READING: Ferocity Summer by Alissa Grosso

Ferocity Summer by Alissa Grosso

Publication date: May 8th, 2012
Published by: Flux Books
Genre: YA Contemporary
Rating: 4/5

“Would you rather be dead and know it, or alive and not know it?” Scilla Davis is haunted by a horrible accident that she was involved in last summer—a drunken, reckless joyride that ended in tragedy. With a big trial looming, life seems empty, unreal, and utterly hopeless. It’s especially painful watching her best friend, Willow, slowly destroy herself with pills and booze. Yet Scilla can’t seem to wrest Willow—or herself—from a path of self-destruction. But there might be a possible escape from this nightmare. As a dangerous new drug called Ferocity sweeps the nation, an FBI agent asks Scilla to turn narc and help locate the Ferocity kingpin. In exchange, she could avoid conviction for her role in the accident. All she has to do is deceive and betray people she’s known all her life . . .

I noticed a lot of people had a problem with this book. Again, no idea why. It puzlles me, really. First Pieces Of Us, which for me is a masterpiece, next Ferocity Summer. Maybe it's the absence of a vamp or a wolf, or a really hot guy girls can fawn over and tweet million abbreviations about. Maybe it's the huge dose of reality these books have that scare people. Even though I liked Popular better, no one can deny that Ferocity Summer is an exceptionally written book. Everything by Alissa Grosso will be an automatic "must-read" from now on, she's just an amazing writer. 

I kinda struggled with Scill's character, though, the book's main character. In a way, she was like Sherman, the guy she was writing a history paper about. His place in history, says Grosso, isn't entirely clear. He is regarded by most as a hero but there are also some who think he went too far. That's Scilla. I won't blame her mother's parenting for Scilla's actions. There is so much parents can do, after all. What Scilla did was all her. Even when she was doing something wrong she knew it, she admitted it to herself, but she didn't stop. That's nobody else's fault but hers. Is she responsible for Willow's demise, though? I don't think so. There were 4 people in the accident and even though everyone had completely changed after, Willow couldn't handle it, neither the accident itself nor the change, and she drowned in her guilt (which she confesses in the end) and her sorrow. She was the weakest out of the 4 for sure. Truth is, Scilla didn't try her best to help her. Not that Willow would have listened to her. Regardless, Scilla was selfish. We see clearly that she doesn't care for any human being, be that her ex boyfriend, whom she hooks up with only for necessity, her wanna-be friend Bill, even her best friend Willow. I think she was so terrified of being lonely, that she surrounded herself with people who she disliked, like she did with Christian. She did care on some level about Willow I guess but not enough to take action. That's why what happened to WIllow in the end was not a shock for her. I think in some perverted way she felt free, liberated, no longer having anyone to hold her down. The way I see, it Scilla was completely lost: she had no sexual identity, no views of a future of any kind, no compassion, no personality, nothing. The ending was kinda hopeful and realistic at the same time. Scilla won't change over night, neither does she expects to. Neither does she wants to, I think.

Clearly if you haven't read the book and read this review you'll probably be going "Uh?", but it was impossible to express my views on it without referring to certain events. I know a lot of people may not like Ferocity Summer because it's not your typical YA (thank god for that!) but it will certainly appeal to more open minded people, and those are the ones this book, and other books like it, are written for, I guess. 


 "-Maybe it's time to take the soul glasses off.
  -Maybe I just need a new prescription."