Review: Confessions of an Angry Girl by Louise Rozett

Confessions of an Angry Girl by Louise Rozett

Publishers: Harlequin Teen
Published Date: August 28th 2012
From: NET GALLEY
My rating: 4 out of 5

Synopsis:
Rose Zarelli, self-proclaimed word geek and angry girl, has some confessions to make…1. I'm livid all the time. Why? My dad died. My mom barely talks. My brother abandoned us. I think I'm allowed to be irate, don't you?

2. I make people furious regularly. Want an example? I kissed Jamie Forta, a badass guy who might be dating a cheerleader. She is now enraged and out for blood. Mine.

3. High school might as well be Mars. My best friend has been replaced by an alien, and I see red all the time. (Mars is red and "seeing red" means being angry—get it?)

Here are some other vocab words that describe my life: Inadequate. Insufferable. Intolerable.

(Don't know what they mean? Look them up yourself.)

(Sorry. That was rude.

Review:
The First 20%
I don't even remember reading the first 20% because the book drew me in so quickly that I was at 45% and still going. This is a great story and completely believable and addictive. Early on you find out who the good guys and bad guys in Rose's life are. So much that you automatically have feelings good or bad for them too.

The Main Characters
Rose Zarelli is the self-confessed Angry Girl. At no point in this book did I have to question why she was so angry with everyone and every situation that occurred. It all made perfect sense to me too and if I was in the same boat I wouldn't have done much differently. Rose has started her freshman year, she's 14 years old and everyone around her is changing whether it be what friends people choose or what clubs and activities they go for, or what stage they're at with their boyfriends. Rose is certainly not pushing any of the boundaries yet. She's going slowly with everything in her life because she's still dealing with the huge amount of grief after her father’s death three months earlier.

Her best friend is undecided about having sex for the first time and decides to join the cheerleader’s squad. Both of which Rose is against. But when Tracy actually joins the cheerleaders they start dragging her into initiations that again Rose doesn't like. Rose sees her friend change into someone else, someone who's mean and selfish. Rose commits a massive faux pax, but a good one. She almost saves a girls life from alcohol poisoning but this act makes Rose into a social pariah. Soon no one in the 'cool' team want to know her and they ridicule her at school.

Early on Rose develops a crush on Jamie. He's a nice guy but a couple of years older. Jamie does try to keep his distance, aware of the age difference, but its clear that he does like Rose. The only thing is his girlfriend cottons on to the crush and soon Regina starts making Rose's life even more unbearable. Oh, and she's a cheerleader also so manipulates Rose's friendship with Tracy.

The Story
This is a high school story with all the heartache and tragedy that comes with it. As Rose gets through each day and each week we get drawn into all the usual antics such as school dances, who's dating whom, who hates who, who likes you as a friend but wants more, and who's having sex. There is enough angst and bitchiness to keep this book going on forever! Rose also has a difficult home life, and as most teenagers do, believes her mother has no time for her and her brother can no longer be bothered with her.

The End?
I enjoyed Rose's running try-out when she almost flattened Regina. But the consequence left a huge cliff-hanger for the next book. I'm so intrigued now as to what’s going to happen next between Jamie and Rose, and Tracy and Rose, and Regina and Rose.

Overall
I usually try and steer clear of school based YA because I've read so many and they all tend to blur into the same story. Bitchy girls, high school dance let-downs, the hot boy being a jerk. But this book did entice me in and once I got started I couldn't let go. I was completely riveted and even hooted a couple of times for Rose.

-CBx

 

You can reach Louise Rozett here:
Web   Twitter  Facebook  Goodreads