays with brutal detail the ways in which Romy is spiraling downward. It hurt me on two levels. One, because I'm a woman, and like every woman I know, there are few things I fear more than the thought of being violated the way Romy was violated. The second is because I am a mother, and throughout my reading I never ceased to be horrified at the thought of Romy suffering without telling her mother, without letting her mother try to help her. I think this book could do a lot of good, but it would be especially good if it could convince even one reader not to keep a crime like this to herself, not to suffer in silence without reaching out to others for help. Our justice system fails girls like Romy far too frequently, but no one should have to go through something like this alone, and if a girl or a woman doesn't have friends or family members who will help, there are organizations that will.
There's an undeniable strain of feminism that runs through this novel. In some ways it's confrontational, but not in a sensational way. It's confrontational in the way that the reality of a sexist world is confrontational to the women who must maneuver through it every single day. Summers deftly touches on a range of issues, from the everyday harassment so many girls face while simply walking through the halls of their school, to the men who just won't take no for an answer, to the indignity of the many, many forms of judgement women face--not only from men, but from other women too. Not every woman's experience will have been like Romy's. I wish no woman's experience would be like hers. But plenty of women will find a great deal of truth in this novel, will find themselves nodding and thinking of times they've faced similar situations.
The imagery in this book is so powerful. Romy's careful descriptions of the minutiae of how she applies her nail polish, her philosophy of how lipstick should properly be applied, has all the resonance of any scene of men putting on war paint before heading off to battle. This is one image that's sure to stick with me for a very long time. Everyone wears masks at times, that's true, but women head out into the world without their armor at their own peril. It's excruciatingly painful to watch Romy try to maintain an image, try to split off the various parts of herself, stuff them in boxes and lock them up so that she can simply survive. Her world may not be an actual battlefield, but it's a literal battlefield, and I found myself wondering how she found the strength to go on, to get up every day and have crimes committed against her again and again, as if the first crime hadn't been far more punishment than anyone deserves.
I cried when I finished this book. I read a great deal and I enjoy many books, but very few of them deeply affect me. Very few of them fill me with the sense of anger that this book did. And yet I don't think it ends on a completely depressing note. What Romy wants more than anything is for someone to look at her. What women need more than perhaps anything else is for someone to look at them. By writing this book, Summers is contributing to a conversation it's imperative that we have, a conversation that has started to gain more and more attention in both the media and the collective social consciousness. It is this fact that gives me hope that someday we may never need books like this one.