I've subscribed to Zoella's YouTube channel in early November, 2014, and since then, I've been loving her videos. I've watched all of her videos so far and read a few blog posts. I've been following her on Twitter and Instagram and I also follow her boyfriend, Alfie Deyes of PointlessBlog, so I think I get a lot of information about her personal life. The thing is, when Girl Online came out, I wanted to buy it straight away. And I did, although I haven't read it until recently. I've finished the book on March 10, 2015, although it came out on November 25, 2014. So I'm quite a late reader, am I not?
A GHOST WRITER? There was a speculation (and probably still is) that Zoe Sugg used a ghost writer for her frist debut novel, Girl Online. It's possible, I'm not saying it's not true, but when I read the book, there was so much from Zoe that I didn't even care. Zoe might've not written it word for word, but she definitely worked so hard on her book, and her life is in there. That's what got me to read it in the end - I wanted to learn more about her, see her thoughts "from the inside", not from the outside. (I honestly think no one could write their first book without a bit of help - ever heard of beta read? All the writers have those people who read their book before they're published.)
PENNY OR ZOE? The main thing that I've been wondering about all the way through the book was how much of the story is real. I mean, Penny is obviously supposed to be Zoe - she suffers from panic attacks, starts a blog and tries to find her place in the world. Penny is about 16 years old, I think, which makes her 8 years younger than Zoe, but I still see the Zoe in there sometimes. At the end of the book, Zoella actually used some words from a blogpost from her blog and put it in the book as Penny's words. I quite liked that. (OK, I liked that A LOT.)
BROKEN RECORDS: Girl Online was the fastest selling book of 2014 and Zoe also broke the record for highest first week sales for a debut author. This means she was actually better than any of the British writers - even Joanne K. Rowling! Congrats, Zoe x
COVER: The cover has 2 versions - a British and an American one. Shortly before releasing the book, Zoe posted a competition on her blog and told everyone to send her pictures that would be on the front cover of the book. There were 2 winners - one from the UK, one from the USA - which resulted in a slight difference in both covers. The difference is in the bottom right picture - on the British one, there's a Brighton carousel, and on the American one, there's a note saying "Noah + Penny". (I've got the British one.)
THE STORY (SPOILERS MIGHT FOLLOW):
Penny is a 16 years old blogger who hides her identity behind the nickname "Girl Online". She's got lots of readers and the blog usually helps her feel better and more secure. She feels like her blog is the only place she can be really honest and herself. She posts a blog about having panic attacts, thinking there's something wrong with her, but her readers help her figure out what it is and what to do about them. Penny isn't a popular girl at school, however, she has a best gay friend, Elliot, who she calls Wiki on her blog.
At some point in the book, she gets to spend Christmas in the USA, and Elliot and her parents come with her. Shortly after, Penny meets Noah - a mysterious guy whom she falls in love with almost instantly. The story gets much more interesting when Penny gets home (SPOILERS COMING NOW!) and finds out Noah is actually quite a famous rockstar and supposedly has a girlfriend. A huge misunderstanding follows - Penny feels betrayed that Noah lied to her and didn't tell her he had a girlfriend, Noah on the other side thinks that Penny sold him out to the newspapers. None of this happened, obviously, and the two are lately reunited.
However, the thing that I loved the most about this book was when Penny got some serious haters on her blog, when everyone thought she seduced Noah and hurt his "girlfriend", also a famous singer. Everyone started posting hateful comments and that reminded me of Zoe so much - how she can't stand these types of comments and how hard it is for her to not take them personally. It actually almost made me cry (I had tears in my eyes!) which never happens to me (OK, I cried while reading The Fault In Our Stars, but ...).
In the end, the book might not have been completely written by Zoe, it might not have been the best book I've ever read, but it made me love Zoe Sugg so much more. I can't wait for the sequel, which is supposed to be out in late 2015. Until then, let's stay busy watching her videos on her channel here!
Thanks for reading this book review. If you've read the book and want to share your thoughts about it, just leave a comment here. I'd really appreciate all of your thoughts on the book and maybe on Zoe herself. Thank you x
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