Book Review: Girl Online by Zoe Sugg

Recently, I have had my hands on famous UK blogger and YouTuber, Zoella Sugg’s debut novel – Girl Online. I am really excited to read her first novel ever because I have always loved her YouTube videos mainly - she has such a good vibe and would chortle all the time. To be honest, I did not have high expectation on this novel at first because this is Zoe’s first attempt in writing a novel, but the first few pages catches my attention and the rest too. If you like reading whimsical romantic tales where the plot is going to make you feel heart-warming and heart-wrenching at the same time, I would say that Girl Online is definitely your type of novel.

This story is about an obscure blogger – Penny, who wants to be known only by her pen name at her blog as “Girl Online”. Her life isn’t a perfect one, and far more than often she finds herself struggling to blend in with her friends. She secretly has a crush on a boy named Ollie and has always has little hope that the boy will ever set eyes on her. Then, she has a childhood best friend – Megan, who acts like she is better and more deserving than anyone else. Finally, there is a boy who lives beside her house – Elliot, who is extremely brainy and a living know-it-all, Penny’s best friend who is immensely supportive towards her and would always be by her side through the ebbs and flows.

It is just a month or less away from Christmas when everything goes haywire. It exacerbates the situation when she trips and falls in front of the audience, exposing her unicorn knickers underneath. The clip goes viral on the Internet and worse to come yet – her so-called best friend, Megan, shares the clip! Around that time, her parents is planning for the whole family to head over to New York for their work – organizing a wedding. Seeing this as a perfect getaway from everything that has happened, Penny and her best friend, Elliot, together with her parents travelled to New York. In New York, Penny meets a young lad called Noah Flynn, who turns out to be the inciting incident for a series of drama that will bring grave challenges to both of the teens.

The scene that leaves great impression on me is where everybody started blaming Penny for dating Noah and being the third wheel in the relationship. I think that I can really feel the intense embarrassment and futility that overwhelms Penny at that moment. Just imagine you are in a situation where nobody is standing on your side, surrounded by those manipulated by vicious rumours and those who jumps to the conclusion. All of the sudden, the world has turned its back on you. Even your lovely blog followers, your childhood best friend Megan and the lovely young lad who is so hospitable and gentle to you when you are in a foreign land, Noah – none of them believes in you anymore. You can’t help but feel how Penny feels and sympathized this young girl who is so worn out at that moment.

The character that I find most endearing is no other than the main character – Penny. As a teenager, she appears as if nothing is bothering her. But the fact is: she has anxiety and panic attacks. I think all teens will find this relatable as there will be some point in our lives when we are in trouble, yet our parents are in blind. But note that the more we try to camouflage our fear, the more we are letting it to interfere with our lives. Opening up to our close ones definitely helps us to deal with our problems and fear better. Just like how Penny is able to handle her panic attacks with the help of Noah in the end. Penny is also very lucky because she has her family, especially her brother and also Elliot by her side.

As the storyline grows, Penny also faces the problem of whether she can or should outgrow her childhood best friend Megan. Sometimes, we put on a façade towards people whom we do not like just to please them no matter how hard it is for us. We keep thinking that the person might suddenly finds his or her conscience and turn over a new leaf. Maybe the person used to be one of our dearest ones or someone whom we once cared about so much, but we need to accept the fact that people changes all the time. It might be hard for us to make a decision of out-growing them, but it is unfortunately inevitable.

I really enjoy reading this book because it reflects a teenager’s life and it is really relatable for teens, who are especially misfits and never gets anything right in their lives. All of the teenage angst, insecurity, enthusiasm, passion, mixed feelings and inner struggle is clearly portrayed in each and every of the characters in the book. It is a fun and light piece of reading with a tinge of humour. In short - an extravagant love story that will leave imprints in teens from all over the world.