In high school, I had skimmed through GO ASK ALICE with barely any interest, not seeing what all the hype was about (though, to give credit where credit is due, the fact that it was still considered so scandalous a few decades after its release is pretty impressive). But, in revisiting it as an adult, the book became more interesting to me for a variety of reasons.

Firstly, it provides fantastic views of ‘60s young teen culture—the slang usage, the references to style and interests, even the family dynamic truly encapsulate that period in a way that only someone who was there at that time can convey (though I shamefully admit I may have giggled a time or two when she refers to herself as a “boob”). Also, as someone who’s never had a drug problem, I was fascinated by the insight into addict life—the shame, the anxiety, all the ups and downs—and to be able to “witness” (so to speak) the changes she goes through. As the narrator—who we are introduced to as a naive, sweet fifteen-year-old—gets sucked into the downward spiral of addiction, you begin to see a transformation in not only her outlook on life, but her tone and even her word choices. As a result, you find yourself dreading every relapse and hoping at every upswing in her life that this will be it.

Still, the biggest thing that stuck out to me was seeing that teenage mindset from an outside perspective. At times it gets painful to listen to “Alice” describe every event as either the best or worst thing that’s ever happened to her, not because it’s bad writing, but because you empathize with her. You can’t help but remember being that age, feeling as though every budding relationship was going to result in living happily ever after and that every breakup or embarrassment was the end of the world, and wanting to tell her that it gets better with time.

Honestly it’s hard to judge published diaries like this as “good” or “bad” because this person didn’t write all this with the intention of it being read by the public. However, what ultimately helped me make my decision was the way the story evoked emotion from me, and that I can say with confidence that GO ASK ALICE has the potential to deeply resonate with teenage and older readers.