Girl Online - Zoe Sugg

There has been mixed reviews of this book, especially when it had emerged that it had been ghostwritten. Nonetheless, as a reader, I try not to let other reviews and - in this case - media coverage, dictate how I view a book. I went into this book with an open mind - I hadn't even watched any of Zoella's YouTube videos yet. (But I have since!) 

A lot of my friends were shocked to learn that I was reading this, and I'm not sure why. It isn't an autobiography of Zoe Sugg, so a person doesn't even have to like her in order to read it. I had only briefly heard of her when the book came out, so at first I wasn't sure whether to read it, but I had a friend recommend it to me, so I decided to buy it. With all the bookish things I post on Instagram and Twitter, my friends are pretty good at guessing what books I would like.

Penny is the creator of Girl Online, an anonymous blog where she talks about personal issues without fear of judgement. She blogged about things that every teenage girl could relate to, such as outgrowing a friend, a sad occurrence we all much face at some point. She was astounded when her blog began to get popular, as it made her feel like she wasn't alone. That's exactly how I feel when I read a book with a character that I relate to, and although I've never done it anonymously, I do use the Internet to express how I'm feeling a lot of the time. 

When Penny's family and her best friend Elliot - the only one who knows her real identity, kind of like a superhero - fly to New York, she doesn't go there expecting to fall in love. She goes there so that her parents can plan a wedding, and she can take photos as a budding photographer, at the Waldorf Astoria. I absolutely loved that it was set there, as that is the hotel featured in one of my favourite films, Serendipity. When I went to New York myself, I found myself finding all the sites I'd seen in the film, including this beautiful hotel. 

As Girl Online is anonymous, Penny thinks it will be harmless to blog about the boy she is falling in love with. She doesn't know a lot about Noah, only his first name and where he lives, so she just gives him the alias Brooklyn Boy. If only she knew him a little better before letting her bloggers in on the secret...

I really loved this book. The twists kept me turning the page, and especially when I was reading it in the staff canteen, I found myself not wanting to put the book down to go to work. I also thought that the blog parts were really relatable, and if Zoella's is anything like this, then I'll definitely be tuning in to her more!

Verdict: 5/5 :)