I was challenged by the Children's Books Team to read Girl Online. I've been trying to avoid this book, but I rose to the challenge and read it in a few days. It's a fair book. And Zoella wrote it too! Oh wait…
Penny is a schoolgirl in the seaside town of Brighton, friends with 'weirdo' Elliot, Megan and Ollie. She is subject to a fair few embarrassing incidents involving her school, but the one thing she doesn't want to be discovered is her online identity. Girl Online, her blog, her one true place where she feels herself. Only Elliot knows about it. Then her parents, who run a wedding planning shop in Brighton, are contacted by two wealthy clients, who want to put on a Downton Abbey themed wedding at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. That trip to New York she takes will change her life. Her world. Her online world. Because she may not stay Girl Online much longer.
I've been putting off this book for a while, and I was pleased at first to see that a work of fiction had been written by a YouTuber. That's why I was as disappointed as Patrick in his piece to discover that Siobhan Curham was behind it. The book itself is actually pretty good, but I'm not a blinded fangirl, and there's a few things to point out about it.
Firstly, (MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD!) Noah is actually found to be famous and in a huge relationship with another girl when he gets with Penny. Upon her return to the UK, she actually finds him in Brighton and they get back together. Who in their right mind would take someone like that back just because they're there? That seemed way out of line to me, and really against the ethics and morals of most ordinary people.
Second, Penny is shown to suffer from anxiety and panic attacks. But this is portrayed in the book. I've had quite a few conversations with people about this aspect of the book, and actually, they all think it's a poor representation of the illnesses described. Take it from someone who's experiencing it, it's nowhere close. Don't read this book and get misled into thinking that it's obvious when someone's having a panic attack, or people want to tell other people that they have anxiety. It's not the case.
I hate the fact that the mental illnesses in this book are glossed over. Sugar coated to fit the stereotypes, and made to seem logical. They aren't logical. That's the point.
And, Zoella, I want to say this: I would have much preferred to give you a bad review on a book that you'd written all by yourself rather than to give a good review to a ghostwritten book. And sadly, I find myself doing the latter.
The book in itself is pretty good. A storyline, maybe a bit soppy in places, but a pretty well rounded storyline to me, and good characters, despite the fact that I think some of it is a bit overdramatised and all of it is an unfair representation of those with mental illnesses such as those described in the book, but otherwise a good book. I just wish it had just one author, like books are supposed to have.
• Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop.
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