Check out my review at:

http://shannonsbookbag.blogspot.com/2014/06/dear-nobody-true-diary-of-mary-rose.... ( )

Dear Nobody, is not a book, but is a true diary of a girl named Mary Rose. This diary tells her life from the worst to the best.
Mary Rose suffered from cystic fibrosis, got abused, had a drinking problem, and smoked at the ages through 13 and 17. Her life was harder than anyone can imagine, but she got through it with no help from anyone. This diary shows a lot more than expected, having twists and turns in every page flipped.
Dear Nobody, to me, is a five out of five stars, since it is authored by a thirteen through seventeen year old girl, but is edited by two true authors. Nothing was changed, it was just Mary Rose’s life from late fall 1996 to mid summer 1999. Mary Rose’s diary has more meaning and more life than anything I ever saw, spoke, touched, smelt, and tasted. I recommend this to people who are more known to what is out there, because Dear Nobody can get really intense... “Long live, Mary Rose!” (quoted from Dear Nobody’s editors Gillian McCain and Legs McNEIL

Dear Nobody: The True Diary of Mary Rose is the real, gritty, and honest diary of the teenage lost soul, Mary Rose.

Mary Rose totally got the short end of the stick. She has an absent father, a not-so-fabulously-behaved mother, and her mother’s boyfriend is abusive. Mary Rose also happens to have cystic fibrosis and seems to have a hard time making friends. So what does Mary Rose do?

She turns to drugs and alcohol, the only things that will make her feel normal and “fit in” with the crowd. But of course, addiction isn’t known to solve many people’s problems.

Dear Nobody is addicting to read – I could not put it down, and didn’t, until I was finished. It was heart-wrenching and devastating at times.

With that said. . .

For the full review, visit Love at First Book ( )

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire in exchange for an honest review.

Dear Nobody: The True Diary of Mary Rose is a story of a girl struggling to escape her demons. It is a very raw story of a very real girl who suffered through some traumatic issues and tried to find an escape through drugs. Mary Rose was handed a shitty hand of cards and tried to play them the only way she knew how. Having read Go Ask Alice I expected something like that, but this book is in a whole different league.

I found this book to be absolutely heartbreaking, as no one should have to go through what Mary Rose did. My only issue with it is that it is a diary and not a novel, so it jumped around a bit. There wasn't much of an introduction to every new person, and at times I felt as if I didn't know who Mary Rose was talking about. None of that prevented me from getting wrapped up in Mary Rose's life though.

This story made me cry, not during the book, but after I was done reading and was thinking about it. Throughout most of the book Mary Rose is starting her diary entries with "Dear Nobody", clearly thinking that she didn't have anyone who would ever care to read it. Yet obviously there were people that cared about her enough to go get this published. I found it to be a great tribute to her as she mentioned how she would someday like to be an actor or an author.

I would suggest this for any teenager, anyone who has ever struggled with disease or drugs, anyone who has ever suffered a loss of a loved one and anyone who has ever felt alone in this world. I think we all go through times in life where we feel unloved, lonely and sad. But after the book is over it is clear that there were people that cared about Mary Rose, even if she didn't see it. ( )