Review: Confessions of an Angry Girl (Confessions #1) by Louise Rozett

Date Read: February 3 – 8 2013

Release Date: January 4^th 2012

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Source: Bought

Genre: Contemporary

My rating: 

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 My best friend has been replaced by an alien, and I see red all the time.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

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“The rules of high school are completely, entirely, disturbingly mysterious to me. But everyone else seems to get them.”

A thoroughly enjoyable read, I thought this was a well written contemporary that was light (well lighter than the other stuff I’ve been reading of late) and easy to get through. With issues of bullying, adjusting to high school, acknowledging the feelings for that first crush and peer pressure, this was a realistic and relatable account of freshman high school.

Fourteen-year-old Rose Zarelli is dealing with the recent loss of her father that’s caused her family to fall apart – her brother has gone away to college and barely calls, while her mother isn’t so much a mother as a not-wanted therapist. As she and her small number of friends enter high school, they’re swept away in the glamour of cheerleaders and popularity, leaving Rose behind questioning her friendships.

“Is that why I’m leaving? I’m leaving because I don’t feel like having Tracy flaunt her new friends in my face as if I’m not worth anything anymore.”

I could really feel all her pent up frustration at everything, at not knowing where to channel it all and just having so much rage that people don’t understand. Rose’s voice was really likable as I think (I can’t remember, I do know I hated high school) I went through some similar things in my high school days. I really liked the juxtaposition of what Rose was thinking as opposed to what she actually said aloud to people. Not only observant, but I thought she was wise beyond her years. I adored her sarcasm but I also liked how, in her thoughts, she knew what she wanted and what was right for her. I might not have agreed with all her decisions (especially in regards to bullying) and what she ended up acting on but what went on in her mind was the right thing.

I’m not sure I liked all the other characters – I truly hated the best friend Tracy. She was a lousy best friend and at times Tracy, along with the “popular” girls were a bit stereotypical – similar to something out of Mean Girls. I’m sure these situations exist, but they’ve been explored so many times it got a bit cliché. That being said, Rozett did a well-rounded job of handling the more “bitchy” characters. I also really warmed to Angelo, the boy who probably should have graduated years ago and everybody ignores. He was really misunderstood and judged (even by Rose) so I was like woah double standards much? When Rose herself realised this, I think it opened her eyes a bit more and helped her come to terms with the fact that, yes maybe the world was against her sometimes, but she wasn’t really doing much to rectify the issue.

“Bad things happen whether you’re scared or not, so you might as well not bother being scared. It’s a waste of time.”

The romance was really adorable – I’m not sure that’s the right word because it caused a LOT of confusion and angst (and so much trouble) between Rose and Jamie but I thought it was cute. Actually I don’t think it even really counts as a romance, more a first crush thing so yay no insta-love! The reason I say it wasn’t much of a romance is also because Jamie is hardly ever present. He’s talked about, thought about but his actual physical presence is rare. Even when he was in the same room, Jamie was always quiet and enigmatic. (But damn is he a good kisser!)

“For a split second, there’s so much sorrow in his eyes that I want to reach out and touch his hair, his face – find a way to make him feel okay.”

I thought this was a great book about being misunderstood, jumping to conclusions and that first crush in high school. Confessions of an Angry Girl had a good combination of themes that were all addressed thoroughly and well written, I can’t wait for Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend!

“Something in my chest eases a little for the first time since last summer… There’s a world out here.”