Rage

Rage by Jackie Morse Kessler is the second novel in the Riders of the Apocolapyse series.  This series puts girls who are facing difficult social/mental issues in the roles of one of the horsemen of the apocalypse.  Rage features Missy who cuts herself to deal with the rage and pain she feels inside.  She is met by death who tells her that she can either be the horseman War or die.  The story details the mercyless bullying that Missy receives when it is discovered that she is a cutter from her ex-boyfriend and classmates her sisters hatred as well as her parents who are totally unaware of her problems.  This struggle is intertwined with Missy figuring out how to handle her new role as War.  She learns slowly that she can work to better the world instead of destroying it.

This book is very dark.  Much darker than Hunger the first book in the series Missy's struggles were so difficult that her cutting seems almost logical.  She is suicidal at times and has no friends.  She does not change or mature throughout the book as much as I would have liked, instead she sinks into major depression and does not ask for help until it is almost too late.  However, the story is well written and I enjoy this paranormal take on social issues.  So many social issue novels read like lifetime TV movies which makes this series a nice change of pace.

Appropriateness:  This is a very dark novel that follows a girl that is suicidal and struggling with cutting.  There are graphic hard to read passages of hardcore bullying including a main plot point that involves Missy being photographed naked by her ex-boyfriend at a party where many students are drinking and the picture being passed around the school.  I'd recommend this to readers aged 14+ and encourage parents to start a dialog with their teen about the issues that Missy faces in the book.