Review: Confessions of an Angry Girl (Confessions #1)

Confessions of an Angry Girl (Confessions #1) by Louise Rozett
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Realistic Fiction
Release Date: August 28, 2012
Buy Links:

Amazon

Book Description:

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 My best friend has been replaced by an alien, and I see red all the time.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.)

♥ ♥ ♥

“This, dear reader, is a tale of the hell of high school. Of being dropped into a world where it seems like everyone is speaking a foreign language. Where friends become enemies and enemies become nightmares. Where life suddenly seems like a string of worst-case scenarios from health-class movies…” – Rose Zarelli

When I originally agreed to review Confessions of an Angry Girl (a big thanks to Louise Rozett and Netgalley for the free copy) I did so based on the gorgeous cover of the book and the interesting blurb about it. I have to say though, going in, I didn’t expect the book I got. I was expecting something a little more edgy and unpredictable with a slightly older central character.

But despite those preconceptions I really enjoyed this book. Rose is a freshmen in high school and she just can’t seem to catch a break. In my opinion her best friend Tracy is completely shallow and while they have their ups and downs throughout the book, if I were Rose I would have ended that friendship long ago.

Then again despite how angry Rose is her forgiveness rate seems to exceed mine in spades. Rose’s family is falling apart, she’s practically tormented in high school and the few people who are supposed to be there for her are acting like Rose is the cause of all the problems being created around her, which honestly I don’t think is true.

Rozett did an amazing job of making Rose into a character the mostly anyone can relate to. Sure she was whiny at times, but let’s be honest who wasn’t whiny as a teenager every so often? (If you say you weren’t you’re a lying liar who lies.) I really enjoyed her style of writing and how we got to see what Rose was thinking while things were happening.

I liked that Rose wasn’t the typical teen trying to fit in. She wasn’t perfect and while she snapped at a lot of people and got angry about a lot of things I feel it was a justified anger. With all the change Rose experienced between her Father’s death, going to high school and being on the outs with almost everyone all because of Jamie’s crazy ‘girlfriend’ if you can even call her that.

I think two of the main things that kept me from giving this book five stars was how as angry as Rose was, she didn’t really stand up for herself. Except for the one time she did and it was awesome! And Jamie Forta…I liked him, I did, but he was supposed to be the main love interest and he was pretty much lacking from the story. Sure he was talked about by Rose and he showed up for important moments and scenes, but we know next to nothing about him. I did like Jamie, but it’s hard to connect with a character you know nothing about.

The Rundown

Five awesome Things about this story

-Rose finally stands up for herself

-Angelo (he’s super amusing)

-Robert (he’s sweet)

-Jamie stepping in at all the right moments

-Rose and her Mom having a break through

Five worst things about this story

-Tracy

-Matt & the cheerleaders minus Michelle

-Tracy choosing Matt over Rose

-Not knowing enough about Jamie as a character

-Can I say Tracy again?

♥ ♥ ♥

Author Bio:

Louise Rozett is an author, a playwright, and a recovering performer. She made her YA debut with Confessions of an Angry Girl, published by Harlequin Teen. The next book in the series, Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend, is due out June 2013. She lives with her 120-pound Bernese Mountain dog Lester (named after Lester Freamon from THE WIRE, of course) in one of the world's greatest literary meccas, Brooklyn...and also in sunny Los Angeles. (Being bi-coastal is fun!)

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