Girl Online - Zoe Sugg

Girl Online – Zoe Sugg

I was incredibly dubious about this book, I didn’t really know what to expect from it. Being a debut novel and with no prior reading material to gain knowledge in just how the writing style of this book would be.  From a quick flick through I could see that the story had the general narrating style, with snippets told through blog posts and conversations held via text. Seeing this I thought it would be interesting to see how this story is carried out.

Girl Online follows a young girl named Penny, a girl who from the first few pages comes across lacking self confidence and suffering with anxiety. With the encouragement from her best friend starts an anonymous blog to get her thoughts and opinions out for anyone who may be feeling the same. A line I quite enjoyed from the very first blog was

‘I have this dream that secretly all teenage girls feel exactly like me. And maybe one day, when we all realize that we all feel the same, we can all stop pretending to be something we’re not’

I thought it was great how this one line captures the thoughts of the vast majority of teenage girls growing up. At an age where you are always comparing yourself to others, covering ‘flaws’ you feel you may have, trying to ‘fit in’. When in reality the majority of the other girls are doing the exact same thing, you just don’t see it. All you can be is who you are.

I knew from this that this book would be a coming of age book, Penny growing as a person, finding herself and her confidence and dealing with her anxiety and panic attacks.

There are a variety of characters we meet throughout the book, Penny’s parents, who seem lovely and supportive, both running a To Have or To Hold theme wedding company. Tom, Penny’s older and somewhat protective brother. Elliot, Penny’s next door neighbour but best friend, who I have to say I went through this novel with a bit of a rollercoaster of views on him, at times I loved his character and the humour he brought and others I couldn’t stand him and his jealousy and almost controlling nature. There is Megan, the horrible and yet popular friend, Ollie the ‘swoon worthy yet would never fancy me in a million years’ boy. Finally there is Noah, who I feel is a great character for Penny, and the development between the two of them is amazing and very well written, if somewhat a tad fast.

Penny’s character really develops throughout this novel, which was great to see, she slowly gains that self confidence (all be it not for long) but I feel like she grows up throughout the book and you are there with her for each step of the way. 

Girl Online is a great coming of age, romance novel. With twists and turns that I really did not see coming at all, so you really are left feeling for Penny and the pain and upset she goes through. I also greatly enjoyed the significance played on the end of just how easy something can be posted online that is hurtful and nasty, without being thought over. The impact this could have on a person and their life, really is horrible.

If you are looking for a light, funny book with a splash of romance I would say this is for you. I got through this book pretty fast, and really enjoyed the journey and story told through its pages. I’m eager to see what Zoe comes out with next.

I have given this book 4 out of 5 stars.