Review: Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend by Louise Rozett

Title: Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend.
Series: Confessions, #2.
Author: Louise Rozett.
Publication Date: June 25th, 2013.
Publisher: Mira Ink.
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult.
Format: Paperback, 279 pages.
Source: Provided By Publisher.
My Rating:

After a disastrous first year of high school, Rose Zarelli is determined to become an all-new and improved version of herself.
Improved how?

Well, Rose is setting some ground rules.
This year she absolutely most definitely will NOT:
1) Do things just because other (cooler) people tell her to.
2) Randomly shoot her mouth off.
3) Worry about whether she’s someone’s girlfriend – or not.
4) Let infuriatingly gorgeous Jamie Forta get to her – even if he might just have broken her heart last year.
After all, she’s older and smarter now. She can totally pull this off.
How hard can it be? Right? RIGHT?

 

Review

There is always this little flicker of doubt in my mind when I start reading a sequel to a book I really enjoyed. I’m usually worried that the next book would not compare to the first, but I’m really glad to say that Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend was just as good, if not better than Confessions of an Angry Girl! I usually read a few contemporary books, and then move onto another genre, but I always come back to contemporary, because there are so many fantastic books and they’re also really quick and easy to read. So after reading a few paranormal/supernatural novels, I was more than happy to pick up Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend. And once I started to read it, I didn’t realise how much I’d missed the characters from this series and was really eager to find out what would happen to Rose in this book.

Rose’s character has developed so much in the space between the first book and this one and I thought that was great. She’s much more mature, open-minded and tries her best to keep a level-head throughout the book. I also thought that Rose was a lot more interesting to read about, it was great to see her trying to figure out who she really wants to be – and when she finally does, seeing her accept it and be happy about it. At the end of the day; Rose is just a teenager - teenagers mess up and make mistakes – and I believe that this book was great in portraying this. I loved how Rose’s attitude has changed since the first book as well; there was barely any of the bitchiness, like how she was towards her friend Robert in the first book. She actually seemed to take time to consider what she was going to say, rather than to let her mouth run away from her.

I’m pretty sure I mentioned in my review of the first book in this series, about how irritating I found Jamie’s character. Jamie seemed just as, if not more so annoying in this book – and I really felt like I really just wanted to attack him with a stick. In Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend, we learn a little more about Jamie’s background and past, which I thought was great and I enjoyed reading about it, because there wasn’t much mentioned in the first book. However, he was also more brooding and unattached – don’t get me wrong, I love a bad boy just as much as the rest of you – but Jamie’s character just seems irritating and a big pain in the butt. It’s not fair of him to go around kissing Rose one minute, and then the next telling her she deserves better – make up your mind!

Overall, I really enjoyed reading Confessions of an Almost-Girlfriend and I thought it was a fantastic book. I love Louise Rozett’s writing – as I must have said lots of times before – it’s funny, interesting and quirky, but she can also create an air of seriousness. In the first book in this series, Louise was trying to get the message across about safe sex, and in this book I believe she was trying to let people know about the affects of psychical abuse, both physically and mentally. There are so many ways that Louise Rozett could have gone wrong with writing about these sensitive subjects, but she does so in a way that actually makes you stop to think about what you’re reading. I can’t wait to find out what happens to Rose in the next book; do Jamie and Rose get together? If not, does she find someone better (and in my opinion) more suited to her? I’m sure the next novel in this series will be just as good! I believe the 4/5 star rating was well and truly earned; Louise Rozett is going to go far with her writing, I can tell! I’d highly recommend this to anyone who loves a good contemporary romance series. Keep an eye out for it!

Quotes

Standing in this parking lot with Radiohead blasting out of a stereo and the sun reflecting off car roofs so intensely that everyone seems to be vibrating in time to the music in their own personal bubble of silver light, I feel like maybe – just maybe – I could actually make something of myself this year.
Rose 2.0. - Page 80.

After a moment, he brings my hand to his mouth and kisses it.
Jamie lets himself out and disappears into the dark as I stand in the quiet kitchen, listening to the ticking of the clock, memorizing what it felt like to have Jamie Forta’s hands on a part of my body that no guy has ever touched before.
I feel like I’m his. - Page 192.

I did the wrong thing, and I lost him for real.
But did you do the wrong thing? Jamie thinks it was the wrong thing. But do you?
No. I don't.
I didn't do what Jamie would have wanted me to do, but that doesn't mean it was wrong. - Page 278.

Review: Confessions of an Angry Girl by Louise Rozett

Title: Confessions of an Angry Girl.
Series: Confessions, #1.
Author: Louise Rozett.
Publication Date: January 4th, 2012.
Publisher: Mira Ink.
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult.
Format: Paperback, 266 pages.
Source: Provided By Publisher.
My Rating:

This is a story about Rose.
About the occasional panic attack and being fourteen in the suburbs without a mobile phone.
Read it and weep.

Rose’s first year at Union High isn’t exactly going to plan. Her family’s broken, her supposed best friend’s going boy crazy and Rose is so far behind socially that she might as well be moving backwards.

Until her brother’s best friend Jamie offers her a ride home – and a way into the world of his popular clique – if only it weren’t for his perfect cheerleader girlfriend. Now Rose is learning how to climb the wobbly high-school ladder, while struggling to hang on to what matters most...

 

Review

This book was a really quick and easy read for me – and I really enjoyed reading it. Louise Rozett’s writing is fun and absorbing, yet she’s still able to convey across some serious and important points as well. There are a few important lessons stressed throughout Confessions of an Angry Girl, but the main one was about having safe sex – and making sure you and your partner both respect each other before you do it. I think Louise handled writing this really well, and it didn’t seem to feel like she was lecturing the reader about these things, but still managed to stress the importance of them – which I thought was really well done.

Rose is our main protagonist in Confessions of an Angry girl, and only a few months previous had to bury her father, who was killed serving in the military. Rose is angry at the entire world, at her brother for leaving her to go to college and at her mum for being emotionally absent since her dad’s death. All of Rose’s emotions were so raw and rough, I felt like I could actually feel the things she was feeling even though I’ve never been her situation. I really liked Rose’s character, she was funny, witty and smart – but she also annoyed me a little bit too. I hated the way she treated her friend, Robert throughout the book. Robert may be a little over enthusiastic with his feelings for Rose – but he seemed really sweet and kind. Even though Rose didn’t have any feelings for Robert, I wish she’d just told him, rather than leading him on and then being extremely rude to him. I hate people like this, and her actions and the way she spoke to him really irritated me. I did think it was really interesting to see all the different sides of Rose though; her angry side, her vulnerable side and occasionally her happy side. She had so many emotions building up inside her, swirling together and creating chaos that I’m surprised she didn’t snap sooner.

Rose’s best friend, Tracy, has been friends with Rose since they were little kids and they did everything together – that is, until she gets a boyfriend and joins the cheerleading squad. I really didn’t like Tracy at all, to me; she seemed like such a bitch. Tracy didn’t want to listen to Rose when she warns her about the true intentions of her boyfriend – and this infuriated me. When you stop listening to your best friend, or don’t believe her for some reason – that’s when you know she’s not as good of a friend to you as you are to her. It really hurt me to read how Rose was coping with this, as I have personal experience in the matter. I believe Rose deserved much better than Tracy, but at the end of the day – it may just be me getting overly sensitive.

I had mixed feelings about Jamie, Rose’s brother’s friend – and the guy Rose has a crush on. I love a bad boy character, especially if they’re as mysterious and cool as Jamie – however, I also find it a little irritating when a male guy tells the girl they really like (and who likes them back for that matter), that ‘I’m not good for you’ or ‘I’m not right for you’ – it really irks me, mainly because; who are they to tell them what’s right for them? It’s not right for them to decide that for them, I think the girl needs to figure it out for herself. You don’t learn a whole lot about Jamie’s character, apart from the fact that he’s artistic, but I kind of like that, but I kind of don’t at the same time – let’s hope we learn more about him in the sequel!

Overall, I really did enjoy this book – it was such an inspiring and interesting read. I’m not overly sure why I can’t rate it a 5/5 star rating, probably because it wasn’t one of those books that blows me away, but I did love Confessions of an Angry Girl. I honestly think this book well and truly earned the 4/5 star rating I gave it and Louise Rozett’s writing is fantastic. I can’t wait to read more from Louise in the future and see where the story goes in the sequel to this book!

Quotes

And suddenly I can see the future so clearly I can’t believe I couldn’t see it before. There is no room for me in this world of vodka and cheer-witches, which is fine, because I don’t want to be in it anyway. At least, I don’t think I do. But is it possible that, even though we’ve been friends since before we could read, Tracy and I might not make it through this year? - Page 63.

The next minute happens in slow motion. Jamie Forta turns to me, puts his warm hand on my neck, and pulls me toward him. It dawns on me that he is about to kiss me, and I panic because I’ve never kissed an older man - I’ve never kissed anyone for real, only while playing stupid games at junior high school parties – and he surely must know everything there is to know because he’s wiser and he’s a bad boy and he gets around and I’m just a silly little girl and none of that matters because his lips are on mine and it’s so easy I can hardly believe I was worried I wouldn’t know what to do. - Page 115.

My dad is in our kitchen, his crazy hair sticking straight up, wearing his favourite striped T-shirt and glaring at the photographer over the top of his coffee mug. If it weren’t for a tiny smile on his mouth, he’d look mad, but I can tell he’s just kidding. The photo makes me laugh a little, and I know it’s totally wrong for the site, but it’s the perfect place-holder for now. - Page 172.