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Phoebe's Diary
INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER!
An Amazon Best Book of 2023 • A Kirkus Best YA and Teen Book of 2023 • A Powell's Best Book of 2023
★ “In her emotionally vulnerable YA debut, Wahl...revisits her high school diaries to deliver a fictional adaptation of her adolescence…skillfully presenting a raw, unfiltered story about growing up and taking risks that will surely resonate.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
Take a peek inside Phoebe’s Diary into a bracingly honest illustrated account of the explosive turmoil and joy of adolescence, based on the author’s actual teenage journals.
Meet Phoebe. She is cool and insecure, talented and vulnerable, sexy and awkward, driven and confused, ecstatic and tragic.
Like you.
And here is her diary, packed full of invaluable friends and heartbreaking crushes, spectacular playlists and vintage outfits, drama nerds and art kids, old wounds and new love. Based on her own teenage diary, Phoebe Wahl has melded truth with fiction and art with text, casting a spell that brings readers deep into the experience of growing up.
An Amazon Best Book of 2023 • A Kirkus Best YA and Teen Book of 2023 • A Powell's Best Book of 2023
★ “In her emotionally vulnerable YA debut, Wahl...revisits her high school diaries to deliver a fictional adaptation of her adolescence…skillfully presenting a raw, unfiltered story about growing up and taking risks that will surely resonate.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
Take a peek inside Phoebe’s Diary into a bracingly honest illustrated account of the explosive turmoil and joy of adolescence, based on the author’s actual teenage journals.
Meet Phoebe. She is cool and insecure, talented and vulnerable, sexy and awkward, driven and confused, ecstatic and tragic.
Like you.
And here is her diary, packed full of invaluable friends and heartbreaking crushes, spectacular playlists and vintage outfits, drama nerds and art kids, old wounds and new love. Based on her own teenage diary, Phoebe Wahl has melded truth with fiction and art with text, casting a spell that brings readers deep into the experience of growing up.
466 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 5, 2023
71 people are currently reading
3499 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 251 reviews
January 2, 2024
This was such an honest, messy, funny, vulnerable, cringy, and heartwarming memoir-of-sorts. There were so many pieces of this almost-true teenage journal that younger me related to, that I could have copied and pasted right from my millennial teenage journals — from music and movies, to being homeschooled, to insecurities, to the most cringy inner thoughts, to feeling woefully out of my depth when it came to crushes and relationships.
Thank you, Phoebe, for everything you put out into the world.
Thank you, Phoebe, for everything you put out into the world.
July 9, 2023
This is exactly the kind of book I needed but didn't have as an early teen. Without being preachy, Wahl threads the needle of emotional turmoil, intimacy, and self-doubt that would be present in any sixteen-year-old's diary. Phoebe (the character) is insecure and painfully honest but somehow manages to care for herself and her friends. At an age when it is nearly impossible for a girl to love herself, our Phoebe is trying her best! Plus you get the characteristic fun and intimate illustrations from Wahl's many beloved picture books.
June 30, 2023
(I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review)
I really loved this!
I'm 2-3 years younger than Phoebe Wahl, so all of the references and outfits and music were SO spot on for me. She was a cooler kid in a cooler town, but it still really hit perfectly and brought back a lot of my own memories of the same 2006-2009 era. I laughed out loud a lot, mostly because I saw so much of myself in Phoebe's self-seriousness, but also because it's just a sweet, funny book with a real richness to it.
I'm really curious about how actual teen readers will feel about it, though. To me, it's successful as the work of an adult looking back on adolescence and less as a here-and-now text for actual adolescents. I think a lot of people around my age will adore it, but I don't know if it'll get as much play with a younger audience.
I really loved this!
I'm 2-3 years younger than Phoebe Wahl, so all of the references and outfits and music were SO spot on for me. She was a cooler kid in a cooler town, but it still really hit perfectly and brought back a lot of my own memories of the same 2006-2009 era. I laughed out loud a lot, mostly because I saw so much of myself in Phoebe's self-seriousness, but also because it's just a sweet, funny book with a real richness to it.
I'm really curious about how actual teen readers will feel about it, though. To me, it's successful as the work of an adult looking back on adolescence and less as a here-and-now text for actual adolescents. I think a lot of people around my age will adore it, but I don't know if it'll get as much play with a younger audience.
June 24, 2024
16yo me would’ve absolutely let Asher Wilson run me over with his car. Parts of this could’ve been pulled directly from my 2003-2007 diary - we’re all just out here living the same lives!!!!
January 31, 2024
As someone who actively was 15/16 years old in the time that this book takes place- UGH. it brought me right back to the days when I thought everything was the biggest deal and every feeling was the biggest feeling. There were moments when I absolutely said out loud “Oh My God Phoebe what are you doing?” And there are times when i painfully related.
Also i loved the mention of Nancy Drew computer games because I, too, was obsessed.
Phoebe Wahl is one of my favorite artists and it was so strange to read this and realize that if Phoebe and i went to school together, we would have probably been friends. From one over-romantic drama geek to another, 5 stars!
Also i loved the mention of Nancy Drew computer games because I, too, was obsessed.
Phoebe Wahl is one of my favorite artists and it was so strange to read this and realize that if Phoebe and i went to school together, we would have probably been friends. From one over-romantic drama geek to another, 5 stars!
January 22, 2024
I laughed, I threw the book across the room, I screamed in second-hand embarrassment. This book is for anyone who was ever "pretending to smoke a cigarette that was actually just a rolled-up piece of paper and listening to Sigur Rós..." Thank you Phoebe <3
March 8, 2024
Reread: Mini Audiobook review - This was my first reread of 2024 and I was hoping I would get all those nostalgic feelings again and sure enough I did! This time instead of reading with my eyes, I read with my ears. The author did a great job narrating and I think it only made sense for her to narrate since she based the book off her own diaries. I thought doing the audio told the full story but I think have the physical text with the drawings added to it.
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Thank you so much to TBR and Beyond Tours & Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for an advance copy of this book!
This book will be published on September 5th.
I am so happy that I got chosen to be apart of a book tour for this book! I had not heard of this author or knew this book existed if it weren't for the tour. This book just took me back to my high school days!!!
"I dreamed I was overwhelmingly happy. I want to be overwhelmingly happy."
I am a couple of years older than Phoebe as she was turning 16 in 2007 but the feelings of being a plus size teen was all still there. I will say I am quite jealous of Phoebe because she was able to accomplish something I did not - having a HS boyfriend (at least one that was in the same school). I know that author Phoebe took inspiration from her real life diary and the teenage voice came through!
I also love that even though Wahl acknowledges Phoebe's size and the comments her family would make, it was not a main focal point nor was it drawn out to be a huge plot point. I really appreciated that! Especially with the romance part as a fat teen (and adults) as they are stereotyped as being unlovable.
I kept a journal for many years starting in 1997 until about 2009/2010. I was pretty diligent with keeping up with writing inside but in the later years once technology came into my life and I just stopped writing. I love that I have those stories of good thing and pain from such a formative time for anyone. The way Wahl wrote about Phoebe and her crushes and wondering if boys liked her made me cackle because I know I definitely have journal entries that questioned the same thing. And I can recall conversations with friends of them questioning similar things.
"The life I lead is in my head. The witty conversations I have, the first kiss and dates and losing of virginity, the hookups, breakups, children, husbands, outfits, they're all in my head."
The format. I had known that this book was graphic novel but when the book arrived & when I downloaded the book on the app I was shocked to see that it was a mixed of drawings and text. The drawings were SO BEAUTIFUL! I absolutely love that we got to see Phoebe's curves and her in vulnerable states. I would've love the story without the images but the images just added an extra element to the story. I also love when we met all the characters they each got their own littler character drawing. It definitely help to keep everyone straight.
I did love Phoebe as a character and her friend group and how it was co-ed. They always were doing stuff together. And I love the internal monologue of Phoebe regarding her relationship with her friends. Sam was an interesting character. I kind of understood why Phoebe would spiral (been there many times) at his lack of communication but then he would say something or do something to redeem himself. And towards the end when he was jealous (rightfully so) of Asher - "I felt bad that I was too out of it and couldn't be the one to drive you home last night" & "I just get afraid that you want to be with someone you know..cooler than me."
I also love how Wahl included signs of the time with the talk of Myspace, mix cds and just teenagers living in the moment with minimal cell phones. I also love her choice of music that she used. It was not what was deemed "popular" during that time but instead was the indie alt side of music that I know I didn't listen to them but I definitely listen to now.
I really hope we get a follow up to this diary because I really want to know what is next for Phoebe!
Bravo! Bravo!
Swoon: 7/10
Karaoke: Sadly no
--------
Thank you so much to TBR and Beyond Tours & Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for an advance copy of this book!
This book will be published on September 5th.
I am so happy that I got chosen to be apart of a book tour for this book! I had not heard of this author or knew this book existed if it weren't for the tour. This book just took me back to my high school days!!!
"I dreamed I was overwhelmingly happy. I want to be overwhelmingly happy."
I am a couple of years older than Phoebe as she was turning 16 in 2007 but the feelings of being a plus size teen was all still there. I will say I am quite jealous of Phoebe because she was able to accomplish something I did not - having a HS boyfriend (at least one that was in the same school). I know that author Phoebe took inspiration from her real life diary and the teenage voice came through!
I also love that even though Wahl acknowledges Phoebe's size and the comments her family would make, it was not a main focal point nor was it drawn out to be a huge plot point. I really appreciated that! Especially with the romance part as a fat teen (and adults) as they are stereotyped as being unlovable.
I kept a journal for many years starting in 1997 until about 2009/2010. I was pretty diligent with keeping up with writing inside but in the later years once technology came into my life and I just stopped writing. I love that I have those stories of good thing and pain from such a formative time for anyone. The way Wahl wrote about Phoebe and her crushes and wondering if boys liked her made me cackle because I know I definitely have journal entries that questioned the same thing. And I can recall conversations with friends of them questioning similar things.
"The life I lead is in my head. The witty conversations I have, the first kiss and dates and losing of virginity, the hookups, breakups, children, husbands, outfits, they're all in my head."
The format. I had known that this book was graphic novel but when the book arrived & when I downloaded the book on the app I was shocked to see that it was a mixed of drawings and text. The drawings were SO BEAUTIFUL! I absolutely love that we got to see Phoebe's curves and her in vulnerable states. I would've love the story without the images but the images just added an extra element to the story. I also love when we met all the characters they each got their own littler character drawing. It definitely help to keep everyone straight.
I did love Phoebe as a character and her friend group and how it was co-ed. They always were doing stuff together. And I love the internal monologue of Phoebe regarding her relationship with her friends. Sam was an interesting character. I kind of understood why Phoebe would spiral (been there many times) at his lack of communication but then he would say something or do something to redeem himself. And towards the end when he was jealous (rightfully so) of Asher - "I felt bad that I was too out of it and couldn't be the one to drive you home last night" & "I just get afraid that you want to be with someone you know..cooler than me."
I also love how Wahl included signs of the time with the talk of Myspace, mix cds and just teenagers living in the moment with minimal cell phones. I also love her choice of music that she used. It was not what was deemed "popular" during that time but instead was the indie alt side of music that I know I didn't listen to them but I definitely listen to now.
I really hope we get a follow up to this diary because I really want to know what is next for Phoebe!
Bravo! Bravo!
Swoon: 7/10
Karaoke: Sadly no
June 20, 2024
3.5 / very sweet & nostalgic in both content and form. Phoebe’s diary is an illustrated, fictionalized portrayal of her real-life diary as a sexually-curious plus-sized teen. It’s so real & vulnerable & silly, the format just grew kind of tedious for me!
September 29, 2023
It’s me. This is me.
February 1, 2024
I'm so torn on my feelings for this book. In the beginning, this book felt super nostalgic for me. For one, this story is set in the same place where I went to college—Bellingham, Washington! As soon as Phoebe mentioned Fairhaven and a local shop that I was familiar with, I thought to myself, Is this the same Fairhaven..? Are they in Bellingham?? Sure enough, yes! So between being set in Washington and the fact that me and Phoebe were both hipster teenagers in the early 2000s, parts of this felt so deeply familiar and almost hints of my own adolescence. It was so fun in that way, knowing all of the places, indie bands, and other PNW-isms that Phoebe is writing about and being hit with wave after wave of nostalgia. I also loved how visual this book was with the illustrations. It was such a fun component to help tell the story.
And for a while, I rode this nostalgia train, enjoying reading about this girl and her group of friends, smiling along and relating to things here and there, equal parts gushing and cringing along with her and feeling like I was transported back to those years as well, where we all had these worries of friend groups and crushes and which classes to take and having those songs we'd play on full blast to make us feel like we were in our own coming of age movie.
Unfortunately, the further I got into the book, the more my enjoyment started to wane. And ordinarily I wouldn't be too critical because, well, we were all teenagers once. We've all lived through those cringy moments that we look back on, sometimes literally by flipping back through our old journals, rolling our eyes at our past selves. And I mean, who didn't have their share of friendship drama? Or questionable taste in boys? Or moments where we were so wrapped up in our own stuff that maybe we weren't as nice to our parents as we should've been? We've all lived through the chaotic ups and downs of our teenage years. So while I tried not to be too critical, I did find myself getting really bumped by a few things in this book. I—well, you'll see...
For starters: NORA DESERVED BETTER
This was all I could think about for practically the entire book... maybe because I was Nora as a teen? I was the one in the friend group who was the most reserved, who felt uncomfortable talking about boys and kissing and especially anything else beyond that, who often felt "left behind" and forgotten about while everyone else would be paired up, kissing their boyfriends. So maybe a part of young me felt wounded seeing Nora go through the same thing. And of course I'm not Nora to be able to confirm this, but the whole time reading this, I thought, I think Nora is asexual... which made me feel for her even more, being asexual myself. It just made me sad to see these familiar signs of Nora being ace and to see Phoebe act so coldly to her and not being a good friend to her.
Again, I see so much of myself in Nora, and likewise, I had friends like Phoebe who ridiculed me in a similar way to how Nora was treated. (I mean, Phoebe even goes so far as to call her a robot and publicly humiliates her at a party for being alone.) So the entire time, I just wanted to give Nora a hug because I felt like I knew exactly what she was going through. I even kept waiting for it to come back around in the end, for there to be some sort of resolution between Nora and Phoebe, where Nora opens up to Phoebe about potentially being asexual or at least starting to put those pieces together. Or where... I don't know, Phoebe realizes what a shit friend she'd been to Nora all this time and apologizes? Unfortunately, we never really get any sort of closure with Nora. We never have another scene with just the two of them, so Nora sort of just fades out of the story. It's a sad exit for her, and I just think about me and others who will see a part of themselves in Nora, who have all gone through the similar motions of being more reserved or asexual during their teen years and who, like Nora, deserve a little more kindness and love to remind us that we still matter.
And it just gets worse...
I mean, even besides the Nora Issue™️, I gradually just started to like this less and less as it went on. Phoebe became more and more pretentious. More and more obsessed with her boyfriend, Sam, to the point where I wanted to shake her. I get it, she's a teen, and having your first boyfriend is exciting! But it just got to a point where I needed her to be able to go more than two hours without being consumed with thoughts of being with Sam. It was bordering on unhealthy to me (lol!) But then the last five or so pages happened and... so much of it just made me want to chuck the book against a wall. And let me just break it down to you.
Her aunt dies. Her mother's sister literally dies. And this ungrateful brat calls her mom a bitch (in her diary) because she won't let her hang out with her boyfriend... BECAUSE HER MOM'S SISTER JUST PASSED AWAY.
Uh... I think she's kind of going through something. And also, yeah, you should be with your family, especially your mother, during this time instead of going to your boyfriend's house to make out... which you already do ALL THE TIME. You can't take... a week to just be there for your mom and help support her through this time? And listen, as someone who was also a teenager at a time when both my mom's parents died within a year of each other, I can promise you I wouldn't have even dared to call my mom a bitch if she needed me to go to our grandparents' house instead of hanging out with my friends. Would I maybe have been a bit bummed? Sure! But I would've also 100% had the self awareness to understand the gravity of the situation and what my mom was going through. I would never have been so selfish and childish as to call her a bitch. Yeah, this isn't a "I'm sixteen!" thing. This is a "You are actually incredibly self-centered" thing. Fullstop.
Like, she is so genuinely self-centered and doesn't even seem sad that her aunt died. Even when she comes home one night and crawls into her parents' bed crying her eyes out, her mom thinks she's crying over, y'know, the loss of her aunt.
..... No, she's crying over her boy troubles that are honestly HER OWN FUCKING FAULT
Which brings me to my next point: This girl physically cheated on her boyfriend, emotionally has been cheating on him for practically this entire book by totally having feelings for her other guy friend, and refuses to tell her boyfriend even when he clearly voices to her that he worries about her being with someone else. And then out of nowhere it just ends on this super phony positive message about sex positivity and not feeling shame for having sex.... I guess that means I'm more grown up... ~The end~
... Except you're not more grown up. You literally can't bring yourself to tell your boyfriend that you cheated on him and continue to have feelings for another guy! That is the opposite of being "grown up." You know what being a grown-up means? It means owning up to your mistakes. It means showing up for your friends and being kind to them. It means showing up for your family during times of grief and mourning—not whining about wanting to be with your boyfriend instead.
I mean, maybe that's part of the point? That she's not fully grown-up yet and this is just her warped idea of feeling more grown-up because she's had sex—which, that in itself is another problem, in equating sex with being an adult. I mean, I get that this is supposed to be a teenage girl's diary. But especially since this is partly fictionalized, I just think there's a certain responsibility, in not immediately wrapping everything up in a neat little bow. I would have loved for this to have ended with a more reflective tone, where she's not just blindly glossing over all of her faults and mistakes and declaring, "Guess I'm grown up now! because she's had sex. That statement doesn't feel at all earned to me, so it just feels like an easy way out to end the book while also making Phoebe come across as having truly learned nothing from her own mistakes or what it means to really grow up.
And for a while, I rode this nostalgia train, enjoying reading about this girl and her group of friends, smiling along and relating to things here and there, equal parts gushing and cringing along with her and feeling like I was transported back to those years as well, where we all had these worries of friend groups and crushes and which classes to take and having those songs we'd play on full blast to make us feel like we were in our own coming of age movie.
Unfortunately, the further I got into the book, the more my enjoyment started to wane. And ordinarily I wouldn't be too critical because, well, we were all teenagers once. We've all lived through those cringy moments that we look back on, sometimes literally by flipping back through our old journals, rolling our eyes at our past selves. And I mean, who didn't have their share of friendship drama? Or questionable taste in boys? Or moments where we were so wrapped up in our own stuff that maybe we weren't as nice to our parents as we should've been? We've all lived through the chaotic ups and downs of our teenage years. So while I tried not to be too critical, I did find myself getting really bumped by a few things in this book. I—well, you'll see...
For starters: NORA DESERVED BETTER
This was all I could think about for practically the entire book... maybe because I was Nora as a teen? I was the one in the friend group who was the most reserved, who felt uncomfortable talking about boys and kissing and especially anything else beyond that, who often felt "left behind" and forgotten about while everyone else would be paired up, kissing their boyfriends. So maybe a part of young me felt wounded seeing Nora go through the same thing. And of course I'm not Nora to be able to confirm this, but the whole time reading this, I thought, I think Nora is asexual... which made me feel for her even more, being asexual myself. It just made me sad to see these familiar signs of Nora being ace and to see Phoebe act so coldly to her and not being a good friend to her.
Again, I see so much of myself in Nora, and likewise, I had friends like Phoebe who ridiculed me in a similar way to how Nora was treated. (I mean, Phoebe even goes so far as to call her a robot and publicly humiliates her at a party for being alone.) So the entire time, I just wanted to give Nora a hug because I felt like I knew exactly what she was going through. I even kept waiting for it to come back around in the end, for there to be some sort of resolution between Nora and Phoebe, where Nora opens up to Phoebe about potentially being asexual or at least starting to put those pieces together. Or where... I don't know, Phoebe realizes what a shit friend she'd been to Nora all this time and apologizes? Unfortunately, we never really get any sort of closure with Nora. We never have another scene with just the two of them, so Nora sort of just fades out of the story. It's a sad exit for her, and I just think about me and others who will see a part of themselves in Nora, who have all gone through the similar motions of being more reserved or asexual during their teen years and who, like Nora, deserve a little more kindness and love to remind us that we still matter.
And it just gets worse...
I mean, even besides the Nora Issue™️, I gradually just started to like this less and less as it went on. Phoebe became more and more pretentious. More and more obsessed with her boyfriend, Sam, to the point where I wanted to shake her. I get it, she's a teen, and having your first boyfriend is exciting! But it just got to a point where I needed her to be able to go more than two hours without being consumed with thoughts of being with Sam. It was bordering on unhealthy to me (lol!) But then the last five or so pages happened and... so much of it just made me want to chuck the book against a wall. And let me just break it down to you.
Her aunt dies. Her mother's sister literally dies. And this ungrateful brat calls her mom a bitch (in her diary) because she won't let her hang out with her boyfriend... BECAUSE HER MOM'S SISTER JUST PASSED AWAY.
Uh... I think she's kind of going through something. And also, yeah, you should be with your family, especially your mother, during this time instead of going to your boyfriend's house to make out... which you already do ALL THE TIME. You can't take... a week to just be there for your mom and help support her through this time? And listen, as someone who was also a teenager at a time when both my mom's parents died within a year of each other, I can promise you I wouldn't have even dared to call my mom a bitch if she needed me to go to our grandparents' house instead of hanging out with my friends. Would I maybe have been a bit bummed? Sure! But I would've also 100% had the self awareness to understand the gravity of the situation and what my mom was going through. I would never have been so selfish and childish as to call her a bitch. Yeah, this isn't a "I'm sixteen!" thing. This is a "You are actually incredibly self-centered" thing. Fullstop.
Like, she is so genuinely self-centered and doesn't even seem sad that her aunt died. Even when she comes home one night and crawls into her parents' bed crying her eyes out, her mom thinks she's crying over, y'know, the loss of her aunt.
..... No, she's crying over her boy troubles that are honestly HER OWN FUCKING FAULT
Which brings me to my next point: This girl physically cheated on her boyfriend, emotionally has been cheating on him for practically this entire book by totally having feelings for her other guy friend, and refuses to tell her boyfriend even when he clearly voices to her that he worries about her being with someone else. And then out of nowhere it just ends on this super phony positive message about sex positivity and not feeling shame for having sex.... I guess that means I'm more grown up... ~The end~
... Except you're not more grown up. You literally can't bring yourself to tell your boyfriend that you cheated on him and continue to have feelings for another guy! That is the opposite of being "grown up." You know what being a grown-up means? It means owning up to your mistakes. It means showing up for your friends and being kind to them. It means showing up for your family during times of grief and mourning—not whining about wanting to be with your boyfriend instead.
I mean, maybe that's part of the point? That she's not fully grown-up yet and this is just her warped idea of feeling more grown-up because she's had sex—which, that in itself is another problem, in equating sex with being an adult. I mean, I get that this is supposed to be a teenage girl's diary. But especially since this is partly fictionalized, I just think there's a certain responsibility, in not immediately wrapping everything up in a neat little bow. I would have loved for this to have ended with a more reflective tone, where she's not just blindly glossing over all of her faults and mistakes and declaring, "Guess I'm grown up now! because she's had sex. That statement doesn't feel at all earned to me, so it just feels like an easy way out to end the book while also making Phoebe come across as having truly learned nothing from her own mistakes or what it means to really grow up.
December 26, 2023
Charming! I hope she’ll do a sequel diary about going to RISD.
October 31, 2023
I've been a big Phoebe Wahl fan for years. She's only a few years younger than me so I was excited to read this, knowing it would be nostalgic and would feature her amazing art. And yes, it was nostalgic and beautiful (loved all the music references!), and it was also incredibly relatable. It honestly brought back some super cringe memories that I was comfortable leaving behind. Overall I really enjoyed it, but I found it slow going. I know this is based off of her own diaries, but it is also heavily fictionalized and I found the pacing to be off. There just isn't a lot of tension until the end
July 11, 2024
2007 in all the right ways
January 3, 2025
So gentle. So earnest. So honest and heartfelt that I kinda wanted to cry from relief and recognition by the end of it. Wahl and Wahl’s teenage self have so gloriously captured the experience of being 15-16, being so smart but so inexperienced, so self-assured and so insecure at once. Wahl’s art is lovely, as always, but there is something so viscerally *true* about the storytelling itself and the mercurial feelings we share with young Phoebe along the way, as she navigates love and loss and embodiment with grace and occasional clumsiness. This is truly one of those books I would have so benefited from as a child, but also one that I think I appreciate more now with the benefit of hindsight.
Oh, and this diary is set around 2007. I’m close to a decade younger than Phoebe, though have a lot of similar cultural touchstones, especially music/theater. If you were a theater/indie music kid in the late aughts/early 10s, get ready for some MAJOR nostalgia and possible embarrassing teen/tween flashbacks.
Oh, and this diary is set around 2007. I’m close to a decade younger than Phoebe, though have a lot of similar cultural touchstones, especially music/theater. If you were a theater/indie music kid in the late aughts/early 10s, get ready for some MAJOR nostalgia and possible embarrassing teen/tween flashbacks.
December 3, 2023
I loved this book! I’m sad it’s over. Though Phoebe Wahl is 6 years older than me, many of the references and general milieu of her high school world are really similar to my high school experience as a theater/art kid in hippie NorCal in the 2010s. It was so comforting to plunge back into that world!! The details were just *chef’s kiss* and I had many moments of laughing or cringing in recognition. I love how honestly and clearly she writes about teenage experiences with sex and love - I saw a lot of my experiences and feelings represented here!! (Some of these boys reminded me so much of boys I had crushes on LOLOL.) Just made me feel really good to read this. Gorgeous art, of course. And so cool that it’s an “almost true” teenage journal, love this form of autofiction. 😌 I’ve always wanted to hang out with Phoebe Wahl, but now I really do!
August 2, 2025
Such a sweet read. Devoured it like candy. If you were ever a teen girl you will see yourself in this. Remember reading into every tiny thing your crush did as evidence for/against them liking you? Thinking it was weird that you were more interested in sex than the boys were apparently supposed to be? Feeling like your life was over one day, and then so blissful you could cry the next?
February 28, 2024
Phoebe!! My friend went school with you and she said it's awesome to hear you are doing well. Your book was a good read.
January 7, 2025
One of my favorite books that I started reading in 2024. Phoebe perfectly describes and illustrates the teenage girl experience🩷🩷
December 17, 2024
This is the only book I’ve ever read that actually encapsulates the experience of what it was like being a (PNW-raised, theater nerd, plus-sized, curly-haired, mermaid-wannabe, indie-music-obsessed) teenager, to the point that it was almost uncanny. Makes me want to go drive around in a summer rainstorm blasting the Decemberists and FEELING things. 10/10 recommend!!!
January 22, 2024
I was hoping for more illustrations, more like a graphic novel, but otherwise loved this!
January 18, 2025
I loved it!! Made me want to move to Bellingham!
This book made me feel so sad I will never be a teenager again while also making me feel so so so so glad I’m not a teenager anymore. What an exciting, horrible, wonderful, awful time that was for me!
I really feel like Phoebe captures what it is to be a young woman, or at least what it felt like for me growing up as a young woman! I laughed so much reading this book because of how TRUE it all felt to me.
Phoebe really put her heart and soul into this book and it glitters with personality and humor. It feels deeply personal, like a gift from her to me!
I read this one with my book club and we all enjoyed it! I think it provided some excellent discussion about coming-of-age stories, teenage sexual forays, and self-worth.
Edited to add: my favorite book I read in 2024!
This book made me feel so sad I will never be a teenager again while also making me feel so so so so glad I’m not a teenager anymore. What an exciting, horrible, wonderful, awful time that was for me!
I really feel like Phoebe captures what it is to be a young woman, or at least what it felt like for me growing up as a young woman! I laughed so much reading this book because of how TRUE it all felt to me.
Phoebe really put her heart and soul into this book and it glitters with personality and humor. It feels deeply personal, like a gift from her to me!
I read this one with my book club and we all enjoyed it! I think it provided some excellent discussion about coming-of-age stories, teenage sexual forays, and self-worth.
Edited to add: my favorite book I read in 2024!
March 24, 2024
a little late review but i really enjoyed this! i loved phoebe’s storytelling and reflection on her teenage self. i saw a lot of myself in this and felt nostalgic for the ups & downs of being a young girl finding her way and maneuvering life. the illustrations are wonderful and add so much to the story. very sweet and real and fun!
January 15, 2024
Almost absurdly readable and propulsive for me, as someone who was also a chubby, horny, emotional, artsy PNW teen. An important reminder that A) high school gossip is the best, and B) teenage girls contain entire universes.
August 20, 2024
phoebes art is so special
November 17, 2023
truly a delight!!
Read
September 25, 2023Characters-8
When writing about someone’s life, I always feel a little strange, but this story felt a little different. While the characters in this story are from Phoebe’s life, the friends in this story read like characters because they were teenagers at the time, and I believe this helps to tell the story. I really enjoyed the characters in this story because they were all theater kids, and it took me back to my high school days doing theater. Phoebe’s Diary is also about a journey and growing up, and I believe the characters help in this aspect as well.
Atmosphere-8
I enjoyed the atmosphere of this book. I only wanted a little more about the town Phoebe lived in. There were some scenes with Phoebe and her friends walking about town, and I wanted to see more of the shops there.
Writing-9
This is another thing where I’m reviewing someone’s life, and I feel like I’m judging them based on this story. I enjoyed the writing in this book a lot. I felt the style was an excellent way to portray the story, and I loved seeing how Phoebe interacted with her classmates. The drawings were an added personal touch that I loved.
Plot-9
This was a memoir, but at times it didn’t feel like one. The diary entries were a great way to tell the story, and I loved how Phoebe grew over the course of the story. Phoebe’s Diary is all about the ups and downs of being a teenager, and I loved seeing how Phoebe grew as a person.
Intrigue-9
I was interested in this story. I was curious about the characters, and where the story was going to go from beginning to end. I loved how the characters interacted, so that kept me interested in this story as well.
Logic-9
This was a logical story that I could follow from beginning to end. I felt like having the dates at the top made it easier for the reader to see where the story was heading and made it easy to keep track of the days.
Enjoyment-9
I really enjoyed this story. I thought it was fun, and it really touched on things we don’t get to see a lot of in YA books. If you’re a fan of memoirs with art, or a unique style of novel, I believe you will enjoy this one.
When writing about someone’s life, I always feel a little strange, but this story felt a little different. While the characters in this story are from Phoebe’s life, the friends in this story read like characters because they were teenagers at the time, and I believe this helps to tell the story. I really enjoyed the characters in this story because they were all theater kids, and it took me back to my high school days doing theater. Phoebe’s Diary is also about a journey and growing up, and I believe the characters help in this aspect as well.
Atmosphere-8
I enjoyed the atmosphere of this book. I only wanted a little more about the town Phoebe lived in. There were some scenes with Phoebe and her friends walking about town, and I wanted to see more of the shops there.
Writing-9
This is another thing where I’m reviewing someone’s life, and I feel like I’m judging them based on this story. I enjoyed the writing in this book a lot. I felt the style was an excellent way to portray the story, and I loved seeing how Phoebe interacted with her classmates. The drawings were an added personal touch that I loved.
Plot-9
This was a memoir, but at times it didn’t feel like one. The diary entries were a great way to tell the story, and I loved how Phoebe grew over the course of the story. Phoebe’s Diary is all about the ups and downs of being a teenager, and I loved seeing how Phoebe grew as a person.
Intrigue-9
I was interested in this story. I was curious about the characters, and where the story was going to go from beginning to end. I loved how the characters interacted, so that kept me interested in this story as well.
Logic-9
This was a logical story that I could follow from beginning to end. I felt like having the dates at the top made it easier for the reader to see where the story was heading and made it easy to keep track of the days.
Enjoyment-9
I really enjoyed this story. I thought it was fun, and it really touched on things we don’t get to see a lot of in YA books. If you’re a fan of memoirs with art, or a unique style of novel, I believe you will enjoy this one.
November 3, 2025
this is a perfect book! i didn’t get around to filling up journals until college but i do have drawings and diaries from high school that are probably more precious to me than i’d openly admit. i’ve been feeling a little lost, and the signs keep pointing to being more like the most curious and hopeful versions of myself, including the version of me at 15. i feel a lot of pride and gratitude that i’ve made it into my 30s when i didn’t think i would ever survive being a teenager and there were so many moments that meant a great deal to me that were nearly mirrored in this deliciously rich volume of memories. this book felt like a guided meditation: at times i felt resistance but surrendering to truths that i began to feel when i was the same age (and into almost exactly the same music, damn us PNW kids were very predictable!) made me look at some things i had hidden away in shame with a kinder and gentler light. my 15 year old self would be terrified of me to tell you the truth, but we love each other all the same. when i was a teenager i was hyper religious and at one point thought i genuinely had demons because i thought about sex and didn’t have the “perfect” body. i was super into diary-novels when i was a kid and if i had one like this on my bookshelf back then— one that normalized the major things i was taught to demonize— i would have really appreciated it. but i appreciate it now all the same and cannot be filled with anything but love for phoebe and for me and for all the precious moments and eras when the world feels new every day. may my heart be hardened a little less for finishing phoebe’s diary
March 23, 2024
I am giving it four stars because over all I did enjoy it, but not really as much as I expected I would. In this book Phoebe is a sophomore, the book is set when I would have been a freshman, so really close in terms of experience in a way, so I hoped that I would connect with it. I think that Phoebe's experiences were just different from mine. I think I am more of a Nora.
I did like that the diary was interspersed with pictures, it made reading the book more fun, but the illustrations are sometimes a vital part to the story, which some people may miss.
The book spans the period of a year, though there are periods of time where she does not write.
I think that Phoebe definitely grew and changed over the course of the story, I find it harder to say if the other characters did or not. Most of them seem like their personalities, characteristics, and habits really didn't change, which given this is Phoebe's Diary is somewhat to be expected, you certainly don't hear any of the other characters internal dialogue, and maybe since in her writing Phoebe is so focused on herself she doesn't really recognize those around her. It is not a fault, it just made the other characters feel a little flat to me.
It took me a bit to get into the book, but once I did I did consume it. That being said, I am not sure it is a book that would be on the top of my recommend list.
I did like that the diary was interspersed with pictures, it made reading the book more fun, but the illustrations are sometimes a vital part to the story, which some people may miss.
The book spans the period of a year, though there are periods of time where she does not write.
I think that Phoebe definitely grew and changed over the course of the story, I find it harder to say if the other characters did or not. Most of them seem like their personalities, characteristics, and habits really didn't change, which given this is Phoebe's Diary is somewhat to be expected, you certainly don't hear any of the other characters internal dialogue, and maybe since in her writing Phoebe is so focused on herself she doesn't really recognize those around her. It is not a fault, it just made the other characters feel a little flat to me.
It took me a bit to get into the book, but once I did I did consume it. That being said, I am not sure it is a book that would be on the top of my recommend list.
May 28, 2024
I picked this up because I'm the parent of a small child and Phoebe Wahl's children's books are deeply beloved in our home. We own every single one. And a few of her blankets. And a print or two of her art. But I digress!
As a fellow 1991 baby, reading this was a direct hit of high-potency nostalgia. Down to the pop culture references, outfits, and burnt CD playlists. God, what glory it was to be a mostly-behaved-but-secretly-wild teenager right before college and the Obama years (of which I am also nostalgic for)! This lifted my spirits. Pure pleasure.
As a fellow 1991 baby, reading this was a direct hit of high-potency nostalgia. Down to the pop culture references, outfits, and burnt CD playlists. God, what glory it was to be a mostly-behaved-but-secretly-wild teenager right before college and the Obama years (of which I am also nostalgic for)! This lifted my spirits. Pure pleasure.
August 13, 2023
I won this book through a Goodreads giveaway. Definitely a great YA for the 8th-12th graders. As someone who graduated in 2008, I resonated a lot with pieces of this book but the overall message is one I just love that we are promoting to our teenage girls. Great read, love the diary setup, and cute illustrations.
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