Romy Grey’s story could be any girl’s—your girlfriend, your daughter, your best friend. When she wakes up on the side of the road, her shirt unbuttoned, words written in lipstick on her stomach, dirt in her nails and no recollection of how she got there, her world is turned upside down. The last she can remember, she was at the party of senior year. And so begins one of the most powerful, heartbreaking and emotionally charged stories about rape, interracial relationships and friendship.
Romy and her former best friend Penny had a falling out junior year, leaving Penny as the most popular girl in school and Romy as the outcast. Both Romy and Penny go missing the same night, but when Romy is found, she is accused of wasting everyone’s time and diminishing the search for Penny at the most crucial of times.
Enter the Turner family, one of the most influential in town: Sheriff Turner; his wife, Helen, owner of Grebe Auto Supplies; and their two sons, Alek and Kellan. Alek is Penny’s boyfriend, but Kellan remains a mystery—until a fateful conversation between Penny and Romy that occurs before they go missing.
Author Courtney Summers intricately weaves mystery, lies and heartbreak throughout this powerful novel. Readers will pull for Romy, rooting for her to speak and for her voice to be heard. Reminiscent of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, All the Rage grabs hold and won’t let go. Romy’s story is violent in nature and language, but there is no other way to convey the hurt, anger and heartwrenching emotional and psychological issues that she faces. This is a beautiful story that speaks to all women, particularly teenage girls and their mothers.
