Rosebush

by Michele Jaffe

3,5 stars

I have a soft spot for YA mysteries.

Rosebush has some of my favourite YA mystery tropes - an accident happens, someone ends up in hospital and they have to figure out what led them there. Bonus points for amnesia, sketchy characters, weird events and murder.

Rosebush has an interesting tone. It seems like a chick-lit on the surface, but it deals with darker themes. Everything also seems shallow in the beginning - the setting, the plot, the characters who only care about looks and status - but the more I read, I realised there's a lot more going on beneath the surface.

The main character, Jane, is a sort-of weird and slightly contradictory character. She's self-aware, but she's not that perceptive so it's interesting to see her piecing together what led to her accident, her past, her relationships with the people around her and the fact that someone might still be out to get her. Jane seems like a shallow character at first, but she gains depth as the plot progresses.

Jane is a photographer and though we don't see alot of that aspect, it leads to interesting conversations and explorations about images, perception, popularity, self-awareness etc. and I wish this aspect was explored further.

It's always the family drama that keeps me invested in most stories and I was interested in what led to the distance between Jane and her mother. I also love Jane's relationship with her little sister. However, Jane's complete trust in her friendship circle and lack of suspicion towards them seems odd. Maybe I'm just a very suspicious and non-trusting person.

One of the things I have issues with, is all the random kissing that happens out of nowhere. This could be attributed to the fact that Jane is under a lot of stress and is taking medication that could affect her judgement, but it also seems odd, like it was just added for dramatic effect.

While I don't mind the slight romance aspect, the relationship progression at the end, is a little fast. The kissing scene at the end isn't necessary and seems out of place. The epilogue would have had the same meaning without it. This is one of those rare cases where I prefer the suggestion of romance instead of actual romance.

I enjoy reading who-dunnit mysteries and didn't mind the resolution either, but the ending doesn't gel with the rest of the book. Langely’s monologue is interesting, but at the same time she seems so vapid. I also still don't understand why someone was after Jane. Maybe I’m missing something, but I feel it wasn’t explained well.

Overall, I enjoyed Rosebush, but it won't be everyone's cup of tea.