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Read Between the Lines: From the Diary of a Teenage Mom
From her appearances on 16 and Pregnant and then Teen Mom 2, Jenelle Evans’s life was put on display for all to see, and all to judge. Everyone thinks they know her, but what the audience can’t see runs deeper than what is left on the editing room floor.
What of Jenelle’s complicated life before her newfound fame? An overbearing mother. Erratic siblings. A father who didn’t seem to care. Though there was no camera to capture those difficult moments, there were, thankfully, a few well-kept diaries. Join Jenelle as she tells her story through the eyes of her troubled youth, taken from her memories that were scrawled across the pages of her own diaries.
What of Jenelle’s complicated life before her newfound fame? An overbearing mother. Erratic siblings. A father who didn’t seem to care. Though there was no camera to capture those difficult moments, there were, thankfully, a few well-kept diaries. Join Jenelle as she tells her story through the eyes of her troubled youth, taken from her memories that were scrawled across the pages of her own diaries.
241 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 25, 2017
87 people are currently reading
815 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
August 14, 2017
I was curious about Jenelle and her story, so I bought the book. I satisfied that curiosity, but the book itself was not very engaging. It didn't hold my interest enough to binge to the end, which is what I look for in a good book. The writing is scattered and repetitive. Reading the diary of a pre-teen/teen just isn't enough of a pull to make this book worth what I paid for it. I like Jenelle, and I understand her a little bit more now, but much of this book could've been explained in a 30-minute interview.
October 17, 2017
Oh Jenelle.
I've been watching 16 & Pregnant and anything Teen Mom related since the very beginning. I'm an invested fan in all the girls; we're pretty much all the same age so it's interesting to see their struggles in comparison to my own baby-free life.
I've never been a fan of Jenelle, watching her bits like a train wreck you can't look away from. But I've been invested, watching her go through bad life choices over and over again, always fighting to get Jace back. And every season nothing changes. She's still just as much of a screw up as she was before. She's had ups and downs, and is better than some of her worst moments, but she's still a hot mess. I wanted to read this because I've read all the other Teen Mom books, and I wanted to know if this would give some insight into this poor girl's life. And it did. A lot of the stuff she wrote about I didn't know, and if it's true then I do feel bad for her. I really do. She didn't have a father growing up, her siblings were apparently messed up and mean to her, and even though her mom is taking care of her son, it's clear she isn't great to Jenelle either. The girls needs good, solid, stable love from someone who doesn't have a dick. And I don't think she'll ever really get it.
Her mom claimed a lot of the stuff wasn't true in the book, but there's no way to know. So I don't know what to think. Do I sympathize, or do I roll my eyes and call her a drama queen? It's hard to tell. I feel bad for her, and truly wish she'd get it together to be a good person and honestly earn the right to have her son back.
She's talks about a lot of sad and hard stuff, including drugs, feeling unloved by everyone around her, and the abusive relationships she's been in. She deserves better, and she writes like she knows that, likes she values herself enough to do better, but nothing ever changes. Which makes this really hard to review! She talks about everything so matter-of-factly, it's hard to know if she's really learned from her mistakes. For her own sake, and her kids, I hope she has. But from watching the show... I'm doubtful.
I guess it's a good read if you're a fan of her or the show? I didn't dislike it, and I didn't like it. A solid, "meh" three stars from me.
I've been watching 16 & Pregnant and anything Teen Mom related since the very beginning. I'm an invested fan in all the girls; we're pretty much all the same age so it's interesting to see their struggles in comparison to my own baby-free life.
I've never been a fan of Jenelle, watching her bits like a train wreck you can't look away from. But I've been invested, watching her go through bad life choices over and over again, always fighting to get Jace back. And every season nothing changes. She's still just as much of a screw up as she was before. She's had ups and downs, and is better than some of her worst moments, but she's still a hot mess. I wanted to read this because I've read all the other Teen Mom books, and I wanted to know if this would give some insight into this poor girl's life. And it did. A lot of the stuff she wrote about I didn't know, and if it's true then I do feel bad for her. I really do. She didn't have a father growing up, her siblings were apparently messed up and mean to her, and even though her mom is taking care of her son, it's clear she isn't great to Jenelle either. The girls needs good, solid, stable love from someone who doesn't have a dick. And I don't think she'll ever really get it.
Her mom claimed a lot of the stuff wasn't true in the book, but there's no way to know. So I don't know what to think. Do I sympathize, or do I roll my eyes and call her a drama queen? It's hard to tell. I feel bad for her, and truly wish she'd get it together to be a good person and honestly earn the right to have her son back.
She's talks about a lot of sad and hard stuff, including drugs, feeling unloved by everyone around her, and the abusive relationships she's been in. She deserves better, and she writes like she knows that, likes she values herself enough to do better, but nothing ever changes. Which makes this really hard to review! She talks about everything so matter-of-factly, it's hard to know if she's really learned from her mistakes. For her own sake, and her kids, I hope she has. But from watching the show... I'm doubtful.
I guess it's a good read if you're a fan of her or the show? I didn't dislike it, and I didn't like it. A solid, "meh" three stars from me.
August 8, 2017
Its hard for me to review this without admitting I still watch TM2. But I do. Sorry.
Jenelle is very well-known for her lies about pretty much everything - so it's very hard to know what's true and what isn't. Other than the few times she admits her mum does well by her, everything falls around her, but never by her own doing, and it's all their fault.
Don't bother.
Jenelle is very well-known for her lies about pretty much everything - so it's very hard to know what's true and what isn't. Other than the few times she admits her mum does well by her, everything falls around her, but never by her own doing, and it's all their fault.
Don't bother.
May 19, 2019
Holy trainwreck, Batman. I am an unabashed fan of terrible cable television and have watched the Teen Mom crews since before it was a show- a couple of years ago I read 3 of the other cast members' books (Catelynn/Tyler, Amber, and Kailyn's first book)- none of them were particularly good, but none of them were close to this bad. Ignoring for a moment that Janelle is walking disaster- being a pregnant teenager was actually one of the few times she kind of had het shit together when compared to her being a heroin addict, jumping from loser to loser looking for love on Tinder, and the latest- last week having the last of her 3 kids+1 stepdaughter removed from her home after her creepy Duck Dynasty looking gun-obsessed husband shot her French bulldog pup on purpose in front of her kids'- the book is terrible because the writing is painful. Scanned in, poorly written diary entries from her life as a preteen through the age of twenty, and then rambling explanations if those diary entries simply didn't work. Her life has sucked, but she hasn't seemed to learn jack shit from it, nor grown up much at all. I read this purely because I found out it existed while reading about CPS taking her youngest daughter from her, amd figured maybe it would provide some insight into her thought process- frankly, her thought process seems to be she can't deal with life without drugs or a controlling man amd doesn't actually care much about her kids compared to herself. One star because zero isn't an option. I hope her kids never read this and are given a chance to be raised by someone who can be stable and less selfish.
August 8, 2017
Anyone who follows her story in real life, knows a lot of this book is more fiction than anything with a lot missing. That being said, it was a tough read just based on grammar, sentence structure and just general English skills. I read this book hoping see a different side of Jenelle, that didn't happen.
July 27, 2018
Being true to herself????
Couldn't believe this woman had any insight into her own impulsive, deceitful choices. I was right. She is a liar to people around her, but sadly never as much as to herself.
Th recurring theme in her lie is everyone around her abuses her, lies to her, beats her, is mean to her. By the end of the first chapter, I found myself having to stifle the desire to slap her myself. I wanted to see if her fantasy self delusion changed. It didn't.
I believe that now, like the longed fabled boy that cried wolf, she is married to the ground article, a man who does truly abuse her and her children. Trouble is, she said it so much, not one person will believe her. How she keeps those poor little ones, deserves a documentary on the way social services is a farce.
I will be extremely sad to see it happen, but real truth be told, I believe her current "man on a white horse" will one day murder one of her poor children, because social services failed to listen to the people that her best and more importantly...the voices of little children.
Save your money if you think you will find any hope for her. She lies to herself, better than the people she thinks she is smarter than. Barbara, if you read this, quit saving this woman, and focus on Jace, and continue to encourage Nathan's mother to rescue poor little Kaiser.
DCF, police, court system...what in God's name are you thinking???
SAVE THOSE CHILDREN.
Couldn't believe this woman had any insight into her own impulsive, deceitful choices. I was right. She is a liar to people around her, but sadly never as much as to herself.
Th recurring theme in her lie is everyone around her abuses her, lies to her, beats her, is mean to her. By the end of the first chapter, I found myself having to stifle the desire to slap her myself. I wanted to see if her fantasy self delusion changed. It didn't.
I believe that now, like the longed fabled boy that cried wolf, she is married to the ground article, a man who does truly abuse her and her children. Trouble is, she said it so much, not one person will believe her. How she keeps those poor little ones, deserves a documentary on the way social services is a farce.
I will be extremely sad to see it happen, but real truth be told, I believe her current "man on a white horse" will one day murder one of her poor children, because social services failed to listen to the people that her best and more importantly...the voices of little children.
Save your money if you think you will find any hope for her. She lies to herself, better than the people she thinks she is smarter than. Barbara, if you read this, quit saving this woman, and focus on Jace, and continue to encourage Nathan's mother to rescue poor little Kaiser.
DCF, police, court system...what in God's name are you thinking???
SAVE THOSE CHILDREN.
March 14, 2022
Jenelle has really outdone herself with this book - it exceeded every expectation that I had for it. We can all honestly say that Jenelle has always been a controversial person in the media. People either love Jenelle or hate her. Although after reading Jenelle's book, your opinion of Jenelle may change! The choices she made throughout her time on Teen Mom will probably make more sense to you than they ever did. This book will honestly in my opinion give you all the more reason to love her. Jenelle shares with you some of the darkest and lowest points of her life including her rough childhood and her at times unhealthy relationship with Barbara (Jenelle's Mother). Jenelle does not shy away from her previous addiction to drugs and believe me, you will feel all the raw emotion. Jenelle doesn't hesitate to express where she’s been and where she’s going in life. I found myself clenching to my Kindle at times as I could almost feel the pain she wrote about.
If you’re interested in getting to know more about Jenelle and her past and childhood, this is the book for you!
5/5 stars.
If you’re interested in getting to know more about Jenelle and her past and childhood, this is the book for you!
5/5 stars.
October 8, 2017
Good read for the emotionally invested teen mom fan
I read it really fast, so I guess that's a good thing..
But I really appreciated her honesty. That was a big one for me. She could've sugar coated everything and bs'd her way through it but she told it like it is and I really liked that. It might seem silly but I've been watching these girls from the beginning, I've seen their beautiful children being born and now grow up season after season and have seen all the ups and downs.. So id say im a diehard tm fan, its been what eight years now? So of course I want to see them doing well and it warms my heart to see Jenelle turning her life around much like I had to do in my own life. I relate a lot to her in many ways and I have even more respect for her after reading this book. It was nice to see her side if HER story and get to see where she's coming from. Id recommend it
I read it really fast, so I guess that's a good thing..
But I really appreciated her honesty. That was a big one for me. She could've sugar coated everything and bs'd her way through it but she told it like it is and I really liked that. It might seem silly but I've been watching these girls from the beginning, I've seen their beautiful children being born and now grow up season after season and have seen all the ups and downs.. So id say im a diehard tm fan, its been what eight years now? So of course I want to see them doing well and it warms my heart to see Jenelle turning her life around much like I had to do in my own life. I relate a lot to her in many ways and I have even more respect for her after reading this book. It was nice to see her side if HER story and get to see where she's coming from. Id recommend it
August 14, 2017
As a truly devoted Teen Mom 2 fan, I really enjoyed reading this book. In fact, this is the first book I have finished in over 3 months! It was not super eloquent or ground breaking in any regard, but it was a quick and easy read that gave me some insight into Jenelle's life. Essentially, I am giving this book 5 stars because it was an engaging read for me and I was super excited to finally have this book in my hands!!
October 2, 2017
Alright, yes, I read Jenelle Evans' book. I thought it might be good-bad, you know, funny and enjoyable in its badness.
Turns out, it's bad-bad. Don't even bother.
One star.
Turns out, it's bad-bad. Don't even bother.
One star.
August 22, 2021
Another guilty reality binge pleasure. Was always curious how Jenelle became the way she is, and how she left MTV.
Was quite sad to hear the struggles and it all kind of makes sense
Was quite sad to hear the struggles and it all kind of makes sense
June 20, 2020
So I got the book mostly out of curiosity and expected to maybe read about her experiences and see her in a better light...
First off, the spelling and grammar mistakes start on page 3 when she spells along “a long,” so that’s something to get used to throughout the book.
The title is rather misleading. I expected that she kept a diary when she was pregnant which would have been interesting, but it takes about 100 pages to get to her high school years. Before that it's mostly talking about 10 different friends with fake names like "Mary" who are inconsequential to her life, but she talks on and on about minute details of her interactions with them. It gets boring and confusing really fast. There’s not much to analyze about them so when she slips into the analytical part after the entries (which is usually repetitive) she starts nitpicking the stupidest of things, in one part she wondered whether the entries were written in pencil and not pen because she was afraid of permanence or some shit like that.
The parts about her family were kinda interesting. You might’ve seen this in the released preview but she mentions her brother Colin throwing her cat, setting the house on fire, etc. According to her, Ashleigh wasn’t close to either of them and acted snobbish and bitchy, and was considered “weird” and “goth” when she was in high school.
She’s apparently known tori since 2005 and smoked weed for the first time with her, when she was 14, & lost her virginity to tori’s cousin around that same time. Once she gets to the teenage entries she makes a ton of amazingly nonchalant references to trying to kill herself and overdosing on “decongestant pills”. There’s one entry where she stole from a store and got caught, with Tori unsurprisingly.
She blames a religious boyfriend of hers, “Neil,” for sending her “careening back into the arms of bad boys” and she started dating Andrew when she was 16 and he was 22 (yikes). Not a lot of details on him besides that he drank a lot, she met him online and she got suspended when he used to pick her up from high school.
The rest is just stuff we saw on the show, and the only diary entries in her later life are the ones already online from when she was in rehab, minus the more interesting pages. At the end she says she doesn’t have bipolar disorder, next to a list she made which seems to clearly list all her symptoms of bipolar disorder.
Overall it was pretty terrible. All of the teen mom books are but this wasn’t even detailed, which is what made farrah’s book interesting. 2/5 stars for the attempts at hindsight.
I’ll leave you with some quotes:
“Who the heck knows why we do the things we do. Emily Dickenson (sic) said it best: The heart wants what it wants, or else it does not care.”
“Kieffer was my knight on a white horse, rescuing me from my awful life. Well, the horse was white, but he was no knight. We rode that horse all the way to New Jersey, where it nearly killed me.”
On her first date with Courtland: “Courtland said he only took heroin on special occasions, like tonight. I thought that sounded kind of sweet.”
“I wasn’t in any kind of rush to jump back into another relationship. I didn’t care if I ever dated again. I had my two sons and I was pleased just being by myself. In August I decided to move back to North Carolina. I logged back into Tinder and met a few different guys.”
First off, the spelling and grammar mistakes start on page 3 when she spells along “a long,” so that’s something to get used to throughout the book.
The title is rather misleading. I expected that she kept a diary when she was pregnant which would have been interesting, but it takes about 100 pages to get to her high school years. Before that it's mostly talking about 10 different friends with fake names like "Mary" who are inconsequential to her life, but she talks on and on about minute details of her interactions with them. It gets boring and confusing really fast. There’s not much to analyze about them so when she slips into the analytical part after the entries (which is usually repetitive) she starts nitpicking the stupidest of things, in one part she wondered whether the entries were written in pencil and not pen because she was afraid of permanence or some shit like that.
The parts about her family were kinda interesting. You might’ve seen this in the released preview but she mentions her brother Colin throwing her cat, setting the house on fire, etc. According to her, Ashleigh wasn’t close to either of them and acted snobbish and bitchy, and was considered “weird” and “goth” when she was in high school.
She’s apparently known tori since 2005 and smoked weed for the first time with her, when she was 14, & lost her virginity to tori’s cousin around that same time. Once she gets to the teenage entries she makes a ton of amazingly nonchalant references to trying to kill herself and overdosing on “decongestant pills”. There’s one entry where she stole from a store and got caught, with Tori unsurprisingly.
She blames a religious boyfriend of hers, “Neil,” for sending her “careening back into the arms of bad boys” and she started dating Andrew when she was 16 and he was 22 (yikes). Not a lot of details on him besides that he drank a lot, she met him online and she got suspended when he used to pick her up from high school.
The rest is just stuff we saw on the show, and the only diary entries in her later life are the ones already online from when she was in rehab, minus the more interesting pages. At the end she says she doesn’t have bipolar disorder, next to a list she made which seems to clearly list all her symptoms of bipolar disorder.
Overall it was pretty terrible. All of the teen mom books are but this wasn’t even detailed, which is what made farrah’s book interesting. 2/5 stars for the attempts at hindsight.
I’ll leave you with some quotes:
“Who the heck knows why we do the things we do. Emily Dickenson (sic) said it best: The heart wants what it wants, or else it does not care.”
“Kieffer was my knight on a white horse, rescuing me from my awful life. Well, the horse was white, but he was no knight. We rode that horse all the way to New Jersey, where it nearly killed me.”
On her first date with Courtland: “Courtland said he only took heroin on special occasions, like tonight. I thought that sounded kind of sweet.”
“I wasn’t in any kind of rush to jump back into another relationship. I didn’t care if I ever dated again. I had my two sons and I was pleased just being by myself. In August I decided to move back to North Carolina. I logged back into Tinder and met a few different guys.”
March 19, 2021
Oh my what a train wreck of a book. You want to stop but you just can't. Thank God it was short. When I originally started reading books by the mom's of teen mom I decided not to read Jenelle's because I hated everything I saw on tv about her, but the other girls books revealed so many secrets and made me see them in a whole new light so I decided to give this one a go too. The first half of the book consists of her breaking down her childhood diaries. You'd think they'd be full of juicy secrets and all kinds of trauma to explain her horrible behavior on the show. Nope, you get her first kiss, losing her virginity, talking about being grounded and having fights with her best friends. The whole book reads like a child wrote it but especially the first half. Then she tells this ridiculous story of how her mom set her up to take custody by telling her to go out and enjoy herself with Keifer. Hello Jenelle! We all watched you on tv going out night after night and never getting up in the morning to take care of your baby! We all watched as your mom begged you to take an interest in your son! And she finally gave up and asked you for custody and you GAVE IT TO HER!!! I should have stopped reading at that point since you can no longer trust anything she says but like I said it's a short book so I was almost finished and it was like a train wreck you couldn't stop watching. So then I get to hear about the mouse they found in her treatment center instead of why she went there to begin with. And the treatment center is really a vacation resort center. Then she leaves and it goes through several horrible relationships, a heroin addiction and blaming everybody in her life for her problems. She then goes on to say she's not really bipolar she has ptsd and talks about how horrible her childhood was. Hello if your childhood was so bad why didn't you give us the details of that instead of your first kiss because really who cares about that? She ends the book with her happy ever after with her racist homophobic husband that gets her fired from the show. All in all I feel like I wasted my time on this book, I'm embarrassed to add it to my list and I hate Jenelle way before than I ever did before reading this book.
September 22, 2018
I thought I would hate this book based on reviews I've read. I really wanted to hate this book because the very idea of Jenelle writing down her thoughts on paper, after all I've seen of her actions on Teen Mom 2, I decided, "Oh, what the hell. You only live once!" I saw myself not even making it 60% into this book without cringing.
I was wrong.
I actually enjoyed reading this book. And that's not me saying because I am a fan of Jenelle ( I'm really not. I stopped watching her after the first season of Teen Mom 2. So I have no idea what's going on in her present day life.)
I loved reading it. I got a glimpse into her life and was astounded. But only just a little. Some things in her book I could live without, yet I read her book all in one day. A few things I didn't know about her and some other things I can know about her just by looking her up online. It's not a bad book. It passes the time and I liked it. I feel like reading it again.
I'm a teen mom myself, so I can understand the struggles of raising a child. I could relate a lot to Jenelle, but she and I are complete opposites. I never did drugs, partied, go through random guys and so forth.
Anyway, good book. I (might) just read it again.
I was wrong.
I actually enjoyed reading this book. And that's not me saying because I am a fan of Jenelle ( I'm really not. I stopped watching her after the first season of Teen Mom 2. So I have no idea what's going on in her present day life.)
I loved reading it. I got a glimpse into her life and was astounded. But only just a little. Some things in her book I could live without, yet I read her book all in one day. A few things I didn't know about her and some other things I can know about her just by looking her up online. It's not a bad book. It passes the time and I liked it. I feel like reading it again.
I'm a teen mom myself, so I can understand the struggles of raising a child. I could relate a lot to Jenelle, but she and I are complete opposites. I never did drugs, partied, go through random guys and so forth.
Anyway, good book. I (might) just read it again.
October 1, 2018
Sticking with the autobiographies so I grabbed this. I watch Teen Mom 2 religiously and Jenelle Evans is the most controversial cast member so I wanted to give her book a go and see if she’s just a misunderstood Mum.
In this book she reveals diary entries from when she was a young girl up until the point her life went downhill with drugs which we witness on the show. This book didn’t change my opinion on her, I still think she needs to improve her way of life dramatically. There’s a section in the book where her mum apparently encourages her to go out, party and enjoy herself and upon her return she is served with custody papers of her son. The way she describes what happened in her diaries is that her mum tricked her and stole her son but when watched the MTV show you can clearly see this isn’t the case. Shows are manipulated to make the viewer see something else I understand that, but there’s no way this was the case.
The book was an interesting read if you watch Teen Mom 2 just to get into the mind of Jenelle Evans and I’m glad I picked it up.
In this book she reveals diary entries from when she was a young girl up until the point her life went downhill with drugs which we witness on the show. This book didn’t change my opinion on her, I still think she needs to improve her way of life dramatically. There’s a section in the book where her mum apparently encourages her to go out, party and enjoy herself and upon her return she is served with custody papers of her son. The way she describes what happened in her diaries is that her mum tricked her and stole her son but when watched the MTV show you can clearly see this isn’t the case. Shows are manipulated to make the viewer see something else I understand that, but there’s no way this was the case.
The book was an interesting read if you watch Teen Mom 2 just to get into the mind of Jenelle Evans and I’m glad I picked it up.
January 2, 2021
I’m not saying this is the worst autobiography I’ve ever read but it certainly wasn’t the best, I understand Jenelle was trying to let her viewers and fans know how rough her childhood/early adulthood was but some things could have been left out. Throughout the book are pages from her diaries some entries shouldn’t have been in the book or mentioned because it had nothing to do with the point she was trying to make in the book. Yes it takes guts to put out for the world to know about her addictions,bipolar disorder and toxic relationships like I stated half the things she wrote in her book could have been left out. Overall I pushed through and finished the book woo hoo! Do I feel that Jenelle has grown and matured from situations from the past hell yea maybe now that she’s older and has a clear head she can write another book and start over talking about the things she went through but this book here really wasn’t it but that’s just my opinion.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 19, 2023
Well this books was kind of like the 2 tv series she was on. Most of it was aired on the shows however it was good to hear her side of things and get a deeper look into her relationships she has had over the years. Her relationship with her mom as a kids is pretty much the same as it is now as an adult. It was sad to read she was abused though. No matter the life choices of a person it doesn’t mean they should be treated like that. It was upsetting to see the choices she made when it came to mean and drugs however I am glad she has come out of the phase of life. I agree with Jenelle she had really bad taste in men lol. But I think a lot of us can say that about some of our exs. The book was okay but didn’t really keep my attention at some parts but glad I read it but probably wouldnt recommend it to anyone.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 11, 2021
There were lots of bad reviews on this book however I read it and thought it was really good. Poor Barbra he son set the house on fire and she was a single mother of 3 kids that fought with her. I recently watched the old episodes of teen mom, Jenelle did go through a lot. They time with Keffer when they were high on heroine was horrific. I can relate to when she says your self worth is defined by having a man. I was like that too. I was also in an abusive relationship. I was cheated on like she was and felt like I was nothing too. I wish I would’ve read this like 6 years ago. I really liked Jenelle’s book.
September 15, 2017
I really, really dislike Jenelle, but couldn't resist checking this out when I saw it at the library.
As bad as this was I was actually expecting it to be even worse, so that's a plus. The diary entries were particularly painful to read, however, and this desperately needed an editor. Jenelle constantly reinventing her past was amusing, though, especially as most of the events were caught on camera and very clearly show a different story. I already knew she was delusional, but this book just cemented that fact.
As bad as this was I was actually expecting it to be even worse, so that's a plus. The diary entries were particularly painful to read, however, and this desperately needed an editor. Jenelle constantly reinventing her past was amusing, though, especially as most of the events were caught on camera and very clearly show a different story. I already knew she was delusional, but this book just cemented that fact.
August 18, 2025
Reality tv shows on MTV are my guilty pleasure, and I’ve watched “16 and Pregnant” and the “Teen Mom” franchise from the beginning.
Janelle always had a strained relationship with her mom, and I thought this memoir would give viewers a peak at what happened that we didn’t get to see in the show.
It’s such an odd format. It is diary entries from her adolescence and teenager years, then Janelle reiterating what the diary entries said. It skips over everything that was filmed on TV.
Also, there were grammatical and punctuation errors despite her having a ghostwriter.
Janelle always had a strained relationship with her mom, and I thought this memoir would give viewers a peak at what happened that we didn’t get to see in the show.
It’s such an odd format. It is diary entries from her adolescence and teenager years, then Janelle reiterating what the diary entries said. It skips over everything that was filmed on TV.
Also, there were grammatical and punctuation errors despite her having a ghostwriter.
September 20, 2019
Largely boring.
An entire book devoted to recounting 3 childhood diaries- all before age 20- where she includes the scanned diary pages.. then .. "explains".. or "clarifies"- basically JUST reiterates what's already been written.
No real juicy moments- for those you are better to watch her on Teen Mom 2. (Or heck- just search Google I'd reckon.)
Aside from learning a slight bit about her siblings, and that her father deserted- really nothing was gained.
I'd skip it.
An entire book devoted to recounting 3 childhood diaries- all before age 20- where she includes the scanned diary pages.. then .. "explains".. or "clarifies"- basically JUST reiterates what's already been written.
No real juicy moments- for those you are better to watch her on Teen Mom 2. (Or heck- just search Google I'd reckon.)
Aside from learning a slight bit about her siblings, and that her father deserted- really nothing was gained.
I'd skip it.
December 14, 2020
i like a good train wreck as much as the next person and have watched all but the latest season of teen mom 2, but when you boast in your book about how smart you are and in the same book make several glaring grammatical/spelling mistakes, DESPITE HAVING A GHOST WRITER ON BOARD, it just makes me angry.
also your boyfriend only doing heroin on special occasions is not sweet. It makes you, and him, morons.
also your boyfriend only doing heroin on special occasions is not sweet. It makes you, and him, morons.
February 25, 2023
This book was terrible. I love trashy reality TV, but this book was not worth my time. There are scanned diary pages and then Jenelle’s summary of what was in the diary entry that I just read. I read Leah Messer’s book and finished it feeling like I had learned something about why Leah is the way she is. Jenelle’s book was just 150 pages of not taking responsibility of anything. Yes, she had a hard life, but some of the things in this book felt made up.
June 14, 2025
Good lord this was a mess. I can’t believe how poorly written this was considering there was a ghostwriter involved and Jenelle is supposedly off the charts smart. Jenelle needs real therapy and rehab and it’s not surprising the place she went to is defunct. The fact that she was having crisis in patient and instead of talking to the staff on site she was calling her abusive boyfriend is absolutely wild.
August 8, 2017
Pretty much what I expected
While it is interesting to see how she constructed this book, I felt that there was not a lot of color in the writing. She repeated herself so often that it almost became annoying. I found out more about her in the tv series than I would ever have in this book.
While it is interesting to see how she constructed this book, I felt that there was not a lot of color in the writing. She repeated herself so often that it almost became annoying. I found out more about her in the tv series than I would ever have in this book.
December 26, 2018
This novel is poorly written and contains mostly scanned in handwritten entries from three different diaries that Jenelle has had through the years. The only interesting part of this book is how delusional she is and that is with a ghost writer assisting. It could be used as a case study in how you can convince yourself of just about anything.
November 27, 2020
I found most of it quite boring and repetitive. Whenever she talks about her diary entry, she will write everything that you just read again. And then just skips whole sections of her life because they were portrayed in the show.
The last parts of the book were better, as it showed a lot that wasn't in the show.
The last parts of the book were better, as it showed a lot that wasn't in the show.
March 1, 2021
I LOVED the fact that there was scans of her diary entries. The beginning was hilarious. She wrote in her diary that she hit her sister in the head and then put a smiley face. She used teenager slang like lolz.. it just reminded me of my own diary when I was a pre-teen. The ending was more her relationship and rehab experience. A great read for anyone interested in her personal story.
April 28, 2022
So unlike the other teen mom’s book this one is completely different and is literally pages from her diaries explained. I actually really really really enjoyed this book and thought it showed a real and raw side of Jenelle’s personality and emotions without it being filtered through by a camera crew. I liked the way the book was set up and it was an easy and enjoyable read.
April 30, 2022
Loved it
Jenelle was always the one every one loved hate on Teen Mom. Though I wish more would read her story. She explains so many things from her young life to now. Filling in all those gaps people just assumed or made rumors about. Very inspirational book and honestly hope she is still doing great and still healing from her childhood and her past.
Jenelle was always the one every one loved hate on Teen Mom. Though I wish more would read her story. She explains so many things from her young life to now. Filling in all those gaps people just assumed or made rumors about. Very inspirational book and honestly hope she is still doing great and still healing from her childhood and her past.
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