Fabulous reads – Courtney bravely tackles rape stigma in YA novel
Book review - All the Rage by Courtney Summers.
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All the Rage, Courtney Summers, Pan Macmillan, 9781509817597
Courtney Summers, a well-known young adult author, has come out with yet another soul-wrenching novel.
Romy Grey lives in a small town, but she’s far from a nobody.
Labelled as the town pariah, she and her family are snubbed and openly hated.
That’s what happens when you’re raped by the sheriff’s son and don’t keep quiet.
The story begins after the attack and Romy is set on not being a victim.
Outcast and hated, Romy tries to put the pieces of her life back together.
It is when a girl goes missing that Romy can’t keep her head down anymore.
It was a bit difficult to read because of the victim shaming and the emotional roller coaster ride that left me with a bit of whiplash.
Summers hasn’t quite captured the depth of the heroine needed for this particular story line.
I felt a constant sense of annoyance and anger due to the unfair treatment of the main character, which I am sure Courtney Summers was aiming for when she penned this novel.
Even so, a few of the main characters’ scenes felt slightly out of character and left me a bit confused.
A fair warning for sensitive readers, there are subjects of rape, date rape, alcohol abuse and sexual trauma in the book.
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