Confessions of an Angry Girl by Louise Rozett

Book Description:

Freshman Rose Zarelli has rage issues.
  First of all, her father lost his job, took work as a contractor in Iraq...and never came home.
  Second, she likes the wrong guy and his super-intense, scary cheerleader girlfriend is now her nemesis.
  Third, her fashionista best friend, Tracy, is suddenly infinitely cooler than she is—and talking about losing her virginity. (What?!)
  Rose is ahead when it comes to studying for the PSAT, but she’s so far behind socially that she might as well be moving backward. She needs Tracy’s help choosing the right clothes, she likes all the wrong extracurricular activities, and she can’t even make a decision about which photo of her father to put on the memorial website she’s making (and hiding from her adolescent-shrink mother).
  With her brother away at college and her mother always locked in her office with her messed-up teen patients, Rose struggles to get through each day without inflicting bodily harm on anyone.

Christina's BookReview

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

RECAP

Rose Zeller is your normal 14 year old girl starting off her freshmen year in high school. She is frustrated with the high school drama, frustrated with her family, and frustrated with her life in general. Rose Zeller is an angry girl. But she has the right to be. With a mother that’s detached, a brother that is gone for college, a best friend that’s as selfish as they come, the drama of starting high school and the lost of her father, Rose’s life isn’t so perfect. The only beacon of light which isn’t so much is Jamie.

Jamie is the schools bad boy and also dating the insane cheerleader of the high school. Jamie has been Rose’s’ secret crush since he played hockey with her older brother, Peter. But Rose knows that Jamie will never look at her as more than a friend’s little sister. Jamie is a Junior in high school and has his own issues to work out.

When Rose starts to notice that Jamie might want more she is exhilarated. But his hot and cold attitude and his crazy girlfriend isn’t something Rose thinks she can handle. Unfortunately for her, there’s no going back. High school is about to be hell on earth for Rose.

Rose has anger issues and a teenager with anger makes things a lot more complicated.

MY TAKE

(I received this book free on a read to review basis. Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin)

I have to say that I was going into this ready to read about a really angry teenage who throws temper tantrums. I didn’t expect to NOT get it. It just makes sense, “Confessions of an Angry Girl” is the title of this book.

Rose is angry and in her predicament you would understand why. But although she does have a lot of resentment and does lash out at times she’s pretty considerate of people around her. I thought she would be a girl that had no filter and doesn’t care, but she’s conscience of what she says and feels bad. I wanted her to not have a filter and not put up with people’s bullshit. She had a really selfish best friend and was really patient with her when an angry person would have lashed out more. Rose puts up with a lot and surprisingly much more than girls would now and days.

Although I think the book has a romance it really doesn’t take precedent while reading. Jamie is a very standoffish guy and it’s hard to have any thoughts on him when he’s pretty much missing most of the time. If I had one wish for this book, it would have been to have him more involved or to at least feel the connection between the two.

I enjoyed reading this because it was filled with a lot of the normal things that happen now and days. The bullying in high school, the social outcast, lessons on safe sex, and the experience of starting high school. I think this is a great book for younger girls to read and it’s pretty educational about handling the whole sex issue.

I devoured this book in one sitting! I can't wait to read the next book in this series to see what happens next.