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A review by xlovelylaurencalistax
All the Rage by Courtney Summers
4.0
4.5 stars
This book is so important. High school student Romy has dealt with a horrible incident she so bravely tries to move on from. She lives in the kind of small town where having bad things happen involving important people and not-so-important, like Romy, means her social demise. She is shunned and shamed for speaking her truth. While reading, you are disgusted with her persecutors, but Romy shows such great strength that we too become strong. In the midst of Romy's struggle, her persecutors end up dealing with their own heartbreak as an important student in Romy's class goes missing. Summers paints the story in a way where we see vulnerable and strong sides of each character, even the wrong-doers. She writes the story with pure honesty and imagery. It is beautiful.
It doesn't tip-toe. It asks important questions. Its ends tie up and fake no happiness or sadness. It's real. I will be reading more books of Courtney's.
Behind the building was a field and when the popourri scent of her cleaner made me sneeze, I went outside. There were calves there, these sweet things that watched me with less interest than I watched them. There was this raggedy one, sitting in the middle of the field, its mother nearby. I didn't realize it was sick until it tried to get up and it couldn't. It kept trying and it couldn't and then, eventually--it didn't. After a while, a truck drove in. A man and a boy got out, looked it over while its mother stood close. It was dead, the calf. Dead and too heavy to load into the truck bed, so they tied a rope around its neck, tied the other end to the truck and dragged it off the field like that. Its mother watched until it disappeared and when it was out of view, she called for it. Just kept calling for it so long after it was gone. Sometimes I feel something like that, between my mom and me. That I'm the daughter she keeps calling for so long after she's been gone.
--What I understood and loved about this part was the way the writer compared an innocent and beautiful animal to her main character. The fact that the character notices this animal and feels empathy, while also comparing herself to it, showed a complexity and great understanding for how truly real and vulnerable we are as human beings. Romy recognizes herself in the calf and she feels sorry for its mother, along with her own. She is able to see outside herself and feel sympathy for people she knows who hurt alongside her and that was so powerful to me as a reader.
I don't believe in forgiveness. I think if you hurt someone, it becomes a part of you both. Each of you just has to live with it and the person you hurt gets to decide if they want to give you the chance to do it again. If they do and you're a good person, you won't make the same mistakes.
--How can you not want lovely advice to add to the overall story? It's wonderful.
I wonder if it feels like something, the dark...I imagine the tiniest points of light, the stars through the water, but she can't reach them before she goes out.
The first two chapters were a little slow and too detailed for my taste but I understood what the author was trying to do. I just felt maybe something could take the place of nail polish much better. The repetition at the end was perfect, despite my not liking the nail polish description. I think I would have preferred to have a repetition of the cow scene, except I would have liked it to end with something like:
I would also change the last lines to:
Hope you enjoy my review, as well as my writing suggestions. I recommend this book highly.
This book is so important. High school student Romy has dealt with a horrible incident she so bravely tries to move on from. She lives in the kind of small town where having bad things happen involving important people and not-so-important, like Romy, means her social demise. She is shunned and shamed for speaking her truth. While reading, you are disgusted with her persecutors, but Romy shows such great strength that we too become strong. In the midst of Romy's struggle, her persecutors end up dealing with their own heartbreak as an important student in Romy's class goes missing. Summers paints the story in a way where we see vulnerable and strong sides of each character, even the wrong-doers. She writes the story with pure honesty and imagery. It is beautiful.
It doesn't tip-toe. It asks important questions. Its ends tie up and fake no happiness or sadness. It's real. I will be reading more books of Courtney's.
Behind the building was a field and when the popourri scent of her cleaner made me sneeze, I went outside. There were calves there, these sweet things that watched me with less interest than I watched them. There was this raggedy one, sitting in the middle of the field, its mother nearby. I didn't realize it was sick until it tried to get up and it couldn't. It kept trying and it couldn't and then, eventually--it didn't. After a while, a truck drove in. A man and a boy got out, looked it over while its mother stood close. It was dead, the calf. Dead and too heavy to load into the truck bed, so they tied a rope around its neck, tied the other end to the truck and dragged it off the field like that. Its mother watched until it disappeared and when it was out of view, she called for it. Just kept calling for it so long after it was gone. Sometimes I feel something like that, between my mom and me. That I'm the daughter she keeps calling for so long after she's been gone.
--What I understood and loved about this part was the way the writer compared an innocent and beautiful animal to her main character. The fact that the character notices this animal and feels empathy, while also comparing herself to it, showed a complexity and great understanding for how truly real and vulnerable we are as human beings. Romy recognizes herself in the calf and she feels sorry for its mother, along with her own. She is able to see outside herself and feel sympathy for people she knows who hurt alongside her and that was so powerful to me as a reader.
I don't believe in forgiveness. I think if you hurt someone, it becomes a part of you both. Each of you just has to live with it and the person you hurt gets to decide if they want to give you the chance to do it again. If they do and you're a good person, you won't make the same mistakes.
--How can you not want lovely advice to add to the overall story? It's wonderful.
I wonder if it feels like something, the dark...I imagine the tiniest points of light, the stars through the water, but she can't reach them before she goes out.
The first two chapters were a little slow and too detailed for my taste but I understood what the author was trying to do. I just felt maybe something could take the place of nail polish much better. The repetition at the end was perfect, despite my not liking the nail polish description. I think I would have preferred to have a repetition of the cow scene, except I would have liked it to end with something like:
Just kept calling for it so long after it was gone... Sometimes I feel something like that, about myself. That I keep calling out for the girl I used to be. Before. I wonder if she has been dragged off, away from who I am now, and I wonder if I will ever see her again. I think not. But I think maybe now that's a good thing.
I would also change the last lines to:
Open your eyes.
Uncover your mouth.
Look at me.
I'm here.
Hope you enjoy my review, as well as my writing suggestions. I recommend this book highly.