Review: Girl Online by Zoe Sugg

Title: Girl Online
Author: Zoe Sugg
Release date: November 25th, 2014
Publisher: Atria/Keywords Press

Synopsis

Penny has a secret.

Under the alias Girl Online, she blogs about school dramas, boys, her mad, whirlwind family - and the panic attacks she's suffered from lately. When things go from bad to worse, her family whisks her away to New York, where she meets the gorgeous, guitar-strumming Noah. Suddenly Penny is falling in love - and capturing every moment of it on her blog.

But Noah has a secret too. One that threatens to ruin Penny's cover - and her closest friendship - forever.

“Sometimes you have to face up to your fears to realize that they aren’t actually real.”

My Thoughts

Rating: 4/5 stars

Girl Online is a fun read that explores the positive and negative sides of the Internet and the Blogging world. As a blogger and an active user of social networking sites, I found myself relating to this book a lot.

This novel had everything I'd expect in a great YA book. An interesting plot, a protagonist I can relate to, and character development.

Characters:
In the beginning, Penny was one of the most clumsiest girls of her school. The one who always gets bullied and is made fun of by others. But, as the story went on, I saw a lot of character development in her. She started to become self-confident and could face her panic attacks, too.

This happened after she met Noah - the "Brooklyn boy". His character description was so good! He's the perfect boy Penny could ever wish for. I adored them as a couple! The way that he helped Penny through her panic attacks, and the way they formed a perfect couple. Absolutely amazing.

Plot:
I'd have to agree that the story was kind of slow at first, and I felt like it would turn out to be a pointless, cute contemporary read. Though, as I kept on reading, I slowly fell in love. The plot may be similar to several other books, but the fact is, the story is worth reading. I shared a couple of laughs, tears, and heartfelt moments throughout the book.

I hadn't seen the plot twist coming. It had me in tears. I felt as if I was the one in the story. I'd have to say that that was the most engrossing part of the whole book. I couldn't put it down. I really liked how Penny was able to face everything along with her best friend, Elliott. That was an example of a true friendship which can be very relatable to all the teens out there in real life!

I absolutely loved the ending! It would've been so infuriating if Zoella had ended it with a cliff hanger, considering how much I loved Penny and Noah as a couple. It somehow represented that you can never really know what situation someone is in unless you are the person, and you shouldn't make assumptions on stories you really don't know about. Just like Penny and Noah's relation could've ended due to a simple misunderstanding, if it wasn't for her last blog post. (No spoilers though ;))

I docked a star out as, admittedly, the story wasn't flawless. It was a bit predictable at times, and I found some parts a little cheesy too. But, well, that's not really uncommon in YA books.

Overall, I just adored this book and will definitely recommend it to everyone! Don’t let the fact that Zoella wrote it, put you off. It really is a great read. I found it heart warming and enjoyed the book as a whole. Definitely worth a re-read! I can't wait for book 2 to release! I definitely want to read more about Penny, Noah and Elliott.