Confessions of an Angry Girl (Harlequin Teen) [Paperback]

Louise Rozett (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 28, 2012 | Series: Harlequin Teen (Book 1)

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.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

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 My best friend has been replaced by an alien, and I see red all the time.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

About the Author

I am an author, a playwright, and a recovering performer. Confessions of an Angry Girl, published by HarlequinTEEN, was my debut novel. The sequel, Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend, is due out June 25, 2013 -- I'm pretty excited about that (as if you couldn't tell)!I mostly live in one of the world's greatest literary meccas--Brooklyn--but at the moment find myself in Los Angeles with my giant 120-pound dog Lester. Lester is a Bernese mountain dog who is named after Lester Freamon from THE WIRE. (We considered naming him Omar but ultimately decided that that was tempting fate--you WIRE fans out there know what I'm talking about.) Thanks for reading my bio! Visit Louiserozett.com for more info.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Harlequin Teen; Original edition (August 28, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9780373210480
• ISBN-13: 978-0373210480
• ASIN: 0373210485
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #655,359 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am an author, a playwright, and a recovering performer. Confessions of an Angry Girl, published by HarlequinTEEN, was my debut novel. The sequel, Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend, is due out June 25, 2013 -- I'm pretty excited about that (as if you couldn't tell)!

I mostly live in one of the world's greatest literary meccas--Brooklyn--but at the moment find myself in Los Angeles with my giant 120-pound dog Lester. Lester is a Bernese mountain dog who is named after Lester Freamon from THE WIRE. (We considered naming him Omar but ultimately decided that that was tempting fate--you WIRE fans out there know what I'm talking about.)

Thanks for reading my bio! Visit www.Louiserozett.com for more info.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars I liked the story if not quite what I expected September 7, 2012

By brandileigh2003

Format:Paperback

So based on the blurb, I expected this to be a bit funnier, and well, different from what I actually read. I liked Confessions, but it was heavier than I expected. Don't get me wrong, I still had plenty to laugh at, but something about it makes it a story that I enjoy while reading, but I don't see it sticking with me long after I read it.
I liked Rose, and her emotions were well written. She was snarky, got herself into crazy situations and I could totally relate to her anger, sorrow (even though I didn't lose my dad, I have been through some tough stuff) and frustrations. I felt so bad for her when she was being targeted, and its so sad that stuff like this really happens in the high schools. I hate bullying, but I think that its important to see that it really happens.
I didn't really like Tracy, the best friend. I wanted to slap some sense into her. I hated how shallow and self absorbed she was at times, but maybe I am a little biased. But even worse than Tracy is Regina. But Regina is more of a well written villian. She always showed up when least wanted and she did some truly mean things.
Jaime is sort of an enigma to me. I didn't quite get why he was with Regina, and there was some insta-love going on between him and Rose, that I never quite understood the appeal. They had some hot moments and I enjoyed that aspect of the story, but I feel like he's too old for her. He also had this bad ass reputation supposedly but that never really felt that, I just felt like I was told and should believe.
One of the awesome things though is the side character of Angelo. I loved his interactions with Rose aka Sweater. I feel like he stole the show, and I hope that he comes back in the next one and honestly I wish he took Jamie's place as the romantic interest.
I also truly felt for Rose about losing her Dad, and I appreciate those moments where she was missing him and connecting with her memories and the memorial site, stemming from the Sgt.
Though on a totally unrelated note, I also felt totally sorry for Robert. I can understand that Rose wasn't into him, but I feel like she used him and really had no excuse for that. But I think that this also makes the story realistic, because he is *that* guy, who is there, who is sweet, but there is no chemistry on your end.
I felt like the story just ended kind of abruptly and even though I know there is a sequel out next year, I still just feel kinda incomplete.
Overall though, I enjoyed Confessions, and the plot and Rose kept me into the story, and I will def be picking up the next one.
Bottom line: I liked the story if not quite what I expected, even with a few things that annoyed me.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars You Will Want to Hear the "Confessions of an Angry Girl" August 28, 2012

By WTF Are You Reading? Book Reviewer

Format:Paperback

Confessions of an Angry Girl is a book for every girl. Though this particular story belongs to Rose, the trials and victories experienced as she navigates her way through the first year of high school are universal.
This contemporary read manages early on to connect its audience to Rose emotionally without playing to the fact that she has lost her father. By the time that one comes to realize the full extent of the loss of her father on the family, you are already fully engaged in the happenings of other aspects of her life.
It is in fact the author's ability to write Rose as the unlikely star of her own life that makes her so appealing as a character. She is not trying to be pretty, interesting, or the center of attention. She is just trying to be a good friend, sister, student, and daughter while living through the most heart-breaking, confusing, exciting, and taxing times of her life.

Relationships
Rose and her mother For the most part this aspect of the book is painful to watch. Her mother closes herself off in a world of work and her own pain at the loss of her husband. Though she is physically present, she is emotionally unavailable.

Rose and Peter Peter is Rose's older brother who is away a college. Rose resents the fact that Peter uses the distance between them to distance himself from home and the issues there. Though she needs his support, she doesn't want him to try to assume the role of her father.

Rose and Tracy Tracy is Rose's best friend. This is the relationship that undergoes the most change as Tracy tries to distance herself from Rose with new and different friends and situations that Rose doesn't want to be a part of. Watching Rose hold on to her values while trying to hold on to a friend on a collision course with disaster is one of the best parts of the book.

Rose and Robert Robert loves Rose and would give anything to be the man in her life. She doesn't see him that way and his constant pining for her makes her angry. This is the only time in the book that Rose could be defined as selfish or mean.

Rose and Jamie Jamie is the older boy that is attracted to Rose. This is her love interest throughout the read and the catalyst for a great deal of the drama. There are so many things about their relationship that one could define as wrong, but they are so tender together and they understand each other so well that readers want to see them together.

Rose and herself Rose is always a strong person. She does what she thinks is right throughout the entire read. She has a really good grasp of life in general despite what is going on around her.

This is a wonderful book that will make readers laugh, cry, cheer, and remember their inner "angry girls". The fabulosity that is this book is continued in the coming Confessions of an Almost Girlfriend.

"*I received a copy of this book for free to review, this in no way
influenced my review, all opinions are 100% honest and my own."

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars My Life is a Notebook YA Reviews August 31, 2012

By Gretchen @ My Life is a Notebook

Format:Paperback

~This review is based off an ARC received from NetGalley~

When this book popped up on NetGalley, I had my reservations. I don't usually read contemporary because I'm very cynical about them. Still, I read that synopsis right there and just HAD to request it, because the narrator felt like she had SO MUCH INTENSITY coming off of her words.

So imagine my surprise when Rose ended up being nothing like I thought she would be. In the beginning, Rose is HARDLY very angry. She's very quiet and submissive, content to let her friends and others walk all over her. That annoyed me in itself, because I just hate when characters bow their heads and let everybody use them as punching bags. She comes off more whiny and know-it-all-ish than anything.

As the book went on, Rose's character got better. However, for the most part the huge supporting cast was a whole bunch of clichés. I wasn't even sure why some of those characters, like Robert, even existed. You had your cheerleaders and you had your cliché high school jocks and jerks. Not much uniqueness in that scenario.

I think my biggest problem with this book was that I was never sure what the plot of the book was. Usually there is some sort of goal laid out or something, but the book just keeps rolling on and on with no real endgame in mind. Sure, that meant I had no idea what was going to happen, but I also never felt like I knew what the point was of anything going on.

So why all the way up with 3 stars, then? Because of Rose. No, she was never what I thought she was going to be, but she was...something else. Honestly, Rose could have been me at fourteen. The things she said, the way she said them-I literally remembered saying and thinking those things at that age. (Hey, it was only four years ago, I'm not that old yet!) I really, deeply connected with her, and that made the whole book for me.

Still, I also take issue with that ending. Just when things are really revving up to be good and Rose is coming into her own like whoa (and things are getting interesting with Jamie, for real!), Rozett goes and ENDS IT ON THAT CLIFFHANGER. I died a little bit inside. There are cliffhangers, and then there are cliffhangers. I really wanted to see Regina-the "cheer-witch" who was making Rose's life horrible-get what was coming to her. Next book, maybe?

Overall, I liked Confessions of an Angry Girl. I didn't desperately love it, but it was a fun way to pass a few hours, remembering my own freshman years. I know contemporaries are touted for their romance elements, but I'd call this one more of a coming of age than anything else. Personally, that was where the writing really shone for me.