Confessions of an Almost Girlfriend - Louise Rozett (#2)

**There may be spoilers for the first book in the series, Confessions of an Angry Girl. Check out my review here for that**

I can't believe it was only the beginning of the year that I discovered this series, it seems far longer. I really liked Confessions of an Angry Girl - I loved Rose's narrative, the characters and the realism that is shown across the page that made this book stand out. It also made me realise how much I love this genre of contemporary fiction, especially in the high school setting.
So I was so happy to see this on Netgalley while I was in the middle of my exams as I was dying to find out what happened next for Rose and Jamie, as well as what's up next in Rose's life.

Synopsis: It is the start of Rose's sophomore year and after the drama and bullying of the year before, she wants to keep her head down and out of trouble.
But even before school starts again, Rose gets involved in a serious argument between two boys that continues throughout the school year. There's also the sudden popularity of Tracey - Rose's best friend - that leaves Rose behind the times. But most of all, there's Jamie Forta - the lovely guy who asked her to prom and broke up with his girlfriend, Regina for her. But Rose is always asking the question, is she his girlfriend? Or is she more his 'almost-girlfriend'?

Review: Okay, if you want like a basic review of this book, just go to the last paragraph because simply, I loved this book. So much. Like it made my day, my week, my month, my freaking year because I needed a book like this to get me back on the reviewing and reading drive, to make me feel better about myself at a low point and to just appreciate my love of reading. BECAUSE THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD.
*cue fan-girling, ranting, the word 'love' being repeated MANY times*

I loved this book, I really did. I mean, I thought the first book was pretty good and a great debut but whoa...this builds much more on Confessions of an Angry Girl and more introducing some new characters as well as newer, serious themes plus showing the effects on Rose from the first book.

I think it's the characters that make this story what it is. Sometimes contemporary books have characters that for me, just seem so unrealistic and unnecessary at times and it just makes me enjoy the book much less. Rose is far from that, and I think her honest narration, stark and the teenage angst that comes across the page makes the issues addressed in this series much more realistic and make an impact. I understood Rose's problems in finding herself, finding who she is in her teenage years, because I've gone through that. There was one poignant quote that I remember about your reflection in the mirror being completely different to what you think you look like in your head which had me shouting 'YES. YOU UNDERSTAND ME' in my head. Because I've thought, and still do think that  - ah I'm just such a fan of Rose really.
The problem with Rose in the first book is that she seemed really young and when it daunted on me that in the first book she's only 14/15 - I don't know, it just seemed young. I think that is lost a little bit gladly in this book as Rose turns 16, which is good to see and made me enjoy this book far more.

The characters are all incredibly diverse and original to one another and their relationships keep developing with Rose and with one another. A few of my favourites were Tracey and Angelo (WHO can't love him?!) who bring some needed humour and sarcasm to a book that could overwhelm at times. They've very quick-witted and also the loveliest characters to Rose.

As I said, the narration is so real and it is the writing that made me zoom through Confessions of an Angry Girl and this book because it engages you so much from the first page. I literally was having to slow my reading down because I didn't want the book to finish, knowing the next book I read will never match. In short, the narration has this real element to it that addresses these deeper issues many times throughout, such as bullying, homophobia, domestic violence - but it's always mixed with humour at just the right moments (mostly a sarcastic remark from Rose or Angelo just being Angelo).

And then there's Jamie. The love interest, you could say. I don't know what I think of him really, I mean there is something irresistible about him and I can totally see why Rose likes him. But, there are times when I'm wondering why Rose puts up with the 'almost-girlfriend' thing, because it seems sometimes he could be leading her on. I just hope he sorts it out, and at the end, when he just like judges her?! AH. So I like Jamie. But he can be such an idiot at times.

So yeah. I really, really liked this book mostly because the focus was off the whole thing Rose has with Regina and onto other stronger issues to be explored. There's so much going on underneath Rose's narrative that I can just see all these things coming out in later books. Rose is still the amazing, feisty narrator most readers loved as well as the best minor characters I've come across making this one of the best books I've read this year, and this series is definitely becoming one of my favourites. It's like Rose understands me and the feeling of knowing that I'm not alone in trying to find who I am, in facing all these issues at school or home or with myself - it's indescribable how good that is.
If you haven't read Confessions of an Angry Girl, READ IT. And then this one. I just sincerely hope that the third book comes out soon and that this series gets the success it completely deserves.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Harlequin Teen for letting me review this book. 

I give it a 5 out of 5

Author's Website: http://www.louiserozett.com/author/Louise_Rozett.html
Pages: 288
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Challenges: None

Related Reviews:
Confessions of an Angry Girl - Louise Rozett (#1)
Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters - Meredith Zeitlin

Confessions of an Angry Girl - Louise Rozett (#1)

I liked the sound of this from the moment I read the synopsis - a contemporary that portrayed high school/secondary school in a way that I can relate to thrown in with some cat fights, deceit, romance and betrayal - perfect little read.
On the cover, I love this cover, especially the utter simplicity of it. For those that have read the book, it makes sense like the necklace and I love that aspect of some covers. On another note, I dislike the font on the UK cover. It's the same photograph but the font just clashes and contrasts horribly in my opinion with the simplicity and elegance of this cover (have a look here). Meh, do not like it.

Synopsis: Meet fourteen year-old Rose Zarelli. She's a word-geek, or geek in general. She has the total of two friends. Starting high-school. Her father died a few months ago. Oh and she's really really angry...

Review: I read this book in a record (for me) two days. I was off ill with a really terrible cold so was confined to my bed and read for THE WHOLE DAY. Literally, I only got up for toilet breaks and lunch.

My first impression when starting Confessions of an Angry Girl was that Rose didn't seem angry to me at all. She seemed like any teenager in that she hated high school but she didn't seem angry about everything as the blurb led me to believe. The novel follows Rose's antics throughout her freshman year at high-school (or Year 10 to English folk) which involves getting over her father's sudden death, having no maternal support or brotherly support for that matter, her best friend wanting a career in popularity rather than friendship, the affections of an older, attractive and um, taken guy. Oh and making enemies with the queen bees of the high-school, the cheerleading team most of all Regina (yes, her name IS Regina like Mean Girls Regina. BUT SHE'S WORSE) who has some serious vendetta against Rose after the suspicion that Rose and said older, attractive and taken guy are having a thing. This guy, Jamie Forta, is Regina's boyfriend...
For me, it wasn't until the rivalry developed between Rose and Regina with the addition of the lovely yet too fragile Jamie that actually the anger Rose has is expressed. So after like halfway through the book, the ANGER ARRIVES BIG TIME.

If you were meeting Rose in person, her reserved and quiet self would never show this angry girl that Rozett is trying to convey. However, through Rose's strong, feisty narrative voice, the raw emotion of her fury is very clear and it is this that I think improves Rose's character to a strong lead. In short, I did find her a little weedy at times on the surface until her anger came apparent. The emotion and annoyance in her voice has been remarkably shown in a way that I only realise upon finishing this novel.
Rose is your real, troubled teen and I felt very connected with her as she realistically goes through the peril and confusion of her teenage years. I understood her confusion towards the whole idea of sex and love, her attitudes towards drinking and just her cynicalism of the social ethics of a high-school/secondary school for teenagers nowadays. Rose may not be the most likeable protagonist, but she is one of the most realistic.
I really liked her feistiness and cynicalism that reminded me a little of Kat in 10 Things I Hate About You, she acts as a feminist for the teenage generation (and being a slight feminist myself, I was definitely pro-Rose). My only problem with Rose was that she felt too young to be 14 in the plot. That may be the point but I felt she should have been a little older to experience the things that happen to her. She acted much younger than a 14 year-old to me too, perhaps I was just a mature 14 year-old (that was like 4 years ago sooo I may have forgotten...). It just didn't seem to fit with her age for me.

Adding to the awesomeness of Rose, we have a bunch of hilarious, annoying and just plain lovely characters. I liked Jaime, his gentleness, sarcasm and the older tone to him I think worked well with the story. Angelo and Peter, her brother were some lovely additions to the story that kept it different and entertaining. Now onto the annoying. We all remember the boom of Mean Girls don't we? Meet Regina, the antagonist of Confessions of an Angry Girl (I personally think the name has been used on purpose). We remember the cattiness, rudeness and just plain stupidness of Regina from Mean Girls? AMPLIFY THAT BY LIKE 3 AND YOU HAVE THE OTHER REGINA. Oh my. She is scaaaaary, I would not like to be in Rose's shoes. And the annoying thing: she gets so hung about the fact she thinks Rose and Jaime are TOGETHER when she herself may not even be TOGETHER. She is pure evil.
And then we have Tracey who I have to say wins 'Worst Friend Ever' hands down. I liked the friction and the differences displayed throughout between Tracey and Rose but after a while when Rose goes through quite a lot, I felt Tracey just became this character that was constantly opposite with Rose. A friend that felt she needed to talk to Rose because she's known her so long. I think we all have at least one of those in our lives.

I did really enjoy reading this book, I enjoyed all the little secrets, the drama playing out and mostly the realism that Rozett displays through Rose that I think any teenager would be able to relate to. This is a perfect series as a survival guide to high-school/secondary school. I liked most aspects of the novel, the only one I really did not like was the ending. It is clear that Rozett is trying to end Confessions of an Angry Girl for the sequel in the series, but I did feel it was a little TOO open. Without revealing too much, there are a lot of loose ends that are yet to be tied up upon ending the book. There is still doubt between Rose and Jaime's relationship (which from the title of the next book I think will be cleared up) and ah Rose!

This is a lovely little find on your bookshelf to pass a sick day, like me, or boring, dreamy afternoon away that should keep you hooked with the plot and the interactions of the characters. I felt that the romance and ending could have been a little more developed but I hope that the next book will sort that out! So looking forward to getting my hands on a copy!

I give it a 4 out of 5

Author's Website: http://www.louiserozett.com/author/Louise_Rozett.html
Pages: 272
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Challenges: None

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read a copy of this through Netgalley.

The next book in the series, CONFESSIONS OF AN ALMOST-GIRLFRIEND is out July 2013