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A review by alliehwilliams
Rosebush by Michele Jaffe
3.0
Jane Freeman is one of the most popular girls in school…so why did someone hate her badly enough to run over her and leave her for dead in a rosebush?
When Jane awakens, paralyzed, in a hospital bed, she has no memory of the accident or the hours before. As time passes with nothing to do but think, she begins to piece together her memories of the night she was nearly murdered—and realizes that just about any of the visitors filing into her room could be the killer. Soon she is receiving thinly-veiled threats that her mother and doctors believe are simply hallucinations caused by her injuries. But Jane knows the killer is out there, waiting for a chance to finish the job. Can she stop him/her in time? And how? Agh!! The suspense!!
Rosebush is un-put-downable. From the moment I opened it until I finished it a couple of hours later, I was completely hooked. Michele Jaffe skillfully switches from present day to flashbacks at just the right moments in the story to reveal necessary information without dampening the suspense.
The premise alone is compelling—Jane is trapped inside a non-fuctioning body, unable to differentiate between what is real and what is a result of her injuries or the medication they’re using to treat her. Worse, once she finally feels like she knows what’s going on, she can’t convince anyone to believe her. Readers will find themselves flipping through pages filled with red herrings to discover who the would-be murderer is.
The characters in Rosebush are all interesting and unique. Jane is particularly sympathetic, not just for the plight she’s in at the opening, but because of the vulnerabilities that are revealed through the flashbacks. She is not always the nicest character, but she is always a believable character, and one I truly cared about. At times I just wanted to shake her for her tendency to always give her dirtbag boyfriend the benefit of the doubt when he was clearly being…well, a dirtbag, but that, too, felt real for a young girl in love.
Michele Jaffe is one of the most-skilled YA authors today in writing natural dialogue that feels real. This is huge for me because stilted, awkward language pulls me right out of a book. I can’t believe this is the first book of hers I’ve read, but it won’t be the last.
When Jane awakens, paralyzed, in a hospital bed, she has no memory of the accident or the hours before. As time passes with nothing to do but think, she begins to piece together her memories of the night she was nearly murdered—and realizes that just about any of the visitors filing into her room could be the killer. Soon she is receiving thinly-veiled threats that her mother and doctors believe are simply hallucinations caused by her injuries. But Jane knows the killer is out there, waiting for a chance to finish the job. Can she stop him/her in time? And how? Agh!! The suspense!!
Rosebush is un-put-downable. From the moment I opened it until I finished it a couple of hours later, I was completely hooked. Michele Jaffe skillfully switches from present day to flashbacks at just the right moments in the story to reveal necessary information without dampening the suspense.
The premise alone is compelling—Jane is trapped inside a non-fuctioning body, unable to differentiate between what is real and what is a result of her injuries or the medication they’re using to treat her. Worse, once she finally feels like she knows what’s going on, she can’t convince anyone to believe her. Readers will find themselves flipping through pages filled with red herrings to discover who the would-be murderer is.
The characters in Rosebush are all interesting and unique. Jane is particularly sympathetic, not just for the plight she’s in at the opening, but because of the vulnerabilities that are revealed through the flashbacks. She is not always the nicest character, but she is always a believable character, and one I truly cared about. At times I just wanted to shake her for her tendency to always give her dirtbag boyfriend the benefit of the doubt when he was clearly being…well, a dirtbag, but that, too, felt real for a young girl in love.
Michele Jaffe is one of the most-skilled YA authors today in writing natural dialogue that feels real. This is huge for me because stilted, awkward language pulls me right out of a book. I can’t believe this is the first book of hers I’ve read, but it won’t be the last.