Penny is a normal teenage girl living in Brighton: she has friend trouble, a hopeless crush, a quirky best friend, a weird family…
When she's whisked away to New York after a disastrous school play, Penny is certain her life could not get any better. However, she has started being the victim of strange 'panic attacks', and she is confused and scared about what to do…
Thankfully, she has her anonymous blog to confide in: her own little corner of the Internet where she can be herself, and trust her readers.
Just before Christmas, Penny's life is turned upside down: she meets Noah, a young American musician. She discovers a new version of herself; she's no longer an unsure, embarrassing and insecure girl, but a happy and confident young woman. Except Noah has a secret of his own, a secret that could be very dangerous for Penny's cover.
With the help of her best friend Elliot (and her alter ego), can she overcome her fears and start believing in herself?
Is it possible to fall in love with a book? Because, quite honestly, this is what it feels like – who knew true love could come in the form of paper?
Of course, when I saw that my all-time favourite blogger and YouTuber had written a book, I was craving for it. I wasn't quite sure what to expect: I knew Zoe could write well, you can easily tell from her evident blogging talent, but she mostly writes and vlogs about things either beauty, fashion or lifestyle-related. Well… I think it's enough to say that it took me precisely one day to finish the 343 pages (and yes, I did actually spend the whole of Christmas Day curled up on the sofa with a hot chocolate in one hand and Zoella's first novel in the other!).
This book inspired me… I literally feel as though I've changed overnight. I have actually become more confident, I think, about a lot of things. I could relate so much to everything Penny said, from best-friend issues to stressful emotions (and I'm sure 99% of teenage girls in the world can too). It feels so good to be reminded that you're really not alone.
I don't personally suffer from panic attacks, but I'm sure Penny and Noah's advice helped a lot of people. This book also subtly approached the fact that the Internet isn't a safe place, and that you must be careful about who to/not to trust.
To me, and to many others, Zoella is sort of like an invisible big sister, and whilst reading this story, I felt as though she was just talking to me. However – in spite of the fact that I know there were rumours about Girl Online being ghost written – I actually thought one of the only faults in this book was that I could really feel Zoe right through it. It's hard to explain, but I think she made Penny a bit too similar to herself. Because I follow Zoella's blog/vlogs, I found this confusing at times and forgot that the story was about Penny and not Zoe Sugg.
Nonetheless, I absolutely think most girls will love this book, for the same reasons I do. Everything felt so real and possible, even though a lot of extraordinary things happen to Penny!
I couldn't help loving Noah, but my favourite character has to be Elliot: he would be my absolute dream best friend, and everyone should deserve to have a friend like him in their lives. His own story is just as inspiring as Penny's, and I felt so sorry for him at times (no spoilers!).
In two words, I would describe Girl Online as special and inspiring - a fantastic debut novel.
• Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop.
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