Rosebush by Michele Jaffe

"Jaffe manages the suspense marvelously while also unfolding Jane's emotional life...a winner." --Kirkus

From Amazon: 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.

From Me: I devoured this title – had to keep looking up from it tho to make sure I’d get off the train at the right stop! It’s cunning and thrilling, clever and devious and a very good teen read. It’s described by the publisher as Mean Girls meets Rear Window and that’s very apt. The suspense was very well played out and enjoyable even if it had me on edge for most of the night (I nearly hit the roof during one scene of S2 Mentalist finale - not cool. Laughable, but not cool).

There were a couple of moments when I went What??!! And another few I scoffed, but according to the resident teen it’s very realistic with regards to the almost compulsive need Jane has to fit in and be popular, and how she’s blinded to a lot of other things.

If you’re not or never have been one who feels a need to fit in this may not be the read for you, however Jaffe is now on our library list.