Wednesday, 31 December 2014

Girl Online Book Review

 Hello everyone! Today I'm going to be doing a book review on Zoella's (aka Zoe Sugg) new book, Girl Online. I borrowed my cousins copy and I can safely say that this book is up there with my favourite books alongside The Fault In Our Stars, also written by a YouTuber, and Lament, written by Maggie Steifvater. Girl Online successfully captured the day-to-day problems of a typical teenage girl and it was so relatable aswell. The anxiety aspect definitely helped to make the book more appealing and understandable as it is something many teenage girls go through. The book also less notably teaches how to deal with anxiety as it explains how Penny overcomes her panic attacks.

In summary, the book is about a 15 year-old girl called Penny who lives in Brighton with her parents and her brother Tom. Penny is the author of an anonymous blog called Girl Online. Here she writes about all her issues and tries to help others who are experiencing the same thing. At home in Brighton, she experiences many ordeals in relation to friendships and she also has to go through a horrible, humiliating time where a video of her tripping and displaying her knickers to the school goes viral. Her best friend Elliot is always there to console her and he even accompanies her to New York when the Mum is asked to plan a wedding there. This meant Penny had to leave behind her crush, Ollie and her other friends. Her anxiety doesn't get any better, in fact it seems to worsen at the thought of going on a plane and going to a different country. However, when she gets to New York, Penny's life is turned around when she meets a boy called Noah whom she falls in live with and he helps her with her anxiety. She stays in New York for a couple  of weeks and her and Noah develop a strong relationship between them. When Penny leaves New York she thought her and Noah would be finished but a huge event occurs which results in a totally different outcome. I am not going to reveal this in case you haven't read the book!

The main character, Penny is a quiet and shy girl who always seems to mess up at the wrong times partly due to her anxiety problems. As the story progresses, Penny becomes a stronger and more independent person.  Elliot is Penny's best friend and he has many problems of his own such as being denied by his family. He is caring and sweet to Penny however, he quickly becomes jealous when Penny gets too attached to  Noah. Noah loves Penny a lot and is always trying to make her see things in a more positive light. He is very open with her and he cares for her a lot.

I think that the moral of the story is all about being yourself and never pretending to be anyone else. Also to never hide your flaws from anyone. However, a more evident and less philosophical idea would be to never say or do anything (online) which takes away the happiness from someone.

I would rate this book 10/10 because of its realness. It perfectly captures the typical and difficult life of a young woman, providing you with LOL moments and moments where you're ready to get the tissues out! It is definitely a  book I would recommend to anyone out there looking for a touching, moving yet realistic read!
 
 
 




 

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