Girl Online by Zoe Sugg- Book Review

Drawing the end of 2014, I set myself the anticipated goal of reading more books-even if it was just reading all of the Harry Potters again.

As I am a fan of Zoella on YouTube, I decided to have a go at her new book "Girl Online" which has had both good and bad reviews from various websites, papers and fans of Zoe. There has also been rumours of "scandals" that her book was ghostwritten and conflict online between certain YouTube users and YouTube watchers about different opinions on Zoe's work. But I simply wanted to see if kicking off my reading pattern by reading Girl Online was the way forward.

Nobody has focused on the contents of the novel while debating this book which is honestly typical because of shitty people on the internet judging a book by it's cover; and when I say cover, I mean the girl who wrote it, not the actual novel. 

*SIDENOTE:EVEN THOUGH I AM A FAN OF ZOE'S, I AM DEFINATELY NOT BIASED IN ANY WAY*

Girl Online: Worth reading?

I confess that without a doubt my favourite part of the book is when the main Character "Penny" arrives in New York and is first seeing and appreciating the sights and sounds consuming her. Zoe illustrates a beautifully detailed image into your head of what's going on around Penny using a very undeniable vocabulary which gives the reader a clear idea of what the main character is all about and where Zoe is wanting to go with the story. Although, in other parts of the book, description is bland and there is a lot of noticeable word-repeating which to some is not an issue if they like things short and sweet, but to others can only be seen as sloppy and fast-paced. I appreciate that it is a very long fourty-four chapter book without adding long bits of extra detail but it makes the book less high quality standard, especially as this book knocked J.K Rowling off the podium of highest selling book. Personally, I think that is slightly ridiculous as J.K started off at the bottom, suddenly becoming well-known for writing a series of perfectly astounding books that changed the course of history, whereas Zoe already had 6 million fans before which I am sure helped her out a lot regarding sales.

Books should be written and sold by originality and creativity, not by Vogue shoots and makeup lines.

Honestly, I was unpleasantly surprised when I discovered the plot and events that happen in the book. I did not think there would be a total lack of uniqueness. I feel that Zoe must've got lost somewhere in the Literature Galaxy. While she was up there in her Space boots, she COMPLETELY missed the colourful Milkyway of creativity and accidentally slipped down into the ravenous, black, voidy abyss of sales. As much as I hate to admit it, I feel like Zoe was writing this book more for the money and sense of pride than she was for her recurring dream of writing a book-although I could be wrong. The story was entertaining yet filled with awkward clichés and things that have been done before. The story is quite bland in a way that only extremely annoying, Pop culture-obsessed 12 year olds could fully be satisfied with. The storyline is very basic and predictabut it is good if you like that sort of thing.

Penny (the main character) seems quite boring and her life:flavourless and flaw-free. Though I did very much enjoy her back story and the way it is brought back throughout the story very subtly and gracefully. It is not ambiguous that Zoe truly has a way with words and is really talented at using her wide range of vocabulary to make sentences sound appealing.

Zoe also uses a homosexual character in her writing which is refreshing as many authors of teen books would not make on of their characters gay as not to "jeopradise" their sales. This shows that Zoe is an accepting author who did not stick to the cliché.

Unfotunately, there is a very clearly obvious spelling/grammar mistake in the one of the early chapters of the novel that is (of course) seen as an open invitation to terrorise Zoe more about her work. More "proof reading" was definitely needed... and some more efficient publishers would be satisfactory too. Oops.

Overall, Girl Online is pretty pleasant, easy and cough cringily heartwarming to read. And yes, it is one of those books you could read for hours on end if your brain goes in to relaxation mode and you are not feeling like you have the mental power to read some depressing French novel trilogy that will send you straight into an anxiety-triggering existential crisis. It's perfect for the age group of people she way aiming for and I did enjoy it. Very much so. But to be perfectly clear... you should not read this if you are a over-analysing, cynical twat like me who does not have a cheesy, soppy or even merely romantic bone in your body. Yep.