All the Rage by Courtney Summers ~ My Review

All the Rage by Courtney Summers 

Publication Date: April 14th 2015 
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin 
Pages: 321 
Received: E-copy from publisher via NetGalley 
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

All the Rage was not the book for me. I’ve read a few books like this and enjoyed them, but this one was just too realistic for me. I felt a lot of emotions reading this story; nervous, sad, confused, but I couldn’t stop reading it. I had to find out what happens and hoped for the best. While some things were resolved, others were not. 

We see the story from Romy’s point-of-view, and she is a mess. Before the story opens, she accused a boy of raping her, which nobody believes. Now she is bullied at school. She’s confused, angry and depressed: all reasonable emotions considering what's she's going through. And because the story is told from Romy’s POV it is confusing and messed up as she is; you don’t know exactly what’s happening because she doesn’t. 

I have a huge question about why isn’t Romy getting any counseling? If she cries rape and that proves to be false, wouldn’t that be a red flag that maybe something's off with Romy? And if she did get raped then she definitely needs help. Either way, she would need help.

If you like stories about bullying, teen/date rape, and a missing girl, then All the Rage is the book for you, but it wasn't for me. Because real life can be hard enough, I want to read something with a better resolve.

FTC Disclaimer: I received an ARC e-copy of the story from the publisher via NetGalley for my honest review.

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Any thoughts? 

An Unpleasant Walk by C. Rafe Carlson

 

An Unpleasant Walk is a Pride and Prejudice variation that begins at Hunsford. While walking on one of her favorite paths, Elizabeth encounters Colonel Fitzwilliam. Things turn ugly when the Colonel suddenly pins her to a tree and attacks her. He tells her she will become his mistress and he will come to her later that night to make her his. Darcy finds her bruised and upset as she is making her way back to the parsonage. After learning the truth, he vows to help her. He forms a plan to get her to London without anyone finding out what happened and before the Colonel can come back to finish what he started.

I really like the idea of this story. I wasn't happy about Colonel Fitzwilliam being a scoundrel of the worst kind, but I thought I could get over it and love Darcy being a hero and saving Elizabeth. But most of the time her recovery is with the Gardiners. It seems to take her a long time to recover.

I did like how before getting to London, Darcy and Elizabeth were able to talk and clear the air about Jane and Bingley, and Mr. Wickham. Her shock in learning the truth about Wickham, and Colonel Fitzwilliam’s behavior makes her question her ability to judge people’s true character. Darcy is so patient and kind to Elizabeth with how he handles himself around her, especially right after the attack when she startles easily.

One of my favorite characters in this story is Mrs. Higham, the widow of the previous parson. Knowing the need to have a chaperone, Mr. Darcy asked Mrs. Higham to accompany them back to London. She is instrumental in explaining the situation to Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner and on occasion, counseling Mrs. Gardiner about Lizzy’s condition.

For me, there was just too much sadness in this story; it took too long to resolve. Elizabeth is not the strong woman who is able to reason out what happens to her and jump back quickly. It does end well and I enjoyed that. But overall it's not one that I would read again.

I purchased my own copy of the book.

     
Buy a copy of An Unpleasant Walk  here.

     

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