Melissa P.

This book was an impulse buy while vacationing in Rio without the benefit of looking it up before purchase. The premise is intriguing – a 15/16 year old Italian girl’s genuine diary tells her tale of seeking love but instead surrounded by sex in all the wrong ways.

It’s pretty easy to hate this book. Skepticism and disgust readily crowds the mind. I had wanted to be the reader to say – for xyz reasons/hints/clues, this supposedly diary is real. Instead, it’s easier to believe show more it’s fake because I don’t want it to be real – that I would not wish such a journey on anyone and certainly not for any parent to think their precious daughter to have gone down this path to find love.

Elements that make this book feels like a diary – whining about her parents like a typical teenager would, choppy sometimes incoherent thoughts, and inclusion of different elements in life beyond the sex (earlier portions of the book).
Elements that make this book feels fake – the intensity and perhaps preposterousness of such a tale (hey, that’s what sells books – I bought it!), the absence of different elements in life beyond the sex (later portions of the book), the excessive freedom that she has with her parents, and where does she get the money to buy all her lingerie?? Lol.

How anyone can find this book erotic is beyond me; the circumstances are not.

Quotes:

On the desire for love:
“I want love, Diary. I want to feel my heart melt, want to see my icy stalactites shatter and plunge into a river of passion and beauty.”

On the choice of sex before love – what a bad decision to make:
“…I do have a heart, Diary, even if he doesn’t notice it, even if perhaps no one ever will. And before I open it, I shall give my body to any man who comes along, for two reasons: because in devouring me he might taste my rage and bitterness and therefore experience a modicum of tenderness; and because he might fall so deeply in love with my passion that he won’t be able to do without it. ” show less

I found this ok to read, but not as candy-flossy as I'd expected. Not really candy-flossy at all, actually. Its supposedly the diary of a real teenage girl from Italy who goes through a period of sleeping with lots of different people, not in the best situations, because she's got a strange view of herself, relationships & the need to be loved. I say its supposed to be the diary of a real girl, because I'm not entirely convinced. I don't know of anyone who wrote or thought that way between show more the ages of 14-16, or could write such detailed accounts in a diary. The situations seemed a little too staged, & all the people she retells conversations with all seem to speak in the same way she does. There is probably a grain of truth behind it all, but to me it is a fictionalised account to a greater extent than is implied. But that doesn't detract from the book at all. The writing is really very good, even if she does have a tendency to string too many adjectives together. The sleazy content of it isn't used as a quick way to grab attention, because the writing & thoughts that come with the situations are educated & insightful. Its not a book I'd read again, but it was a good read for the little effort it took to get through. show less

I have been wanting to read this book since it was first printed years ago. I never got my hands on it before last month where I finally found a moochable copy at bookmooch. I put everything else on standby while I read it and maybe I shouldn't have. The book disappointed a lot. I know the book had been a big discussion issue especially in Italy where the writer is supposed to be from. I guess the idea that a young Italian might be a an addict to something else than alcohol, marihuana or show more whatever. The book is said to be very descriptive about sexual scenes and yes it is, but the book is not that well-written, the diary format doesn't really work and it is not really erotic, just annoying and a bit disgusting. show less

I'd heard so much about this book before reading it that perhaps my expectations were too high to begin with. The sex scenes seemed to me to be far more gratuitous than cathartic, and the character's self-examination didn't ever seem to actually get anywhere. The entire book was less cohesive than I'd hoped for, and from erotica, I expect something a bit racier; this book failed to meet my expectations from both a literary standpoint and an erotic one.