Rage

If you've read Kessler's first book Hunger, you know how well she is at packing quite a bit of story in such a small amount of pages. If you haven't then you really should give her a try- her books really are incredible. I've been lucky enough to have been able to read Hunger, so I was thrilled when I also got the chance to review Rage as well & ended up reading it all in one sitting. Kessler really does have a strong storytelling ability to her & readers will really be able to feel Missy's pain & anguish. While Hunger's weakness was that there wasn't a lot of information about the background of the characters contained within it, Kessler has managed to work out most of that problem in this book. There's more depth & background to the characters, more explanation of what makes their personal issues hit them so hard. However where some readers will get frustrated is in what exactly the Horsemen are responsible for. You know that they're the embodiment of their station & that they can influence how things unfold, but not much information is really given about how it all happens. It all comes out in a rather confusing jumble, which may or may not be on purpose. Whatever the reason, I can't help but wish we had that information. Even in other "incarnation of ____" books (Sandman, the Piers Anthony series, etc) they have some sort of explanation for the hows of the beings. This was pretty much my only gripe about the book, to be honest. I was able to overlook it for the most part because I enjoyed the rest of the book so much. This is still an awesome book & Kessler remains someone I'll be reading in the future. I'm pretty curious to see how the rest of the series plays out, as there's two more Horsemen for the books to focus on. Haven't read Hunger? No worries, you can pretty much read Rage without having read the previous book, but you'd be missing out on a good tale. As it is, it's one of those ebook arcs that I ended up tracking down in paper format because I wanted to continue collecting the series. (Just wish I'd been able to get a paper arc to match my other book!) (ARC provided by NetGalley)

My thoughts: This story is powerful, compelling, and terrifying. From the first sentence which is shocking to the end - where I found myself in tears - I couldn't put this one down! This is a tale of sorrow and sadness, suffering, struggle and pain. It is also a story of acceptance and triumph, forgiveness, love, and the power of belief in yourself. Again, as with the first book, I am impressed. The story is well written. The topic is tragic, compelling, and way too real in today's society. As with Hunger, I think that Jackie Morse Kessler has captured a subject that is more common than anyone wants to admit, many people fear, most deny, and all are challenged in dealing with. She has made her story thoughtful, insightful, encouraging, realistic, and respectful to anyone who may come in contact with the issue of self-injury/self-mutilating. She lends an understanding that I would never have achieved without reading this book. I feel that it is a must read for teens and adults alike. I would recommend it to anyone. Be sure to read Hunger (Horsemen of the Apocalypse Book 1) by Jackie Morse Kessler before you read Rage. They are both amazing stand alones, but there are references in Rage that will mean more if you have already read Hunger.

I feel like we have all been angry at some point. And some of that rage turns inwards. And we have to find a way to cope with that rage. I identified with the book when I read it in middle school. And it helped me understand my friend who would hurt herself in that anger and overwhelming wave of feeling. Now I read it and I see a model. A victory. And I hope that friend found her own sword to wield and way to heal.

After reading Hunger, I waited so very anxiously for this book. The premise, teens expressing the (unfortunate) traits that relate to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are selected and fumble their way through accepting the job, is fascinating and Kessler's writing is utterly enthralling. In Rage we are introduced to Missy, a young woman who is driven to cutting herself to maintain control of her excessive emotions. She is afraid of losing control. High School is swamped with emotion, and much of it can be difficult for anyone to process with grace, much less someone who already has a tendency towards self harm. At a party Missy is humiliated past all hope of control by an ex boyfriend, she flees and cuts. When Death offers Missy the Sword of War in the aftermath, she accepts and then has to come to terms with the spirit of War who is not at all concerned with the control so precious to her. Rage deals with the cutting issue without allowing that to take the readers's focus away from the story. All of Missy's actions feel true to the character Kessler is sharing with us and not like recitations of symptoms from a medical manual. Missy's issues support the novel, but are not the singular driving force. Rage is a sequel in theme to Hunger, but they are wonderfully unique from each other. I felt Rage to be the stronger novel. I could not put Hunger down, and it hurt in all the right ways, but it focused much more on the eating disorders and their fall out and the plot seemed to roll out in the background. Kessler is tackling some rough, important topics and weaving them into something accessible, something stealthily informative. It is a brilliant project and I highly recommend reading.

I read hunger a few days ago and I just couldn't put it down it was that good. So I read rage right after, and the same thing happened. So far I love this series and would recommend it to anyone(above the age of say 14?ish (I'm 18)). I'm going to start the next book asap and I'll leave another review of what I think after I finish it!

great book. especially to get into the mind of self harmer. i loved it i didnt care for the aspects of the 4 horse men but it was still great.

I was a huge fan of Hunger, book one in the Riders of the Apocalypse series, so I was very excited to start the second book, Rage. Once again, I find the idea of Riders of the Apocalypse very interesting and the way Kessler weaves them into the modern world is fantastic. I think that this series is one of my all time favourites, the supernatural elements and human emotions mixed together make a super unique idea for a novel. Where Hunger was focused on an eating disorder, Rage was focused on self harm. Hunger focused on Famine, the black rider of the apocalypse, where as Rage focused on War the Red rider of the apocalypse. I loved the idea behind Rage, Missy, a self harming teenage girl who uses a blade to relieve her pain, is chosen to personify War. War the one who controls and unleashes anger upon the world. Missy needs to come to terms with her own rage and embrace War so that the world remains in balance. Missy's life is already spiralling out of control but one night puts a stop to it all. One night she cuts too deep. The only thing that stops her from dying is Death himself. Here he tells her that she needs to embrace War and take up her role and arms of office. She will need to learn to control war, before war persuades her to do more harm to herself. Will she be able to accept the horrors that lie within or will it be to late? Missy is the main character, she is cutter. She cuts to relieve herself from the pain that other people cause her. It's the only way she knows how to cope and she's been doing it for a while. She isn't doing it for attention or to fit in, she is mentally ill and believes this is the only way to cope. She has no one to talk too so she takes comfort from the blade. Missy is an outcast, she doesn't fit in anywhere in the high school cliches. As a reader we get to know her personally, we don't see her as the black goth wannabe that everyone else sees. We see Missy as teenager girl who is ill. For everyone else she wears a cold mask, held in place by sheer will, but behind it she is crumbling and the blade is calling her name. Missy is full of anger and pain, yet she has an attitude and could if she wished beat the crap out of the others. That's what makes her the perfect War, the violence is there waiting at the surface but instead she needs to find a balance. She needs to be able to live her life knowing she can cope without the blade and not caring what others say about her. Missy really grows in this book and it's incredible to see the realistic way the author has done this. Jackie Morse Kessler has a real talent as a writer. She tackles some harsh subjects in such ways that make the reader understand and feel sympathetic towards the characters. She handles the subjects brilliantly, she doesn't shy away from the harsh reality of things such as self harm. Instead she makes others understand the pain these people are going through. These are very powerful books and it really does give you an insight into a sufferers mind. She shows the reader what it's really like, she doesn't fluff it up with rainbows or overdo it dramatically, she does it realistically. That way many people can relate and learn life lessons from her books. Rage is an incredible book in it's own right, so much talent went into it and you can tell. Rage is the powerful and insightful second novel in the Riders of the Apocalypse series and I can't wait to see what's next!