Review: All the Rage

All the Rage
Author: Courtney Summers
Published: April 14th, 2015
Hardcover, 321 pages
5 Gold Stars

(summary from Goodreads)

The sheriff's son, Kellan Turner, is not the golden boy everyone thinks he is, and Romy Grey knows that for a fact. Because no one wants to believe a girl from the wrong side of town, the truth about him has cost her everything - friends, family, and her community. Branded a liar and bullied relentlessly by a group of kids she used to hang out with, Romy's only refuge is the diner where she works outside of town. No one knows her name or her past there; she can finally be anonymous. But when a girl with ties to both Romy and Kellan goes missing after a party, and news of him assaulting another girl in a town close by gets out, Romy must decide whether she wants to fight or carry the burden of knowing more girls could get hurt if she doesn't speak up. Nobody believed her the first time - and they certainly won't now - but the cost of her silence might be more than she can bear.

With a shocking conclusion and writing that will absolutely knock you out, All the Rage examines the shame and silence inflicted upon young women after an act of sexual violence, forcing us to ask ourselves: In a culture that refuses to protect its young girls, how can they survive?

There are important books out there in the world, books that say something in the best way possible and show the world a side of it that some people may not know. Books that need to be talked about. Books that you just want to throw off buildings and shout at people to read because they are so important in what they say, how the say it and who they say it to. This. Is. One. Of. Those. Books. courteny Summers has once again shown us the dark, inner life of a teenager. This is a gritty, real look at the aftermath of sexual violence and the lack of help that young women get when something has happened to them. Romy is ostracized from her community for "accusing" the sheriff's son of raping her. Her friends, family and everyone who knows her avoid her, her safe haven the diner she works at in another town. But when Kellan assaults another girl and someone goes missing, Romy must decide if her silence will make things better or just let more girls experience what she had to endure. What happens to the girl who everyone thought cried wolf suddenly needs to bring it up again?

Courtney's characters are so flawlessly flawed. We only know the After Romy, the Romy who meticulously paints her nails and her lips red, her armor against the rest of the world. We must watch as she tries to move past the act of sexual violence she endured during a party one night a year ago. Romy is essentially dead inside. She feels like she has no voice because society has refused to listen to her. I wanted to get angry with Romy, but instead she just felt like a hollowed out human being, sopast being angry and instead just feeling worthless. She compares herself to all those around her who she feels are better than her. She wonders what it would be like if she were the missing girl and if anyone would actually care if that were the case. She has a thought once she finds out someone is pregnant that she hopes the baby is not a girl. It's a harsh sentence, and it's not the only one. that shows you just how much that one act, that act that Kellan thought nothing about and that society decided wasn't a big deal, changed how she viewed everything in life. I'm so glad Courtney gave Romy a voice because Romy represents every girl, every human, who has ever felt less than themselves because of something someone did to them without their consent. I don't know how these girls feel, but to me Courtney has captured what I can only imagine it feels like, and no one should ever have to feel that way.

I was so happy with how Courtney treated the romance throughout this book. Romy was scared to let anyone close to her and the moments where she did think she could get past everything, those memories would come back to haunt her. It was so important for her to have a guy in her life that didnt want more than she wanted to give. As soon as she said no, he stopped and that was the most important thing to me. To show that difference between consent and non-consent and how someone reacts to those two things is what every young girl needs to be aware of. You have a voice, you're feeling smatter. If you are not comfortable in a situation than you should be able to say no and things should stop. End of story.

This is a dark, gritty and completely realistic novel that doesn't hold anything back. It's ugly, wonderful and scary. This book is so important that I'm just going to keep talking about, continuing to tell people how important it is and hope that everyone reads it. We can change how victims are treated, how girls feel afterwards and hopefully get to a point where no means no and nobody tries to change that. If this book can help anyone, that it has done its job. Go read it. Now.

"My dad used to say makeup was a shallow girl's sport, but it's not. It's armor."

"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?"

Review: The S Word

The S Word
Author: Chelsea Pitcher
Published: May 4, 2013
Paperback, 304 pages
5 Gold Stars

(summary from Goodreads)

First it was SLUT scribbled all over Lizzie Hart’s locker.

But one week after Lizzie kills herself, SUICIDE SLUT replaces it—in Lizzie's looping scrawl.

Lizzie’s reputation is destroyed when she's caught in bed with her best friend’s boyfriend on prom night. With the whole school turned against her, and Angie not speaking to her, Lizzie takes her own life. But someone isn’t letting her go quietly. As graffiti and photocopies of Lizzie’s diary plaster the school, Angie begins a relentless investigation into who, exactly, made Lizzie feel she didn’t deserve to keep living. And while she claims she simply wants to punish Lizzie’s tormentors, Angie's own anguish over abandoning her best friend will drive her deep into the dark, twisted side of Verity High—and she might not be able to pull herself back out.

It's common to find young adult novels involving suicide and ostracized girls. I've read quite a few books about a girl who finds her boyfriend cheating on her or a girl who gets labelled as a slut, but this book was nothing like those others. It involved many of the same ideas, but it stood out of the pact. Angie discovers her best friend, Lizzie, in bed with her boyfriend on prom night. She doesn't wait around for an explanation and by monday, Lizzie is labelled a slut. Angie ignores her, agreeing with everyone else, until Lizzie commit suicide and suddenly Angie doesn't feel okay about anything she did. When Suicide Slut shows up on Lizzie's locker in her own handwriting, Angie takes it among herself find out who won't let Lizzie rest in peace. Throughout her investigations, she finds out more about herself than anything else and realizes she wasn't the best friend she could have been those last weeks of Lizzie's life. 

This book started with a bang. I knew the writing would show up, but when it did, a chill ran down my spine. I had no idea how it would play out - did Lizzie somehow come back from the dead? Never died? Was someone just screwing with everyone? Wanting to know the answer just as much as Angie did, I had to keep reading, and reading, until I was done. I plowed through this book and as more clues and hints were given, more suspects coming to light, I found myself constantly thinking about who could be behind all this. But the writing on the locker wasn't even the scariest part of this story. Angie discovers things about high school that she was oblivious to. As she reads Lizzie's diary, she finds out how Lizzie really felt about high school. As one of the most popular girls in school, Angie didn't know how hard it was for others to survive the hell that is high school. She becomes friends with Jesse, one of Lizzie's old friends, and finds out first hand how hard it is to be an individual where all everyone wants is to be accepted. The brutality of high school is shown without filters, and Pitcher nails it on the head.

Not only did this book show the cruelty of teens, but it also had a dash of mystery and teen sleuthing. Angie was a nice mix of Veronica Mars and the guilty best friend, and Lizzie was an updated version of Hester Prynne, a nice big little S by her name. The twists and turns that come to light as this story progressed kept me on my toes and eager for more. Everything came together in a hauntingly beautiful, realistic ending with a nice dash of revenge involved for good measure. Not only did this book touch on bullying, slut shaming, and suicide, but it also dove into the heart wrenching reality of child abuse, sexuality, gender roles, and rape. 

Angie's character developed like any real girl would after something brutal and unforgivable happens in her life. Much like the main character in Speechless, she discovers the consequences of her actions as she tries to redeem herself throughout the book. Everything sequence of events leads to the unforgettable ending and there is not better way for this book to have played out. Pitcher took risks and succeeded, Angie's voice is bitter with anger and regret and even Lizzie's voice is haunting from beyond the grave, pleading and loving and wishing for only a better life. A heartbreaking, realistic and fragile read, Pitcher hits the bullseye of this genre.

“It scares me to see someone so together come unhinged. It makes me think none of us are in control.” 

Review: The Mockingbirds

The Mockingbirds
Author: Daisy Whitney
Published: January 2, 2012
Paperback, 332 pages
5 Gold Stars

(summary from Goodreads)

Some schools have honor codes.

Others have handbooks.

Themis Academy has the Mockingbirds.

Themis Academy is a quiet boarding school with an exceptional student body that the administration trusts to always behave the honorable way-the Themis way. So when Alex Patrick is date-raped during her junior year, she has two options: Stay silent and hope someone helps, or enlist the aid of the Mockingbirds-a secret society of students dedicated to righting the wrongs of the student body.

For someone who can't even think about the possibility of being raped, I certainly read a lot of books revolving around it. I am always drawn to books about girls who have been through something terrible and come out on top in the end. Sometimes they win in a small way, but other times, like in The Mockingbirds, they get all the justice they could want. Yes, no matter what happens, there is still the fact that the assault occurred, but there are ways to help you sleep at night, and Alex certainly got hers.

This book jumped right into it. We don't see the event happen, just the aftermath. Alex doesn't remember anything when she wakes up in a dorm that isn't her own. She listens to the guy she wakes up beside when he says they had a great night together. It isn't until she gets home when she realizes something is wrong. It's hard for her to admit what happened, and when she finally finds the strength, her sister suggests The Mockingbirds, a secret society inside the school that holds trials for cases that the school board chooses to ignore. Frightened, Alex agrees and is soon transported into the underbelly of her school. Suddenly her fear is replaced with bravery and she's ready to stand up for what happened and make sure the man who did this to her pays.

What I liked most is that even though she novel revolves around rape and a trial about it, it doesn't seem preachy. We find out the information about what happened that night throughout the book with Alex, feeling the pain of thinking it's her own fault for drinking too much, and the fear when she passes him in the hall. The Mockingbirds are a great touch. Named after To Kill a Mockingbird, they fight for justice in a school that decides it doesn't need to. The more Alex discovers, the more I rooted her for to get to the end where she feels safe enough to go out at night. The scariest thing about being assaulted is the fear of moving on with your life. Yes, there is no way to get over it in a night, but justice and knowing that the person who did this to you has been outed, would certainly help me sleep at night. The Mockingbirds protect the student body and help everyone feel safe. I think every school needs a society like this. 

The plot was fast paced enough to make me want to keep reading. The bits and pieces of Alex's night staggers throughout the pages crept into me just like they did her. This book stood apart from the other books about rape that I've read. Even though they all have the same major theme, Alex's story sounded real and believable. She was not attacked, she was date raped, and something like that is more likely to happen to a girl in college or university. Whitney approached it in the best way possible. Alex's story has happened to many girls, including the author, and the more we write about it, the more these girls will be strong enough to stand up and get the justice they deserved. No one should have to fear this happening to them, but if it does, they should know it's safe to tell someone about it. 

“In this moment I'm not defined by the other things, the things that happened to me, the things I didn't choose. This is the part of me that defines for all time, for always. The thing I choose completely.”