Title: Dear Diary – The Story of Chris and Josh
Series: Dear Diary 01
Author: Allison Cassatta
Genre: Contemporary, Coming of Age
Length: Novella (90pgs)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (8th May 2013)
Heat Level: Low
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4 Hearts
Reviewer: Pixie
Blurb: Chris Bishop has everything a high school senior could want—a loving family, a perfect girlfriend, and a bright, shining future. At his dad’s suggestion, he spends a summer working at a law firm to gain experience, but he never bargained on meeting Josh. Josh is handsome and green-eyed and just what Chris doesn’t want—or does he? Some things Chris has admitted only to his digital diary, but by the time prom comes around, he needs to make a decision: risk the pain of honesty about himself and his feelings for Josh, or play it safe and lose what matters most.
First Edition published by XoXo Publishing, June 2011
Purchase Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3802
Review: Chris is getting ready for his senior prom; he is reflecting on the last eight months and confiding to his digital diary everything that has happened to him since he met Josh. Josh who Chris met when working the summer at a law firm and had Chris rethinking everything about himself as he recognized his attraction to Josh.
This is a wonderful coming of age story as a young man remembers everything that changed for him in the past several months, as he prepares to shut the door on one of part of his life and say goodbye to his high school years and begins the next step of his life. We join Chris as he prepares for his prom, as he pours his heart out to his diary taking us through his attraction to another boy, his conflicting emotions of his first male kiss, his fear of coming out, his confession to his girlfriend and admitting to his parents his new relationship.
Allison Cassatta takes us into the heart of an eighteen year old as he makes sense of his sexuality and finally says to himself ‘I’m gay’, this story takes us through those moments most important to Chris as he worked out what he felt and how he reacted. Although we only see Josh from Chris’s perspective we get a very good sense of him, he’s only a year older and is slightly more confident in his sexuality. We also see quite a bit about Chris’s ex-girlfriend Sarah and we are left puzzled, as Sarah is also getting ready for the prom at Chris’s house. The ending is just wonderful, filled with hope and love.
This is a brilliant story that would be great for young adults who are still trying to find themselves; it would show them that they aren’t alone in their struggle for identity and that it is okay to be scared. I have to recommend that everyone who loves m/m read this story of young love and discovering one’s self.