#AlltheRage by Courtney Summers

This is a rape book. And All the Rage by Courtney Summers says a lot.

But, did you hear me? This is a book about rape. A rape book.

The word 'rape' often rolls around uncomfortably in my mouth before coming out, and I get the feeling that's true for a lot of people. So, they use words like 'forced' and 'overpowered' to hide behind other words, safer words, than to let a word like 'rape' rise out of the dark, where everybody will see. Not everybody can bear it, to see. I'm not going to spare myself the discomfort.

This is an important book. Yes, the subject matter pertains to rape. But, it speaks to the before and after of rape, speaks to what so many of us are still afraid to acknowledge, let alone voice. It says something like,

I can outrun the boy in the truck bed. I can outrun the boy in the truck bed and all the other boys he's made in his likeness and all the boys who made themselves in his likeness since, just because they could, just because no one said they couldn't...

No one said they couldn't.

When you read something like that, All the Rage by Courtney Summers makes you wonder just what you have condoned or enabled simply by ignoring, by pretending away the truth. Makes you hate ever having thought because someone dresses provocatively or has feelings for a boy or comes from a bad family that they've put themselves in a position to be harmed. That they were asking to be harmed. Because they provoked, they incited, they can't be trusted.

Reminds us of how shitty a species we are. To be frank. And this from an optimist.

And that's the thing about All the Rage by Courtney Summers... there's no bullshit. Summers brandishes her words and dares you to face them, to have the guts to meet this awfulness head-on. And if you can keep reading, without looking away or cringing for too long, then there might be some hope for us after all.

The writing is all the more beautiful for it's sharp edges and grim, jaded inflections. Romy has a story inside her that's as broken apart as she is, and it tears and rends and grinds and pulls to read each piece. Because it leads to something that makes you want to close your eyes and keep them shut.

look at me.      I want you to look at me.

But, as proven with This Is Not a Test by Courtney Summers, as much as I can listen to what Summers has to say and what her characters have to say, I hate where our conversation ends up. Because it's vague and open and is always supposed to mean something, but I end up feeling lacking when I'm not satisfied by what it's all supposed to mean. It's not about making my own determination. I just hate feeling like I don't know the truth, that it's being hidden for the sake of my own interpretation.

I really wish Summers would stop doing that.

Five Reasons Danielle Paige's Dorothy Must Die Should Die Too

Brace yourselves for an unpopular opinion, cyberfriends.

Although, granted, there has been a lot of controversy around this book, so maybe, at this point, no one cares. Nevertheless, I wanted to point out that while Five Reasons Danielle Paige's Dorothy Must Die Should Die Too is kinda harsh (and kinda repetitive), I don't intend to bash this book. (Why would I harm a perfectly sturdy book? I just liked the title.) I'm merely going to cite my opinions, which will all, in a way, amount to this first point:

#5 I was so bored 

Let's go back for a minute.

Think back to the beginning of summer vacation. Not the beginning beginning, which happens the second the last bell rings and the streets run red with two-button polo shirts before they are removed. This being done in gratitude for a new day ahead that does not require appeasing oppressors like the board of education.

I'm talking about the following week, when you were at your window with the days of summer stretching before you... and no plans to fill those days. No plans except staring from that very same window,  but only AFTER having grown bored of riding around in the ever-present Pathmark shopping cart you and the neighborhood kids relied upon.

Do you remember what that feeling of hopeless boredom was like? Remember how it felt like being in the sun too long, the rays coaxing your lids down and forcing a yawn from you? Remember how that yawn filled your entire body, and  how by the time the air you'd gathered left your mouth again you were already on your way to sleep?

THAT'S how bored I was reading Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige.

photo by: John Morgan

And it might have been prevented because

#4 The story could have been shortened

It took about 120 pages for the good stuff to happen. And it's not like when you break open crab legs to suck out the meat, you know. At least 1) the process of removing the meat is aggressive enough to be somewhat pleasant for those of in a piss-poor mood and 2) the pay-off is delicious. I cannot say the same of Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige.

I certainly can't say that had those 120 pages been snipped, the story would have improved. But, at the very least, it would have been an hour or two less of my time and effort. Added to that,

#3 The writing was mediocre

So, the story is boring and much too long, but the writing is good, right?

What do you think?

It wasn't the worst writing I've ever forced myself to read. I will give Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige that much. But, because it already had two strikes against it, this just added more weight on the wrong side of the scale.

There were a few gems like: “I hate to break it to you, but just because someone has pretty hair and a good skin tone and a crown instead of a pointy hat doesn’t mean she’s not the baddest bitch this side of the emerald city” and “And you're right. You are on your own. We all are, and we all have to learn it sooner or later. If you have to be alone, though, wouldn't you rather be alone among friends?”

But, then a guy says this to our main character: "Go ahead. Just try and hide from me. But I'm warning you-- I could find you anywhere”and things get 'intense' because “He just stared at me, his gaze intense. I couldn’t look away any more than I could move my arm. Energy crackled between us, and I felt a strange pull to him. Moth to flame. Magnet to magnet. Stupid girl to impossible, slightly mean witch boy. Wizard. Whatever.” 

And I'm supposed to... what? Applaud and look appropriately dazzled because Danielle Paige wrote the equivalent of a magician pulling a rabbit out of her hat? We've all seen that trick, we know what the endgame is. And, because some of us have seen it often enough, we can catch the sleight of hand or notice the specially rigged table.

If the above-referenced passages are supposed to be Danielle Paige's hat trick in all this, it's safe to say I'm sorely unimpressed.

#2 It was innovative... until it wasn't

 Probably THE coolest elements of Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige were the twists on what I thought I knew of The Wizard of Oz and all it's characters. This book gives a demented spinoff to a saccharine and lighthearted tale we all know and probably love.

It was sickening to see the Tin Woodman lop off body parts or see the Scarecrow open his head to refuel his brain or see the Lion messily dismembering and ingesting every breathing creature. I grimaced in revulsion when Dorothy gave orders that showed the sadistic flair hiding behind her spoiled rotten exterior. Everything in Oz is irrevocably corrupt. And it's gory and wicked, and had the potential for awesomeness.

And then another hundred pages went by and I noticed patterns forming. I noticed that the consequences of refusing to succumb to this gruesome, grim reality were inconsistent and began to lack thought. There were just sequences and dialogue and actions so clearly orchestrated, I could all but feel Danielle Paige maneuvering her morbid dollies into the proper positions.

photo by: avolore

There was no heart and soul to be found here.

#1 There were shells, not characters

Everyone in Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige acted their part. And while the set design, the costumes, the lighting had potential, the director wasn't astute enough to recognize her actors' lack of range or the lack's impact on the story she was trying to tell.

Each movement of a character wasn't always necessarily staged, but it did often feel like a hand was almost visibly giving a nudge. I didn't want Danielle giving a hand to those decisions, I wanted the characters to unfreeze from their poses and come to life all on their own.

But, with been-there-done-that dialogue, it was hard to see these characters as anything other than shells carrying words that Paige thought they should say. I could feel no thought or emotion taking place. And just when you think the characters are going to do or say something to surprise you, out of their mouths come the same tune I've heard sung by many a fictional people, in many a genre.

These characters were cutouts from a magazine Paige really liked and assembled together to make something she thought others would like. But, no matter how she tried with Amy's vulnerability or Nox's unquestioning loyalty or Dorothy's sadistic attitude, they remained thinly made and poorly cut.

photo by: tatiana

What do you think of Paige's attempted rendition of the Wizard of Oz? Did the characters fall as flat for you? I can see this being much better adapted to film or TV. Do you think Dorothy Must Die has a shot at the big screen? Would it be worth the wait... and watch? Leave a comment down below or share your thoughts on any of the social media below!