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Release date: August 28, 2012
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Source: Harlequin Teen through NetGalley
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Summary (from author's website): "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 - is 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."
Love. I just loved this book. It has been a while since I truly enjoyed myself in reading a novel. I experienced so many emotions while reading this book; I laughed, I cried, I giggled, I got mad. I lived and experienced Rose's tumultuous freshman year.
At first, I was a little weirded out when I read that Rose was only 14 year-old since I haven't read a main character that young in a couple of years. However, that was completely forgotten as I continued reading. Rose is dealing with the death of father, her oldest brother is off to college and she is just starting high school. She's dealing with a lot of changes at the same time: at home, in school, and even with her friends. She doesn't know how to react to these changes and I remember being that age and just stumbling around, trying to find my footing in life.
The author, Louise Rozett, created a main character who is sarcastic, smart, loyal to a fault, and naive but you can't help but just be in her corner and cheer her on. There were so many time when I just wanted to hug her, giver her a push to say what needed to be said, to let out some of her anger. There were times when Rose was a whining brat, a party pooper, and melodramatic and I rolled my eyes at her. But she's 14 year-old girl and she's supposed to be acting that way.
With so much pressure to date, get a boyfriend and have sex, I was very proud about how Rose handle everything. She knows that she's not making the "popular" decisions by going against her classmates and instead just stand by her personal beliefs. At a stage where conforming to the norm is typical, it just makes me love Rose's character even more. Ms. Rozett did a wonderful job in realistically portraying the struggles and peer pressure that teenagers have to deal with.
I can't wait to read more of Ms. Rozett's works and I'm looking forward for the next book of the series and finding out how Rose's sophomore year will turn out.
About the Blogger
Jenn is a 23 years old, avid reader and who decided to try her luck on blogging. She enjoys reading Young Adults novels with swoony boys and with a twist. When she is not reading, she can be found watching The Big Bang Theory or watching old episodes of Gilmore Girls and Friends. Books and Swoons is her baby.
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