Chloe Snow is a typical teenage girl that is ready for the thrill of high school, and to say goodbye to middle school. She lives with her father, who keeps things to himself and is quite awkward; and her dog named Snickers, of whom Chloe cannot seem to get enough. Chloe’s inspiration, her mom, recently moved to Mexico for a brief four months to fulfill her dream in writing, causing Chloe to suffer through her freshman year without a mother with whom she can constantly be in touch. Alongside Chloe is her religious best friend, Hannah, who has uptight parents that have to be in Chloe’s family business non-stop. Emma Chastain’s writes this novel, Confessions of a High School Disaster (Chloe Snow’s Diary), about the life of an incoming freshman that experiences all of the ups and downs of friends, acquaintances, family, school, and most importantly, drama.

Shortly into Chloe’s first year of high school, reality kicks in, and all the stress, as well as anxiety, comes into play. Chloe cannot get over the fact that she is still a kissing-virgin, so she sets a goal, and even makes a list of options of who would meet the standards of being her first kiss. Since it’s freshman year, Chloe’s dad encourages her to try and branch out of her comfort zone. “‘You need some extracurriculars.’ ‘I have extracurriculars!’ ‘Texting doesn’t count’”(31).
Chloe auditions for the school play and ends up getting the lead role, causing all sorts of drama with the upperclassmen. Right from the beginning, she has a bad reputation. Meanwhile, her friendship with Hannah is slowly fading. Chloe spends more time with her new friend Tristan, since he is also participating in the play. Tristan is not the only new guy friend in her life. Chloe finds herself to be deeply in love with the senior football star, Mac Brody, who just so happens to be in a relationship. She is convinced they were meant to be together, and is constantly daydreaming about him. “But all I could focus on was the feeling of Mac’s big, strong arm around me and his big strong hand squeezing my shoulder”(189). Mac and Chloe grow very fond of each other, in a best-friend type manner. However, all it takes is one party for their relationship to take an enormous turn. One party, and everything that could possibly go wrong, goes wrong.
Chastain’s style of writing is very simple for teenage girls nowadays to relate to. I would recommend this book to ages between 14-17; the use of language and the content are such that younger kids wouldn’t understand, nor connect with. I could not take my eyes off this book. I was so hooked to find out what would happen in the next day of this girl’s life. Although the book was intriguing, the ending was unsatisfactory, at least in consideration of Chloe. She is heartbroken and cyberbullied, yet she finds a way to cope with these problems. Even so, a happier ending would have been more rewarding from the reader’s perspective.