Tuesday, 3 February 2015

A book review | Girl Online by Zoe Sugg

Rating: 5/5
Pages: 352
Girl Online is Youtube sensation Zoe Sugg aka Zoella's debut novel. Its been widely reviewed both good and bad and she has been criticised for using a co-writer (Siobhan Curham) to help write the story. However this being said I LOVED IT. I really had no expectations going into this book and didn't know much about the plot line therefore I really was pleasantly surprised. 
The story follows a girl called Penny from Brighton (remind us of anyone?) and needless to say she isn't the best for social situations. Penny also writes a blog and uses that as her way of distressing. Penny's parents are wedding planners and are offered the chance to plan a last minute wedding in... NEW YORK of all places. Penny suffers from anxiety since being in a car crash therefore is initially worried about being on a plane and far from home however with her best friend Elliot the four of them make the journey to the big apple. 

Once there Penny meets a boy called Noah who we all fall in love with and is such a sweetheart, however we get the impression he's hiding something from here. My initial thought was that he was famous ( if you've read the book you know what happened) and we find this huge plot twist out near the end of the book. When this twist did happen I was so intrigued to see how the book ended and raced through the last 100 pages. 

Zoe/Siobhan's writing really reminded me of British children's writer Jacqueline Wilson and I can see why it would appeal to anyone from the age of 8-15 but even I as an 18 year old could enjoy it. Despite having a ghost writer I could see where Zoe had her input especially when it came to Penny's anxiety. When she described Penny on the plane I could really relate to what she was going through and the symptoms Penny was feeling. ( I plan to write a blog post soon on my Anxiety journey).
When Penny was writing her soulmate list about Noah I could completely relate to my younger self and I'm sure a lot of youngsters have done that at some point. 

Overall I found this book really cheesy but I adored it for that, it was slightly predictable at times but the plot twist saved the story. The chapters were small which I personally like as I find it easier to read more in a session.
I gave this book 5/5 stars as it really had me gripped, I would recommend it more to younger teenagers but it is still relatable to older teens.



Over on my Youtube channel I have a corresponding video of me reviewing this book which you can see below.


Until next time, Sophie

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