Title: Confessions of an Angry Girl (Confessions #1)
by Louise RozettPublishing Info: January 4, 2012 by Harlequin
Source: Netgalley
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
Find it on the web: Buy from Amazon // GoodreadsDate Completed: October 17, 2012
Related Posts: Confessions of an Almost Girlfriend (Confessions #2), No More Confessions (Confessions #3)
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 My best friend has been replaced by an alien, and I see red all the time.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.)
When I first got approved from Netgalley to review this book (thank you!) I figured I’d like it, but just so-so. It seemed like a simple story and frankly, I expected it to be half-silly. It wasn’t. I was so impressed with the novel that Louise Rozett laid out for us and I got really into Rose’s character and the situations she was experiencing.
When we first meet Rose, it’s just months after her father was killed by an IED over in Iraq, her brother left her family for college, and she’s just starting high school. She’s feeling like she’s losing her best friend Tracy who’s more interested in being a cheerleader than the friendship they used to hold so dear, and through a series of events, she’s majorly crushing on Jamie Forta — a known bad-boy — and therefore a target of bullying by his “maybe girlfriend” Regina, who also happens to be the head of the cheerleading squad.
Rose’s situation is far from enviable and I really felt like the author did a great job of having the reader connect with Rose (at least I did!), especially since my expectations of this book was that Rose was going to be angry in a comedic way. I was so glad that this was an emotion-filled book and I really connected with all of the characters. In a lot of ways, Rose is very mature at only 14, but we do still see some girlish notions with the way she acts towards Jamie and romance, which is to be expected.
The thing I really liked about the book is how real it felt to me. I felt like this could have been a real person’s story. None of the characters were too “out there” (although I do have an issue with cheerleaders being prevalent in a lot of YA books since they didn’t have much stigma at my high school) and the emotions definitely made sense and were logical instead of people flying off the handle and acting a little bit crazy (hey, it happens).
I really didn’t expect to like this book so much and I loved it. I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t a stand-alone like I thought and I’ll still pick up the sequel. I think it could have wrapped up neatly in the end in just a few more pages; however, I do love Rose and where this story was headed so I’ll definitely read the sequel to see where that goes.
Rose Zarelli: I loved Rose! I felt like she and I had a lot in common in our beginning years of high school so I totally connected with her. She was studious but still liked to have fun and was wary of all of the drinking and sex and drugs – Which is exactly how I was. I was fresh out of Catholic school and had a crash course in high school and public school. I just think I really made a connection with Rose.
Jamie Forta: Personally, Jamie Forta kind of reminded me of a Jess from Gilmore Girls (<3 <3). He’s the strong, silent type and it totally worked in this story. The age difference is a bit large for high school, but hey, this kind of stuff happens. He seemed like the bad-boy I would have been interested in with all of the mystery surrounding him too – But I probably wouldn’t have the courage to get anywhere near Regina!
Regina Deladdo: Regina reminded me of… um… Regina George? From Mean Girls. Hahaha. She’s the Queen Bee and they totally had the same personality. But she was a really good villain for the story. If anything, she was the character I liked the least just because she seemed the least realistic. I don’t know about other people’s high schools, but as far as I KNOW, we didn’t have any crazy bullies like that, outwardly making fun of and insulting people to humiliate them in front of everyone.
BUY IT!
Wow, I was really impressed with this book. I REALLY enjoyed everything about it. I feel like not too many people have heard of this one so I’m recommending it to all!
BOOKS LIKE CONFESSIONS OF AN ANGRY GIRL
10 thoughts on “Confessions of an Angry Girl – Louise Rozett”
I love the sound of this one and actually found it whilst looking for recommendations this week. This would be the book I would want if I won the giveaway. I love the sound of Rose, but didn’t realise she was only fourteen. I like the idea of a Regina George type enemy, mainly because I love Mean Girls 😉
I love Contemporaries that feel like they are giving me an authentic real voice.
14 year olds. I’ll have to had this one for sure for The Kid.
This is one I put on my TBR a while back, but I look at the description and go “eh.” Glad to hear it was well-done, I’ll actually have to remember your review (instead of the description) when I go to check it out!
Ooh, I totally see the Jess thing (and woo, Milo is hot!); we should do a Casting Call so you can pick him! That one kissing scene in the car was super steamy. I agree that I was surprised it wasn’t a standalone, but I liked Rose (and the book) SO much more than I expected to, so I’m glad I read it a while back; I should feature it somehow on our site. Love your review.
Thanks for such a GREAT comment, Sandie! 🙂 🙂 I’m glad we both liked it a lot more than expected!
I saw this book on Netgalley, but didn’t request it because I wasn’t sure I would like it. But it seems pretty awesome, so maybe I should give it a try.
I know what you mean about cheerleaders and how they are often portrayed in books. When I was in high school, cheerleaders were the super popular kids at school.
I’m happy to hear it wasn’t comedic anger, because from the synopsis, that’s definitely what I thought as well. It sounds interesting! I’m a bit hesitant to read it because it’s not a standalone (I MUCH prefer standalones to series), but it sounds good nonetheless.
That’s exactly how I felt too! I expected it to be silly and it was actually a very serious book. I was disappointed that it wasn’t a stand alone too! It definitely would have done well on its own, but I’ll still read the sequel regardless.
It sounds really good, I should check it out!