Book Review: No More Confessions

No More Confessions (Confessions #3)

By: Louise Rozett

Published By: Stonestrong

Publication Date: January 25, 2015

Page Count: 152

Buy it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or IndieBound

Source: Purchased by Reviewer

Young Adult - Contemporary

No More Confessions follows on from the previous two books of the “Confessions” series, although it has taken a little longer to come out than most books might. This made it quite hard for me to follow at the start, since I needed either to reread the previous two books or a good recap. Sadly, I didn’t have time to reread and there wasn’t enough recap, so for a t least a few chapters, I was a little confused about what had happened before and that took away from my enjoyment. I had forgotten that in this series, Rose had been through the wringer at school and that she was struggling with the aftermath of losing her father to an IED explosion in Iraq some time previously. 

This instalment found Rose confronted with video footage of that explosion, released online by a member of her father’s team fighting his own battle with mental illness. Rose is tempted to watch but knows she probably shouldn’t. At this point she turns to Jamie Forta, her brother’s friend who she has had a thing for/with for a while now. He is a really toxic character and it made me cringe how Rose just couldn’t see it. He is a nice boy, spoiled by a bad upbringing, indulging in self-pity and self-destruction, and about the last person she should be looking to for guidance. 

 The rest of the story plays out with Rose and Jamie muddling about, are they or aren’t they together, is he any good, should she walk away even in spite of her raging hormones demanding that she doesn’t... It was written well enough, but I had come to expect more from Rose. She has proven that she is a character with a backbone in the past two books, and to see her be so weak was disappointing. She spends the book looking towards the future and wondering if she can persuade Jamie to do likewise, and move beyond his own demons to try again for his GED. 

 I think the moral of this story is that there is a limit to how much you can do for someone, but it worries me that many younger readers might not see that. They might just see how hot Jamie is, and look past his defects as Rose does for so long. I hope not. This wasn’t a long read, but the frustration I felt with Rose held me back from picking this up once or twice. When I got about half way though I did finish it off quite quickly. All in all, I didn’t go for this like I expected to; I loved the other two books in the series (to the tune of five birdies for both), and this wasn’t the same. I wasn’t rooting for Rose and Jamie, I was hoping she would dump him. I was more interested in the side characters of Holly, Cal and Robert really, which probably says as much as I need to about whether I’d recommend No More Confessions or not.

Summary:

For Rose Zarelli, freshman year was about controlling her rage. Sophomore year was about finding her voice. With all that behind her, junior year should be a breeze, right? Nope. When a horrific video surfaces, Rose needs the one person she wants to be done with, the person who has broken her heart twice—Jamie Forta. But as the intensity between them heats up, Rose realizes she isn’t the only one who needs help. The thing is, Jamie doesn’t see it that way—and that could cost them both everything.

ROSE ZARELLI is done confessing because ​confessions are for people who have done something wrong. ​And I haven't done anything wrong. Here, I'll prove it to you.

1) After my mother got that call, I “borrowed” her car. (Because you can’t steal your mother’s car, can you?) I don’t really remember driving downtown, but I do remember...

2) …getting past the bouncer at Dizzy’s (I mean, it’s his job to spot a fake ID, so that’s on him)…

​3) …and then later, telling my mother the truth about the bar but lying about how I got in. (A truth totally cancels out a lie, right?)

After all, what’s a little duplicity when finding Jamie Forta is the only thing that’s going to keep you from losing what’s left of your mind?

See? Junior year is off to a great start.