Rosebush - Review by Halea Coulter

Rosebush

by Michelle Jaffe

* * * and half stars

Jane Freeland is pretty, popular, rich, and on the verge of death when she is found in a rosebush. When Jane wakes up in the hospital, her head is heavily bandaged and swollen; she is also paralyzed and unable to talk. Jane remembers nothing other than going to a party kissing her boyfriend, and going off to talk to her friends, after that her memory is gone. The doctors tell her she was hit by a car because she was either drugged or trying to commit suicide; but Jane knows that can't be right, she is positive someone is trying to kill her. Over the next four days, Jane get visits from all her friends, which includes a creepy stalker, and all of them have different versions of the story. During that time, Jane is repeatedly threatened by her killer, and each time something comes back to her, such as her voice, and the use of her arms. Everyone thinks Jane is going nuts because of the medication she is on, and after awhile, Jane thinks she is too, and with only a cute orderly named Pete to help her, she knows she is in for some trouble.

I found this book interesting, but in the end, nothing special. The story was told from Jane's point of view and her tone, surprisingly enough, didn't bother me. The only things that really bothered me about this book were her boyfriend, who just wasn't nice, and of course, the mother came off looking like the bad guy which is way too typical in YA fiction. Also the lack of direction bothered me, I felt like the book went off on way too many tangents, it just introduced too many story lines, which all ended up being necessary but it was annoying to push through. Overall it wasn't a book that I just couldn't put down, but it was good enough that I wanted to finish it because it really did wait 'till almost the last page to reveal if she was just crazy or if there was someone trying to kill her. I would recommend the book if you have time for it, but if you feel like you have better things to read, then go with those instead.