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A review by parpacifica
All the Rage by Courtney Summers
4.0
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I swear a lot. I know. But holy fucking shit, this book. It's midnight and I feel my chest burning with so much rage.
"I notice a word cut through the dirt coating my door. Slit. Because 'slut' was just too humanizing, I guess. A slit's not even a person. Just an opening."
I have read so many books about rape and they seem to hit upon the same loneliness and body shaming, that the others do. Some books even romanticize rape, or use a failed rape as a push point for the plot, just to make a male lead more heroic for saving the hapless female heroine.
But, this novel... this novel didn't focus on the loneliness, but instead the rage. This book is fucking raw. It is the definition of unaltered and raw.
Romy Grey is a red-lipstick wearing rape victim that her town refuses to acknowledge. Then, when she is found on the street, unconscious, with the words 'rape me' written on her stomach, everyone thinks it's her usual self trying to get attention. And she's angry.
"I lower my hand and Tina is across the room from me..... there's a scratch on her shoulder....I did that. But...I stare at my hands again....This can't be over. I haven't written on her yet."
I will never forget the time I went to visit a family friend. I was 11, racing out of the car, excited to stay over at their house. God, I will never fucking forget his face, walking into the room. He got really close physically, and casually sat me on his laps. And his hands started creeping under my shirt, grabbing at my developing chest, while he whispered, "We don't tell your mom or dad, okay?"
I was not raped. But I can't imagine how painful it is for someone who has been. No one understand how hard it is to fucking accept your body after someone has violated you.
"I wish I never had a body."
How hard it is to understand that you never bought anything upon yourself. That your body didn't deserve it.
How hard it is seeing the person who made you bitter. I see that man every holiday. Romy's rapists' legacy lives in her town. She is constantly reminded of him.
The worst are the after-effects. Romi can't maintain a relationship with Leon because her past scars mark every one of their moments. She can't forget.
She can't. I can't imagine how hard it much be to go through that, and then having to constantly live with the trauma of it, and pretend everything is okay. The fact is that this happens, to thousands of people around the world.
I hate Romy sometimes. She's a bitch sometimes. But life was never good to her, and is allowed to bitch.
This book really got to me. It portrayed rape in such a raw and unaltered light. It showed hurt and rage and sadness. It was fucking beautiful. It would have been a five star novel had it continued longer. I felt like it cut off very abruptly.
This will be the first four star novel to go on my Favourites shelf.
I swear a lot. I know. But holy fucking shit, this book. It's midnight and I feel my chest burning with so much rage.
"I notice a word cut through the dirt coating my door. Slit. Because 'slut' was just too humanizing, I guess. A slit's not even a person. Just an opening."
I have read so many books about rape and they seem to hit upon the same loneliness and body shaming, that the others do. Some books even romanticize rape, or use a failed rape as a push point for the plot, just to make a male lead more heroic for saving the hapless female heroine.
But, this novel... this novel didn't focus on the loneliness, but instead the rage. This book is fucking raw. It is the definition of unaltered and raw.
Romy Grey is a red-lipstick wearing rape victim that her town refuses to acknowledge. Then, when she is found on the street, unconscious, with the words 'rape me' written on her stomach, everyone thinks it's her usual self trying to get attention. And she's angry.
"I lower my hand and Tina is across the room from me..... there's a scratch on her shoulder....I did that. But...I stare at my hands again....This can't be over. I haven't written on her yet."
I will never forget the time I went to visit a family friend. I was 11, racing out of the car, excited to stay over at their house. God, I will never fucking forget his face, walking into the room. He got really close physically, and casually sat me on his laps. And his hands started creeping under my shirt, grabbing at my developing chest, while he whispered, "We don't tell your mom or dad, okay?"
I was not raped. But I can't imagine how painful it is for someone who has been. No one understand how hard it is to fucking accept your body after someone has violated you.
"I wish I never had a body."
How hard it is to understand that you never bought anything upon yourself. That your body didn't deserve it.
How hard it is seeing the person who made you bitter. I see that man every holiday. Romy's rapists' legacy lives in her town. She is constantly reminded of him.
The worst are the after-effects. Romi can't maintain a relationship with Leon because her past scars mark every one of their moments. She can't forget.
She can't. I can't imagine how hard it much be to go through that, and then having to constantly live with the trauma of it, and pretend everything is okay. The fact is that this happens, to thousands of people around the world.
I hate Romy sometimes. She's a bitch sometimes. But life was never good to her, and is allowed to bitch.
This book really got to me. It portrayed rape in such a raw and unaltered light. It showed hurt and rage and sadness. It was fucking beautiful. It would have been a five star novel had it continued longer. I felt like it cut off very abruptly.
This will be the first four star novel to go on my Favourites shelf.