Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Rosebush by Michele Jaffe

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Release Day: December 14th, 2010
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Publisher: Razorbill
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Pages: 326pgs
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The Story
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Instead of celebrating Memorial Day weekend on the Jersey Shore, Jane is in hospital surrounded by teddy bears, trying to piece together what happened last night. One minute she was at a party, wearing fairy wings and cuddling with her boyfriend. The next, she was lying near-dead in a rosebush after a hit-and-run.
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Everyone believes it was an accident, despite the phone threats Jane swears were real. But the truth is a thorny thing. As Jane's boyfriend, friends, and admirers come to visit, more memories surface not just from the party, but from deeper in her past . . . including the night her best friend Bonnie died.
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With nearly everyone in her life a suspect now, Jane must unravel the mystery before her killer attacks again. Along the way, she's forced to examine the consequences of her life choices in this compulsively readable thriller.

The Review

Honestly . . . I have no idea what to write for this review of Michele Jaffe's ROSEBUSH novel. There times where the pacing was slow, there were times were the pace started to pick up and get more interesting, there were times that I thought this book would improve in character development but . . . I was left disappointed. While I liked the concept of the story - at least the idea of it and the way I hoped it would end - but to me this book didn't really live up to my high expectations. A real shame on my part!
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It kind of reminded me of similiar elements from THE INVISIBLE book and film (a big favourite of mine and one of the reasons why I picked up this book in the first place). One of the main problems, was that I couldn't AT ALL connect with the characters nor felt much sympathy for them. Jane, the main character, doesn't remember what happened to her and why she ended up in a hospital, other than she was found in a rosebush and close to death, and yet, while readers like myself go back-and-forth to the past and current events that link with her "attempted murder". . . all I see is a spoiled girl who wasn't a nice girl to begin with.
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So, really? If you can't connect with the main character, then the book is pretty much out-of-luck. As for her boyfriend - the possessive jerk as I recalled him to be - I hated him to bits, and the same goes with Jane's "friends" and other school acquaintances. No one was nice! Well, expect Pete. Other than him, the story fell flat and please don't get me started on the ending! Why . . . why . . . WHY? It confused me as hell.
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Like I stated above, I have no idea how to express in WORDS about this book! It wasn't terrible and it was a good read to pass the time, and although I've read plenty of good reviews for ROSEBUSH, but I guess I'm one of those rare gems who cannot enjoy it as much as others did. But don't get wrong - we all have different tastes in books! So, if you enjoy mysteries like I do, then pick yourself up a copy and be prepare to be going, "OH COME ON, REALLY?" *winces over really wanting to like it, but couldn't*
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The Rating

3/5 stars

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