Rosebush by Michele Jaffe

Rosebush by Michele Jaffe
Release Date: March 3, 2011
Publisher: ATOM
Rating: Essential

Instead of celebrating Memorial Day weekend on the Jersey Shore, Jane is in the 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.

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.

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. - Goodreads

The thing that first drew me to Rosebush was the promise of a great mystery. A girl waking up in a rosebush with no idea how she got there? Sounds brilliant. The mystery definitely lived up to my expectations, and I thoroughly enjoyed trying to work out who tried to kill Jane. It’s normally pretty easy for me to figure out who the killer is, or at least narrow it down, but this book kept me guessing the whole way through! I kept changing my mind and going back to people who I had previously excluded. There were also lots of creepy moments throughout the story, both at the hospital and during the flashbacks. No, Daph, you won’t be scared! It was fantastic.

Jane was a very relatable character and I loved being inside her mind. There are also a lot of flashbacks in this novel which I know some people didn’t enjoy, but I really liked them. They gave more insight to Jane and her friends, as well as giving lots of clues and red herrings as to who the culprit was.

This book isn’t all about the mystery though. Jane also goes through a lot of issues with her mother and stepfather which was a great subplot. I loved seeing their relationships rekindle and form, and I especially loved Jane’s relationship with a certain director’s son.

And as for the climax - Well, in my notes I’ve just written “CLIMAX!!!!!!!!!” so I think that says it all. My heart was pounding and I was literally holding my breath through most of it!