Rage: Jackie Morse Kessler

Amazon Summary: Missy didn’t mean to cut so deep. But after the party where she was humiliated in front of practically everyone in school, who could blame her for wanting some comfort? Sure, most people don’t find comfort in the touch of a razor blade, but Missy always was . . . different.

That’s why she was chosen to become one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: War. Now Missy wields a new kind of blade—a big, brutal sword that can cut down anyone and anything in her path. But it’s with this weapon in her hand that Missy learns something that could help her triumph over her own pain: control.

A unique approach to the topic of self-mutilation, Rage is the story of a young woman who discovers her own power and refuses to be defeated by the world.

Who would have ever thought that a book about self-harm and the four riders of the apocalypse could be a good idea?  This book was not just good, it was terrific.  The main character, Missy, engendered pity in the reader, yet the reader was never quite sure whether or not to like the main character.  The supporting characters were perfect fits in the novel, from charismatic death to Missy's meaner sister.  The plot is outstanding, a self-harming teenager who is constantly at war with herself becoming War, a rider of the apocalypse; Death is show-cased as a bit of a savior, preventing Missy from dying to give her a chance to make peace with herself and become a Horseman.  The evil, cruel classmates set the scene for Missy's anger and hatred, emotions the reader may actually approve of in this situation.  The author has managed to allow the reader to better understand the emotions and/or actions behind cutting, even though the concept will remain foreign to the majority of us.  This book is terrific and will be enjoyed by teens/young adults/adults.