Confessions of An Angry Girl by Louise Rozett

Pages - 266

Published by Mira Ink - January 3rd 2013

Review Copy via NetGalley

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 in 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.

Goodreads Summary

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 My best friend has been replaced by an alien, and I see red all the time.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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I think this is the first American Young Adult book that I have read that has a grittiness and rawness about that normally only UK YA authors seem to be able to perfect.  It really came across as being closer to real life and dealt with sensitive issues that many teen girls will have to consider.

The book looks very closely at teenage sex and consent which is something that is being heavily advertised in the UK at the moment. Rose’s friend Tracey has just joined the cheerleaders and is being pressured into sex with her boyfriend Matt. Both girls are fifteen and have very different views on sex. Tracy struggles to see that she is being pressurised by Matt, who constantly dismisses her feelings on how and when it should happen. To be honest, he comes across as a complete bastard. This boy is the type who makes sex all about him; who can’t possibly use a condom because it takes away the full sensation of sex. I wanted to slap him all the way through the book. Following by slapping Tracy to see sense.  However, what I have learnt from personal experience is that teenagers will always do as they please, so in a similar way to Rose you just need to be there as a shoulder to cry on when it is over.

I loved Rose! She didn’t join in with any clubs, although she did try out for the running team. However I loved her independence. She was strong at times of despair and weakness. In the book we meet her not long after she lost her father and she is angry with life, which is completely understandable. She needs help but appears to have no one to reach out too because they are all suffering in the world of their own grief. It takes a couple of incidents with the police before her mother realises that Rose needs her.  I felt the author covered the difficult and tetchy relationship between parents and teenagers well. All that arguing, defiance and difficulty in communicating on the same level.

Rose is infatuated with Jamie who is a lot older than her and seen as a bit of a bad boy. However he comes across as really quite sweet and extremely thoughtful of how to behave with Rose. The author doesn’t rush this relationship, so don’t expect any instant love here.  By the end of the book you still don’t know what is actually going on between them. I believe a second book following Rose and Jamie is due out in July and I can’t wait to find out if they finally become a couple.

I was impressed that the author included a rather detailed visit to the gynaecologist. I really do think many young girls need to know exactly what happens when you have one of these appointments and I think the author got it spot on. This is the type of topic that needs to be in YA too. It would definitely prepare so many girls and ease their minds beforehand.

I really enjoyed this book and found it to be a promising start to a new series. This is a YA book that teenager girls need and should be reading.