This book is absolutely hilarious. I loved all the Bellingham references as someone who grew up in Washington State. The teen angst was palpable and I could see so much of my teenage self in Wahl's story.

Wishing this book had been out when I was a teenager! Such a fun and related read! Also love the illustrations throughout the book! Felt like I was reading a real diary!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through Netgalley.)

3/5 stars

I've been in a reading slump for going on a year, and I'm sad to say that this book didn't snap me out of it. PHOEBE'S DIARY is the second or third 'diary of a teenage girl' I've picked up on the mistaken notion that it's a graphic novel - when, in fact, it's more of an illustrated prose book. Which is fine, I guess. I just don't fancy reading about awkward, often unrequited high school crushes in such excruciating detail.

I don't know why I gravitate towards these diaries, since they tend to revolve around obsessions with the opposite sex. While I don't begrudge boy-crazy teenage girls - hey, I used to be one! - it makes for somewhat cringey (and boring) reading.

Also, these Harry Potter references? Do not age well.

On the plus side, I enjoyed the illustrations (wish there were more!), Phoebe's friendships, and the stories about her homeschooling (again, wish there were more!). I also loved the look back at the mid-aughts (about a decade after I was a teen), complete with flip phones, MySpace messages, and Trek Video outings.

This book is a rare five stars for me! I laughed out loud, gasped, and couldn't put it down. Phoebe's voice is sooo realistic to teenagers in a way that makes one look back and have empathy for themself as a teenager. I know I would have absolutely loved this book as a young teen, and I love it as an adult too,

I love Phoebe Wahl as a creator, and I was so excited to read her YA debut. She captured the messy, horny, dramatic, self-centeredness of teenagers so perfectly. It made me feel seen in the cringiest, yet strangely comforting, way. Phoebe the character is exactly who I wished I was when I was in high school, even though the vibe I projected probably tended a little more toward the buttoned up Nora side of things. I loved how believable the pace and structure of the book was, which made it feel like a true diary. There isn't necessarily an over-arching, neatly planned plot to the thing, which I only missed a little bit. It was still super engaging and super fun and heartfelt, and I hope we get another installment of Phoebe's Diary in the future.

Characters-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.

My Rating: 3/5 Stars

My Review:

I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher via TBR and Beyond Tours in exchange for an honest review and place on this blog tour – thanks!

Memoirs are always hard to write reviews for. It’s hard to rate my experience of someone else’s story, so instead, this review will focus on the story telling itself. As I did enjoy Phoebe’s Diary for the content, for its relatability as a once teenager, navigating her feelings and friendships. Phoebe (the character), had such a vibrant personality, it was very easy to fall into her narrative, even when you wanted to give her a little bit of a reality shake.

I cannot really say much about the portrayal of the year, as I was six during most of the time this book covers. But it was nice to get a glimpse into the world that I was quite blissfully unaware of, the culture of it all.

This novel was told in an epistolary style. Which has its merits and its drawbacks. I am not going to lie here, as I was anticipating it to be an entirely graphic novel style memoir. I did enjoy the way that it felt like a diary, with Phoebe’s art sprawled across the pages, in between the prose and whatnot.

Wahl’s art style is truly unique and I loved getting to see it in these formats. The characters always had so much life in their eyes, and their personalities really shined through in a way that was separate from Phoebe’s biased descriptions of them in the diary. It was a lovely mix of first person and third person POVs, which I could definitely appreciate.

All in all, this was a really fun read. I think its one that once teenagers of all ages can find relatable in one way or another.

Phoebe’s Diary releases September 5th, 2023

Phoebe’s Diary is a unique read in that it is a YA illustrated novel. At first glance, this seems like a really chunky book, however a quick flip through reveals a plethora of illustrations that break up the text and build up the story. These illustrations are a fun and quirky addition that really added to the novelty of this book. I loved looking at the illustrations as I read and I hope this format becomes more common in the YA and adult publishing world.

The story itself deals with a teenage girl as she works through the challenges of adolescence…friendship, crushes, drama, and more. My favorite thing about this book is the body-positive approach to writing. I really wish there were books like this when I was younger! This is a book that I’m excited to share and I hope others enjoy it as much as me!

Phoebe’s Diary is an epistolary coming-of-age graphic novel told through the diary entries written by the titular character, Phoebe. Based off of the author’s teenage journal entries, she shares Phoebe’s adolescent high school experience in an authentic and vulnerable manner that’s filled with crushes and heartbreak, body insecurities, and of course, teenage angst.

After reading the first few entries, I immediately found Phoebe’s character to be so relatable. The entries were chaotic, sad, cringe-worthy, and funny all at the same time. The author perfectly conveyed the inner turmoil of what a majority of teenagers and young adults experience growing up.

It felt intimate reading this novel because in addition to it being written in a diary format, it also included illustrations that showed Phoebe during her most intimate and vulnerable moments. Reading this now in my mid-20s, it brought me back to my teen years and was reminded how many similarities Phoebe and I shared back then.

Even though I was still in my pre-teen/tween era during the 2000s, I definitely remember the trends happening at the time this was set and I got a massive sense of nostalgia when these got referenced in the book – from the rise of the skinny jeans, to MySpace, and mix CDs. I thought they were a fun addition and brings back the reader to that time.

Phoebe’s Diary is an authentic coming-of-age novel that allows adults to look back into their adolescent selves, while also serving as a reassurance to young adults that growing up and the teenage experience is definitely a shared experience across generations.

I already knew I loved Phoebe Wahl's work, but I was still constantly surprised and delighted as I read Phoebe's Diary. Protagonist Phoebe is funny (sometimes unintentionally) and sincere, messy and lovable. I was left wanting more.

Add emotions, insecurity, music, clothes, crushes, mood swings, and you’ve got a teenager!

And now we get to look in a 15 year old’s diary as Wahl puts a spin on the insecure years of every teenager’s life through diary entries. You’ll be transported to the tough years of trying to fit in while finding yourself. While the story is down to earth, it is also sweet and believable. Phoebe is overweight and struggles with her image. Nora (Phoebe’s friend) is a great character and wins best supporting actress in my opinion. I loved the fun illustrations typical of Wahl’s picture books.

I’d enjoy a follow up to this story to provide more hope and insight for this teenage audience.

Phoebe is a young teenager just trying to figure out her life. She is boy crazy and dreams about her first kiss and life with a boyfriend. She is a talented youngster who participates in her local school’s plays.

This books takes you back to when you were a teenager and all the important things in your life like friends and crushes. 💙

This was a very cute book and I enjoyed the drawn pictures. I highly recommend it if you want to a little nostalgia in your life!

My only negative about this book is that it is a graphic novel, but it’s not filled with artwork like your typical graphic novel. It is 1/4 graphic novel and 3/4 regular book. I was really looking forward to seeing all the beautiful graphics that Phoebe Wahl creates, but was slightly bummed when it wasn’t filled with illustrations.

Thank you so much to TBR and Beyond Tours & Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for an advance copy of this book!

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 few years older than Phoebe in the book 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!

First up a big thank you to the publisher + TBR and Beyond Tours for allowing me a copy of the book.
However I am DNF-ing the book due to the format it is. On ADE on my PC it just breaks. On my Kindle the images are tiny and those are a bit fundamental part of the story so that is out. On my phone things work.. but that just gives me a big big headache and pain in my eyes. Even when wearing my glasses. I am definitely planning on seeing if I can get the book when it releases as it was fun!
In this book we follow Phoebe and learn all about her life. And all her many crushes, haha. I just loved how many crushes she had and reading all her thoughts about them. There were tons of relatable moments that I loved. Phoebe was a fun character. The fact that it was a diary was something I loved, something I wouldn't mind seeing in YA some more again, I remember reading several diary-like YA a few years back, so seeing it in this book made me smile. And the illustrations were just fantastic and oh so fun to have, love how they are a big part of the story. If I had to give a rating for what I read? I would say 4 stars, so that is what it is getting. And I would recommend it!

Perfection, as always. We own all of Phoebe Wahl’s childrens books, and I fall into the illustrations and the stories for hours. I get lost. This was no different, and I loved the wit, humor and humbly Wahl writes with. I will always be a fan, no matter what Wahl does.

Phoebe Wahl took her diary as a 16-year-old asheavy inspiration for this lovely depiction of the trials and tribulations of sophomore year.

(Book-)Phoebe is a homeschooler who takes only electives at her local high school. The summer before school starts with what she thinks is an inopportune drama class selection, but she finds she loves it, and the friends she starts to make.

Her diary details her crushes, her awkwardness, her body image, her relationships with her friends, sister, parents, and boyfriend, her experiences with parties and prom, and her experiments with drugs, alcohol, and sex. High school is confusing!

Phoebe's Diary was such a fun read! I loved the illustrations mixed into her diary, and she perfectly nailed the feeling of being a teen.

Even as a Librarian and having experience with reading and reviewing I still assumed this book would be a graphic novel because I have followed Phoebe Wahl's art for ages. But, while not a graphic novel, the diary entries that make up Wahl's semi-biography is heavily illustrated. Like with Wahl's paintings and picture book illustrations, these images have a way of looking so inviting that you wish you could live in them. This is especially true for this story because Wahl's book takes place in 2007 when she was in high school. I was in Middle School at this time, but still, reading the story was so nostalgic for me. Remembering a time when I was young and the world looked so different. Even for teens, the intended audience, Wahl does a phenomenal job of showing a glimpse into the authentic teenage experience, with its ups and downs, that exists for everyone in any generation. I think the theatre aspect, especially, will appeal to a lot of kids.
Will be purchasing for my library and recommending to my kids. Looking forward to seeing what they think. (Thanks to Little Brown Books and Netgalley)

Phoebe's Diary instantly transported me back to my teen years (lived in a similar area, grew up at the same time - all references applied). The thoughts that go through your head as a teen are perfectly portrayed in the book. I fell in love with Phoebe's detailed art that goes along with her diary as well. The little nods to places in Bellingham were fun. This was a hit for me! I hope today's teens love it just as much.