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sara_has_no_h's review
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
averiee's review
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
hskurat's review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
jmjones8's review
2.0
Like Go Ask Alice this novel is aimed at young audiences who are less adept at identifying propaganda. This book focuses on the dangers of Satanism and the occult and relies heavily on rhetoric from the satanic panic. While a young reader may be able to identify with the fictionalized Jay it is apparent to more experienced readers that this text is overly didactic and moralizing.
lavendar_fr0g's review
I’m Wiccan- I hate this book because of the obvious fear mongering and Christian agenda.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry
Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, and Animal cruelty
Full of fear mongering to forward a Christian agenda.carlysreads's review
1.0
This one is hilariously bad. An obvious work of fiction, Jay's Journal describes the downward spiral of a teenage drug addict/Satanist who descends into madness & finally kills himself. Published in the late '70s, when an unfounded fear of Satanism was plaguing middle-class Americans, the book played off these concerns & became almost as successful as editor/Mormon youth counselor Beatrice Sparks' other "diary," Go Ask Alice. The real Jay, Alden Barrett had committed suicide, but there's no evidence that he had ties to occult groups, suggesting that Sparks wrote the entries dealing with Satanism herself. Of course, anyone who knows anything about drugs & teenagers will realize that most of the book was written by someone who doesn't.
whimsicallymeghan's review
4.0
Just like Go Ask Alice, Jay’s Journal is a journal belonging to a teenage boy named Jay in the late 70s. Like Go Ask Alice, we learn who Jay was, and how he lived, we, the reader, learn about his ups and downs, and his addictions. His is not of the every day type. Jay was into witchcraft, and not and of that Harry Potter business, some real freaky stuff called occult that has to do with the supernatural. Please note that reading this there are some pretty graphic, and disgusting things that have to deal with occulting, if you are squeamish, it is unwise to read this book. The novel was an intense read for it’s 230 pages. The novel really puts into perspective what some teenagers go through, as well as reiterating that this was real, that part hits home the most. It was a compelling journal definitely worth reading.
dj_roctopus's review
2.0
When I originally read these books I was really young and totally believed they were real - how could they be portrayed as real if they weren't? Adult me knows better and thinks it's gross that Beatrice Sparks made a career out of lying to and manipulating kids.
camilleisreading's review
I was literally talking about this book the other day. I remember reading this when I was in high school and I just TORE THROUGH IT... I finished it in a few hours. I loved it at the time... no idea how it holds up during my adulthood, though. :)
brightside878's review
3.0
(2.5-3.) Okay, I have my doubts that this was "edited" by Beatrice Sparks. I mean, come on. No teenager writes like this, with a bunch of fancy words. And the tone is eerily similiar to "Go Ask Alice".