Dear Diary

I really wanted to like this book because I generally enjoy a good coming of age story, especially when it pertains to the main character's sexuality and everything that goes with it. This book, however, had too many issues that really spoiled any enjoyment or insight I could have gained from reading it. The worst by far was the narration. Now, it can be really interesting and fresh when an author foregoes the common conventions and tries to play with it a little. Dear Diary is basically written in third person, however, a significant part of Chris' story is told through soliloquy as Chris speaks into his recorder. It wouldn't have been so bad if the author hadn't failed so miserably at imitating authentic speech. Or rather, if Cassatta had made an effort to make it seem real in the first place. It was really just your standard first person narration put inside quotation marks. It was painful to read and really distracted from the story. There were also several passages of Chris just getting ready for his prom - an occasion that he supposedly considers trite yet all the while is strangely obsessed with telling his story before the prom can commence - and these parts not only disrupt the \"epic\" story he's telling but are liable to put the reader to sleep. They were so boring. There was also one pretty big plot inconsistency in the story but I don't want to spoil the plot for anyone. Lastly, and this might just be a peeve for me, but Chris turns eighteen in the story, yet is terrified of getting in trouble with his parents who treat him like a child. Every single family that I've seen with controlling parents have had kids who rebelled and partied all the harder once they were free. Presenting Chris' family as some sort of ideal seemed like such fictitious bs that it kind of hurt the story and took away from the emotions you were undoubtedly supposed to be feeling by the end. The ending itself managed to surprise, which was great, but it wasn't enough to save the poorly narrated story.