*A quick thank you to HarlequinTeen for my first official ARC.


Confessions of an Angry Girl by Louise Rozett

Released: AU 28th August 2012
Series: Confessions [Book One]
Publisher: HarlequinTEEN
Pages: 272
Source: Review
Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository | Bookworld

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 My best friend has been replaced by an alien, and I see red all the time.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

Book Trailer: [click here]

Confessions of an Angry Girl takes you on a bit of a journey. The journey of Rose Zarelli, as she struggles with loosing her dad, starting high school, peer pressure, and having feelings for boys. After her father died while working in Afghanistan, her mother stopped talking to her and her brother moved away to college. As she struggles to deal with this feeling of desertion, her best friend Tracy won't stop talking about joining the cheerleading squad, and wanting to hook-up with her boyfriend. Rose just isn't interested, and becomes increasingly frustrated with the people around her. She tries to do the right thing, but gets shut down at every turn. Why does high school have to be so difficult?

One night while at a party, in which alcohol is present and under age drinking is rampant, Rose discovers one of her classmates unconscious in the bathroom. Concerned for her, Rose calls 911 and as a result, the party is shut down by paramedics and police. Her classmates want to seek revenge. She tries to save Tracy from drowning in alcohol, as the cheerleading squad pours it down her throat as part of her initiation. Tracey can't believe how embarrassing Rose is being, and just wishes she'd relax. But Rose can't relax, because she's falling for the bad boy in school, Jaime Forta; and even though he has girlfriend, Rose has kissed him. Twice! All her pent-up anger comes to a head, when head cheerleader (aka. Jaime Forta's girlfriend) Regina confronts Rose about being a loser, and insults Rose's dead father.

Rating:
Even though I consider myself nothing like Rose, she still felt strangely familiar, and I found myself relating to her. As the title suggests, Rose is an angry girl. She faces a lot of challenges that most teenagers face during high school, doing what is right or trying to be popular. In her debut novel, Louise Rozett's writing brings these scenarios to life and made me feel like I was in high school again, right beside Rose. I felt like the book ended in a peculiar place. Although this could be a segue into the next book in Rozett's Confessions series. The book description had me expecting a little more in the way of language, describing Rose as a "word geek". But I did enjoy the word, definition, and synonym (often referring to Rose herself) at the beginning of each chapter. I was also expecting Rose to be an outwardly "angry girl", but found the majority of her anger built up inside, with little release.

I've been reading a few contemporary books lately, and Confessions of an Angry Girl was definitely on par with them. It's another book that I would recommend to teens going through high school, as a learning experience and as an enjoyable read. Or to anyone who enjoys YA fiction.

Happy reading,
Alisa