Official Review: Rose by F. Freeman

tiffanynettles · Post by **tiffanynettles** » 15 Apr 2015, 22:11

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Rose" by F. Freeman.]

3 out of 4 stars

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Rose is an independent book written by F. Freeman. This young adult book is a unique modernization of Sleeping Beauty. You can find this book online at either Amazon or Books-a-Million, and it comes out to be around 148 pages.

In this book we are introduced to a fifteen year old girl named Rose who feels like she has no control over her own life. Not only are her parents constantly telling her what to do, but her boyfriend Tom has a list of rules she must follow as well. As Toms controlling side gets out of hand, Rose decides it is time to rebel against him by going to a friends party. She winds up having a great time with a guy named Shaun, and the more her parents and Tom try to control her the more she turns to him. Unfortunately Shaun loves to party, and Rose allows him to introduce her to a variety of hard core drugs. Eventually Rose finds herself at a point where she no longer knows whether it is her or her lifestyle that is in control.

Meanwhile, Rose’s father Robert is beginning to worry that Rose is going down the same dark path that he did back when he was a heroin addict, and the further she pulls away from him the more terrified he becomes that he won’t be able to save her. However, as his worry increases so does his desire to relapse, and he finds himself trying to walk a very fine line. Throughout the book both father and daughter end up having to fight the same battle, and struggle to choose control over dependency.

When I began reading this book I was worried that it would be just like every other book I have read dealing with teenage drug use, but it turned out to be refreshingly honest instead of just trying to drive home a point. The author went to great lengths in order to emphasize how amazing and fun it is when Rose is high on drugs, and she didn’t overly focus on painting drugs in a negative light until it is time for Rose to pay the consequences. This is usually how drug use works in the real world, and I believe that because of the honesty seeping from the pages of this book it will end up touching a lot of people on a personal level. I also enjoyed how the delicate relationship and similarities between Rose and Robert allowed the storyline to not be so linear, and added depth and content to the plot. The only issue I had was how rushed the ending felt. Not only was it confusing at times, but it also left me feeling like there were some issues that didn’t receive the conclusion that they deserved.

Rose turned out to be a wonderfully engaging story, and I rate it a 3 out of 4 stars. If you are a teenager, or the parent of a teenager, then I would suggest this book for you because it covers several issues and topics that you may find yourself relating to. This book manages to show the battle that both teens and adults face against temptation while still remaining an entertaining and enjoyable read.

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Rose
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Rachaelamb1 · Post by **Rachaelamb1** » 21 Apr 2015, 09:18

Nice review! I don't think I would be particularly fond of this type of book but I like how you said it was refreshingly honest rather than just trying to drive home a point.

tiffanynettles · Post by **tiffanynettles** » 22 Apr 2015, 00:15

Thanks. I was not sure that it would be my type of book either, but I found myself really enjoying it and relating to it more than I thought I would. I love when you pick up a book you are
skeptical about and wind up being totally engrossed in the story.

ALynnPowers · Post by **ALynnPowers** » 22 Apr 2015, 05:07

This sound amazing! I love fairy tale modernizations and one with Sleeping Beauty as a teen drug user? Sounds very unique! Thanks for the review!

tiffanynettles · Post by **tiffanynettles** » 23 Apr 2015, 00:11

Thanks. If you enjoy fairy tale modernization then I would strongly recommend reading beastly by Alix Flinn. It is a tale of beauty and the beast set in modern day New York. I found it to be a highly entertaining. However, I couldn't stand the movie adaptation of it.