The Diary is definitely a page turner.

The characters are very relatable and entertaining.
The setting and dialogue make you feel like you are in the book, right along with the characters.

Wonderful plot twists and I can't wait to read the next book.

I highly recommend The Diary for your next book adventure.

This was a different one for sure. I actually received an arc for this book when it came out a read it then. It was a play on Dracula and was interesting for sure.

I usually judge a book by it's cover. With that being said I'm not saying that this is a bad cover but I feel like it could have used more. Now the book on the other hand is absolutely amazing. This book was fast-paced, I read it in one sitting . I say that about a lot of my books but, it's something that I really love. I love a book that you can sit down and start reading, it catches your attention, and you can't stop, you can't put it down, all you want to do is get to the end. This is a great middle grade / even young adult book. I dig horror and Mystery, this book satisfied my hunger. I can't wait to tell everyone about this and have them go out and buy this book because it is totally worth it.

When you sit and read a book in one sitting it can't be a bad thing.

That's what happened with this one. I was drawn in and just kept turning the pages, wanting to know what was going to happen next.

I honestly cannot wait to read the next instalment.

Ana notices that the things she writes in the diary start to come true some with terrible consequences. She believes that she can make it do good things for her school, but they never turn out as she writes them.

I really enjoyed this book and can't wait for book 2.

Thank you to NetGalley, Zimbell House Publishing and S. L. Weiss for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ana and her best friend Sophie are high school freshman who stumble upon a new store in the town, Mystic Wonders, which sells crystals, occult items, clothing, and a diary that Ana purchases. Ana notices that the things she writes in the diary start to come true some with terrible consequences. She believes that she can make it do good things for her school, but they never turn out as she writes them. Sophie and their friend Jeremy try to get Ana to get rid of the diary, but will that cause one of them to get hurt or worse?

The concept of a magical diary that makes what you write in it come true, is intriguing. Taking it to the next level with the diary changing those things to make bad things happen makes for a good fantasy book for young adult readers; however, this book is very simply written and could have been more imaginative in my opinion. There could have been some scarier elements especially when dealing with an evil diary. YA readers could have handled it.

This was a very easy read and moved quickly though.

Thank you NetGalley and Zimbell House Publishing forvan advancdd copy in exchange for my honest review.

Imagine that you had a diary and everything you wrote in it came true. The story starts out with two friends entering a new shop in town and finding this diary. The diary ends up taking control of Ana's life. She begins to change and becomes almost evil. She becomes obsessed with the diary while her friend becomes obsessed with getting the diary away from her.
This was a fun read. A little witchcraft, a little paranormal, and a good friendship. I am looking forward to book 2.
This was a quick read.

What a perfect book for the fall and back to school.

S.L. Weiss describes autumn the way I remember the fall when I was in school. It's like you can feel the crisp breeze, smell the aromas of the festival air, and taste the flavors of fall on the tip of your tongue. This is how I remember school in the fall.

For me, this book was like taking a trip down memory lane. This story reminded me of the Christopher Pike and R.L. Stein books I read and enjoyed back in the day. It is that same creepy feeling...being scared, but not too scared.

I loved the elements to the story of a magical (cursed) diary that makes whatever you write in it come true. While most would have wished for fortune, popularity and fame, Ana decided to use it for change. But the type of change that was granted to her was only of the evil sort. Anything good that came out of it had its own repercussions.

I know I would have loved this book as a teenager, because I definitely loved it as an adult.

I really enjoyed the book and can't wait for book 2.

This was a great read for middle school aged readers, so I will be recommending it to my students this school year. The premise of a diary that grants any desire you have with grave consequences is enough to intrigue most in that age group into trying it. The writing style will keep them invested.

Found this book to be a great read on a rainy day with not much else to do .. it was gripping enough for me to read this in just two sittings and I found the book to be very enjoyable and a good story.

The idea was good and the main character was interesting and I love the idea of finding a book like this and can't wait to read more from the series in the future

I did not enjoy this book. I did enjoy the characters but not the story. Perhaps I am not the specific target audience for this book.

This book is more of a middle-grade book and not a young adult book. It was not at all scary, no horror so it would be okay for a young middle-grade child to read. I did not particularly care for this book that much, it read very much as if a young child wrote it. The characters are a bit silly in my opinion. I would recommend this book to middle-grade kids looking for very little mystery and suspense. The author has potential but needs to put this book in a different genre.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the eBook copy to review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

I loved the Diary ! I found it to be so interesting and instantly captures you and drags you for the entire ride until the very end ! I loved how while it is a fiction book it seems like it’s real life, you can just imagine having something like this and the evil that would come with that kind of power. I couldn’t get over how the book kept coming back and what it actually meant in the end. I will definitely be continuing this series !

I saw the cover in one of my online book groups and I knew I wanted to read this one! I'm a sucker for diaries and journals and the creep factor only made me want to read it all the more.

Ok, new shop, weird stuff for sale, curious teens. Sounds like a great set up!

Ana is curious and always looking for the next book. (sounds like me).

She finds a diary. Now who wouldn't want to read it?
But there is something about this diary that makes her want to write in it. She does with interesting results.

Now wouldn't you want to have what you write happen? You might, right?

Ana does, but things take some interesting turns and her friends see startling changes in Ana.


Can her friends save her or will Ana be sucked into the diary's evil power?


Now it saddens me to see some rather harsh reviews on this book. I don't expect sparkling prose or ward winning writing when I read, but I do expect entertainment.

I was entertained and enthralled enough to read this in one sitting and am looking forward to the second book since this one does not end all neatly wrapped up oh no it leaves one wondering and wanting more.

So my review is 4 stars for entertainment and fun reading. And I will be looking for book #2.


I was thrilled when Netgalley had this at read now, because I downloaded it and was hooked instantly

So thanks to Netgalley and the author for the ebook in exchange for an honest review
------#NETGALLEY #THEDIARY







back cover review here

Ana was the curious sort. Always looking for her next book, one that will take her on an adventure that she’d never be able to go on in her real life.

There’s a new store in town, one that carries old relics. Ana finds a diary there and it kindles her desire to write. Little did she know what the diary had in store for her.

Sophie, her best friend, and her boy-toy Jeremy, soon learn what evil is, as the diary takes on a life of its own and things start to happen to the people Ana writes about.

While Ana gets sucked into the power of the diary, Sophie and Jeremy have to find a way to stop her new obsession before more people get hurt.

Will Ana see how treacherous the diary is and the evil with which she has succumbed?

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this book to review.

This was a fun read and a bit creepy at times. You can not go wrong with a story about a written diary that holds its own powers.

This book was fun and I found myself not wanting to put I down. Way to go to the author for something very well written and the world was very well defined. There was no guessing at what was going on.

I do recommend this read.

Sophie, Ana’s best friend learn very quickly about evil. The story takes you on a ride into the power of the diary. It is a great book that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Sorry, this was a DNF. I found the writing style over-written, which led to me skipping large sections.

This is basically Death Note without Ryuk. Nobody dies, but bad things are definitely done.

Another thing that needs to be addressed is the author's mystifying need to describe EVERYTHING in excruciating detail. Here's an example, but this wasn't even the worst bit:

"Suddenly, the door flew open, nearly hitting them as it did, but it was stopped by a metal post that had been made to keep the door from opening too far."

Wait, this part is better, or worse, whichever you take it...

"Sitting in the stands at the Homecoming game, Ana had a book in hr lap, while Jeremy and Sophie cheered on their football team. Content with reading while the crowd went wild with each play, snapping shots of the game with their phones, and messaging their friends, Ana ignored the sounds around her and focused on her book. This week's pleasure reading was the third book in a series about teenage vampires. While Ana would not normally be interested in such a mainstream book, she could not help but be a teenage girl, falling for the handsome boy on the cover and the hint at the love story on the back jacket. This third book was an easy read for Ana; she had finished the first two books in under a week. This last one had just come out and was much longer than the first two, over six hundred pages. However, she was halfway through the book in a week's time."

This has literally no relevance to the rest of the story. Or even that part of the story. NOBODY CARES. The author spent that much energy describing Twilight, mentioning that she buzzed through the first two books in a week, but somehow only 300 pages or so in the ensuing week. I'm pretty sure she just wrote so much she forgot what she said.

All of this unnecessary verbage feels very much like she was shooting for a word count and instead of adding more of interest, she just turned EVERY. SINGLE. DESCRIPTION. OF. ANYTHING into a sentence bordering on ridiculousness. Or maybe this was a NaNoWriMo entry and she legitimately WAS trying to drag out word count.

Also, the main character isn't super likeable. She does things capriciously and jumps to really rapid conclusions about things. Like, after the second weird thing happens, she IMMEDIATELY knows EXACTLY what's happening.

I had a real hard time finishing this book. 90% of it was unnecessary to the plot, and there's too much nonsense. It reads like a middle school homework assignment.

Hoo boy. Okay.This is quite possibly the pulpiest book I've read that wasn't purposefully trying to be pulpy. And I'm not entirely sure if that's a good thing.For starters, this story seemed like it was targeted to a vastly different audience than who it's marketed to. For YA horror, I expect, ya know...spooky. And that's not to say that it isn't kinda mildly creepy, but...I feel like this would be better for middle grade? The main characters are all high school freshmen, so about 14 years old. But they all act about 12, until time for a make out session. It's creepy in a way old creepypastas are creepy, I guess.The magic that comes from this diary Ana buys isn't really explained, and when she asks New Age shop owner Cat about it, she gets a crash course in Wicca (which doesn't play into the story at all?).I feel like this is a book that would've been featured on Teen Creeps, and not necessarily in a...glowing way. More like they'd make fun of how truly dumb all these characters are.It follows basically the same outline of several stories I've read: sweet girl gets a diary, anything she writes comes true, she gets mad with power, etc. I had kind of hoped that this would change up the formula. But it didn't.The writing style tends to change and fluctuate, so the texting bits aren't at all cohesive.It's like R.L. Stine, but...not as fun?An okay debut novel, but needed a few more passes with an editor, and maybe just tweaking to make it more original. But overall, the quality made me think of a high schooler's first story. I give The Diary 1 out of 5 tiger's eyes.

The Diary
Book One of Cursed

by S. L. Weiss

Zimbell House Publishing

Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members’ Titles

Teens & YA

Pub Date 09 Apr 2019

I am reviewing a copy of The Diary through Zimbell House Publishing and Netgalley:

Ana was one who had been curious. Always on the lookout for a book that would take her on her next adventure, the kind she could not go on in real life.

Ana finds a new store in town, a store that carries old relics. Ana finds a Diary there and the diary there and it kindles her desire to write. She couldn’t know at the time just what that diary would have in store for her.

As Ana is getting sucked into the power of the diary, Sophie and Jeremy must find a way to stop her new obsession before even more people get hurt.

Will Ana see how dangerous the diary really is and the evil with which she has succumbed?

I give The Diary four out of five stars!

Happy Reading!