Scan barcode
theb00kelf's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
ritaslilnook's review against another edition
3.0
I had such high hopes for this book. The story was too fast paced and predictable; judging by the first 100 pages or so, it's just plain boring. The sappy cliché at the end (which I am a sucker for) was what made me rate it three stars. I love Zoe, but the work on the book is not exactly brilliant. Hopefully the sequel is better.
yara_adorablebooks's review against another edition
5.0
Zoella, I love you.
De recensie vind je hier: http://adorablebooks.nl/young-adult-girl-online-zoe-sugg/ (link werkt pas op 27/01 om 6:00, sorry als je de recensie nu wilt lezen)
De recensie vind je hier: http://adorablebooks.nl/young-adult-girl-online-zoe-sugg/ (link werkt pas op 27/01 om 6:00, sorry als je de recensie nu wilt lezen)
theb00kelf's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
mea9an's review against another edition
2.0
Okay, this book gets a really bad rep. I know it's not the best book in the world, but I liked the story itself. The writing needed a ton of work. There was nothing bad storyline wise. It was actually what I expected a YA novel about a girl with a blog to be like.
It was a fun read, but I couldn't finish it, strictly for the writing. I can't read a book that sounds like a five year old and a seventy year old wrote together trying to sound like a teenager. I am a teenager and I can't even fathom why someone would write a teenager like this. It's obscene.
Anyway, I probably will read it again. Just to make it through.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Update!
I've reread this book completely through and now I can properly review the book. It's more of a 2.5 stars.
I say that, because the book is terribly written for older young adults. I have a feeling it's meant for the younger side of the young adult spectrum. Middle-grade if you will.
I gave it 2.5 stars, because if the younger group reads this, I feel like they'll get something out of it. They'll be like Penny and overcome their fears. They won't just take it. Penny was socially awkward, anxiety filled, and she was only 15. If I remember correctly.
A lot of young girls, who are just going into high school can understand what it's like to be cyber bullied. I've experienced it myself when I was just entering high school. Now, I don't even use social media, unless it's Tumblr, Goodreads, or Pinterest. Cyber bullying really sucks, but it's something that happens to a lot of people.
That's why this book needs to be recognized. No, it's not really well written, but it sends a message. A powerful one.
It was a fun read, but I couldn't finish it, strictly for the writing. I can't read a book that sounds like a five year old and a seventy year old wrote together trying to sound like a teenager. I am a teenager and I can't even fathom why someone would write a teenager like this. It's obscene.
Anyway, I probably will read it again. Just to make it through.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Update!
I've reread this book completely through and now I can properly review the book. It's more of a 2.5 stars.
I say that, because the book is terribly written for older young adults. I have a feeling it's meant for the younger side of the young adult spectrum. Middle-grade if you will.
I gave it 2.5 stars, because if the younger group reads this, I feel like they'll get something out of it. They'll be like Penny and overcome their fears. They won't just take it. Penny was socially awkward, anxiety filled, and she was only 15. If I remember correctly.
A lot of young girls, who are just going into high school can understand what it's like to be cyber bullied. I've experienced it myself when I was just entering high school. Now, I don't even use social media, unless it's Tumblr, Goodreads, or Pinterest. Cyber bullying really sucks, but it's something that happens to a lot of people.
That's why this book needs to be recognized. No, it's not really well written, but it sends a message. A powerful one.
renuked's review against another edition
4.0
That was like a breath of fresh air. You know it's air. You know what's coming. It isn't anything new or groundbreaking. But it fills you up and makes you happy. It's basically a "feel good" book and it succeeds. (For those of you who are wondering, yes I do know who Zoe Sugg is, and I do like her youtube channel, but this review is a review of her novel not her videos).
Penny is, of course, a reflection of Zoella herself, and that does actually add more meaning to the book, but let's forget about that for a second. Penny suffers from panic attacks and anxiety. She has a loving family and an adorable best friend named Elliot, but she suffers in school from her clumsiness and her anxiety. To escape everything, she creates an anonymous blog, GirlOnline, where she talks about her life. Thousands of people relate to her and begin following her.
Just when things are going okay, the worst happens, and Penny decides to leave on a vacation to New York City with her parents and Elliot. There she meets an adorable boy named Noah. (Can you guess what happens next?) Yeah, they fall in love. Noah makes her feel better about herself.
Obviously, it's very clichéd. Girl meets boy. But it's pleasantly adorable. Noah is not the "bad boy" that we are so used to seeing. Penny is utterly relatable. We've all embarrassed ourselves at some point. We all have that moment in our lives when we believe "my life is over." But this book gently points out that one moment doesn't define us. There will always be a bigger challenge ahead, but just as you overcame the first one, you will overcome the second.
Penny teaches us that it doesn't really matter what everyone else thinks. They only have one percent of the story. They don't know you, and yet they'll still try to judge you. The important thing is to ignore them, and take solace in the people who love you unconditionally.
Girl Online is a sweet, humorous read, and reminds people to love themselves. It's clearly something Zoe Sugg (Zoella) has experienced herself, so it has an underlying impact. She's not just saying you can overcome the challenge; she's done it herself. It's not the most brilliant book, but it is a book I enjoyed and laughed and smiled at. It's got all the right pieces put together correctly, and I recommend it.
This review has been cross-posted to Eternal-Books.
Penny is, of course, a reflection of Zoella herself, and that does actually add more meaning to the book, but let's forget about that for a second. Penny suffers from panic attacks and anxiety. She has a loving family and an adorable best friend named Elliot, but she suffers in school from her clumsiness and her anxiety. To escape everything, she creates an anonymous blog, GirlOnline, where she talks about her life. Thousands of people relate to her and begin following her.
Just when things are going okay, the worst happens, and Penny decides to leave on a vacation to New York City with her parents and Elliot. There she meets an adorable boy named Noah. (Can you guess what happens next?) Yeah, they fall in love. Noah makes her feel better about herself.
Obviously, it's very clichéd. Girl meets boy. But it's pleasantly adorable. Noah is not the "bad boy" that we are so used to seeing. Penny is utterly relatable. We've all embarrassed ourselves at some point. We all have that moment in our lives when we believe "my life is over." But this book gently points out that one moment doesn't define us. There will always be a bigger challenge ahead, but just as you overcame the first one, you will overcome the second.
Penny teaches us that it doesn't really matter what everyone else thinks. They only have one percent of the story. They don't know you, and yet they'll still try to judge you. The important thing is to ignore them, and take solace in the people who love you unconditionally.
Girl Online is a sweet, humorous read, and reminds people to love themselves. It's clearly something Zoe Sugg (Zoella) has experienced herself, so it has an underlying impact. She's not just saying you can overcome the challenge; she's done it herself. It's not the most brilliant book, but it is a book I enjoyed and laughed and smiled at. It's got all the right pieces put together correctly, and I recommend it.
This review has been cross-posted to Eternal-Books.
mehsi's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars. Let me just get this out of the way, I never heard of Zoe Sugg. I just read this book because it looked interesting. (Blogs? Cute guys? Some realism (with panic attacks)? Clumsy main girl?) Also I read this book in Dutch, so I hope all the names are correct, I just know how translators love to mess up the names.
And it turned out to be really really fun. Even so much fun that I am planning on buying this book in English to add to my (ever growing) collection of books.
The book is about Penny. Penny is a terrific and fun girl, but she has some problems. Her best friend Megan is turning out to be not so friendly any more. The love of her life is only interested in himself. She is quite clumsy (which leads to very hilarious (and embarrassing) situations, which due to this being the era of the internet escalate very much). But she has a blog, a blog where she can be herself, tell the world what she did in that day, what is going through her mind. Her blog becomes her place to find peace. I really loved the blog parts of the book, Penny really has a way with words. She is already amazing with photography, but I think she could also be a writer with what she writes.
Thanks to her blog she meets many people who are more than eager to respond to her posts, who are willing to help her out.
Most of the book takes place in her hometown Brighton, but another part plays in New York, the city where she meets one of my favourite (well, at least in this first book) guys. Noah.
It is kind of instalove, but also not. There is attraction, there is a click, but it didn’t feel weird or strange (OK, well sometimes at least). Unlike with instalove which causes me to often just roll my eyes. This relationship is truly sweet, adorable and cute. Noah is a real lovely boy, taking care of Penny, telling her about him, making sure he is there when stuff doesn’t go all to right. Well, OK, with the exception of what happens near the end of the book. But the whole time she is with him in New York it is all romance, all unicorns and rainbows. And I loved it. That was truly the best part of the book. I could just imagine them dancing under the snowflakes, sneaking kisses and romantic glances.
The last part of the book was equally bleh and good. I know, confusing, but what happens in there had me conflicted. I didn’t like Noah, I felt sorry for Penny, I hated Megan and Ollie (but oh well, I already didn’t like them, so that is OK). Everything escalated. I won’t tell you what happens, go find that out yourself.
The truth about Noah? I had my suspicions, but I wasn’t sure. So it was quite a nice twist.
Elliot. As of now, I am still not sure what to think of this guy. On the one hand he is a terrific friend, I loved how eccentric he was and silly. But I hated how he always seemed to know everything better, I hated how he treated Penny through a fair big chunk of the book. And sure, his home situation sucks, but that is no reason to bash someone for their happiness. Nor do you need to be so jealous.
So yeah, he was hit/miss. He has potential to be a fantastic character.
Penny’s parents + her brother. Wow, they were fantastic characters, and I loved Penny’s parents for the fact they cared so much about their kids, they were willing to do so much for them. Plus I loved that they were still so in love with each other. You don’t often see that in YA books, often the parents are arguing, in divorce, or one of the parents is dead, or both. So, I have to give plus points to that.
Tom was a wonderful brother. A typical older brother, teasing his younger sister, but if need be he will do anything and everything for her.
Sadie Lee and Bella. Great characters, I just laughed so much during the Bella parts, and Sadie Lee was just a sweet lady.
What more to say. Mm, I think I have everything I wanted to say in here, so all I will say is that I would recommend this book to everyone. Read this, laugh, cheer, cry, be amazed. This is truly a fun book with realistic themes.
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
And it turned out to be really really fun. Even so much fun that I am planning on buying this book in English to add to my (ever growing) collection of books.
The book is about Penny. Penny is a terrific and fun girl, but she has some problems. Her best friend Megan is turning out to be not so friendly any more. The love of her life is only interested in himself. She is quite clumsy (which leads to very hilarious (and embarrassing) situations, which due to this being the era of the internet escalate very much). But she has a blog, a blog where she can be herself, tell the world what she did in that day, what is going through her mind. Her blog becomes her place to find peace. I really loved the blog parts of the book, Penny really has a way with words. She is already amazing with photography, but I think she could also be a writer with what she writes.
Thanks to her blog she meets many people who are more than eager to respond to her posts, who are willing to help her out.
Most of the book takes place in her hometown Brighton, but another part plays in New York, the city where she meets one of my favourite (well, at least in this first book) guys. Noah.
It is kind of instalove, but also not. There is attraction, there is a click, but it didn’t feel weird or strange (OK, well sometimes at least). Unlike with instalove which causes me to often just roll my eyes. This relationship is truly sweet, adorable and cute. Noah is a real lovely boy, taking care of Penny, telling her about him, making sure he is there when stuff doesn’t go all to right. Well, OK, with the exception of what happens near the end of the book. But the whole time she is with him in New York it is all romance, all unicorns and rainbows. And I loved it. That was truly the best part of the book. I could just imagine them dancing under the snowflakes, sneaking kisses and romantic glances.
The last part of the book was equally bleh and good. I know, confusing, but what happens in there had me conflicted. I didn’t like Noah, I felt sorry for Penny, I hated Megan and Ollie (but oh well, I already didn’t like them, so that is OK). Everything escalated. I won’t tell you what happens, go find that out yourself.
The truth about Noah? I had my suspicions, but I wasn’t sure. So it was quite a nice twist.
Elliot. As of now, I am still not sure what to think of this guy. On the one hand he is a terrific friend, I loved how eccentric he was and silly. But I hated how he always seemed to know everything better, I hated how he treated Penny through a fair big chunk of the book. And sure, his home situation sucks, but that is no reason to bash someone for their happiness. Nor do you need to be so jealous.
So yeah, he was hit/miss. He has potential to be a fantastic character.
Penny’s parents + her brother. Wow, they were fantastic characters, and I loved Penny’s parents for the fact they cared so much about their kids, they were willing to do so much for them. Plus I loved that they were still so in love with each other. You don’t often see that in YA books, often the parents are arguing, in divorce, or one of the parents is dead, or both. So, I have to give plus points to that.
Tom was a wonderful brother. A typical older brother, teasing his younger sister, but if need be he will do anything and everything for her.
Sadie Lee and Bella. Great characters, I just laughed so much during the Bella parts, and Sadie Lee was just a sweet lady.
What more to say. Mm, I think I have everything I wanted to say in here, so all I will say is that I would recommend this book to everyone. Read this, laugh, cheer, cry, be amazed. This is truly a fun book with realistic themes.
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/