The timing of this book purchase coincided with the loss of one of the greatest women in my life. I didn’t know Carrie Fisher personally, but she has been in my life since I was five years old. The first live action movie I remember watching was Star Wars. My dad and I sat on the brown carpet of the living room floor. When the opening crawl starts and those first few notes boom, my heart thudded. Eyes wide, I knew this was going to be amazing. Dad whispered the words into my ear and I was lost to a new world forever changed at five.

I’ve always seen Carrie as sort of the queen of the geeks. In so many ways she holds this title, although maybe not so proudly – she carries it none the less. But Carrie Fisher was so much more than just Princess Leia. She was a writer, a comedian, an activist for mental health, and one of the women in this world I’ve always looked up to. I’d had PRINCESS DIARIST only a few days when news broke of her death.

It was with a heavy heart I started to read PRINCESS DIARIST. It wasn’t as upbeat as I’d expected it to be. I mean it tries to remain fun and light but from the get go, it’s an emotional read. At this point. we all know that this book was Carrie’s tell all. She opens up about her three-month affair with Harrison Ford. It all started when some crew members were taking advantage of her, Harrison stepped in, whisked her away to safe place, only to start kissing her. He was married and she was 14 years younger than him, only 19.

Carrie gives us the dirty details about her love affair with Harrison and this 40-year-old secret. But that’s not my favorite part about this book. My favorite part was the poetry. Carrie shares some poetry and diary entries from when she was on the set of Star Wars, from the weekends spent with Harrison, and from what it was like to be an emotional teenager in love.

The book stays on the emotional side with persistent deprecating humor. There were moments when I laughed out loud and moments when I was brought to tears. I never anticipated so much mixed emotions while reading this but I’ll be honest, I couldn’t put it down. If you’re a lover of Star Wars, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, or you just want to know what all the fuss is about, I’d recommend PRINCESS DIARIST to fill that big empty Carrie sized hole in your chest.

May the force be with her.