A review by earlgaytea711
Girl Gone Viral by Alisha Rai

emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 I have some mixed feelings about this book. I really enjoyed it overall but it was rather slow paced. I love a good slow burn and mutual pining but also I feel like it dragged on. I’m not sure if I would have been able to finish this if I hadn’t listened to the audiobook instead of physically reading it. 

Onto what I did love! There’s so much. Obviously I did enjoy the tropes this book is based on. As someone who started reading romance as fanfiction, I really appreciated the tropes used here since they are mainstays in fanfiction. Mutual Pining and Slow Burn are just so good and I think pretty well done here despite the pacing.

I also loved Katrina. She was sweet but flawed and knew that. I loved the depiction of her anxiety. As someone with general anxiety disorder, it was interesting to read about how anxiety manifests differently for different people. I do think that if reading about panic attacks or if things that focus on anxiety trigger you, don’t pick this one up, but otherwise I really enjoyed seeing mental health displayed so openly and non-judgmentally.

Speaking of open mental health, I really loved watching Jas’s journey with his own mental health. It was so fun and heartwarming reading his journey. I’m not usually one for military/vet heroes but I think Rai approached this in a good way. Showing the issues vets have when they leave the military and how hard it is for them to adjust. Again, if you have issues reading about PTSD especially when related to war or the military sit this one out.

I also really loved how Jas and Katrina learn and grow from each other. Too often in romances, I’ve noticed only one person really grows from the ups and downs that take place in the novel and I think Rai did an excellent job of showing them growing together.

Now onto what didn’t vibe with me. Again, the pacing. It felt like nothing much happened until after the 60% mark. I get that for slow burn and pining there needs to be built up, but I think it could have a better balance between establishing the tropes and keeping the pace up so the story doesn’t get boring. I took a pretty big break in the middle of this book because the plot didn’t keep me interested until later in the book.

That being said, this book still drew out my emotions. (Warning vague spoilers ahead I think) I found myself cheering for Katrina and Jas out loud when they were able to defeat their personal demons. I teared up when they couldn’t. I laughed out loud at several situations. It was overall, a joy to read. Like I said, if panic attacks, anxiety talk, and PTSD talk trigger you, I’d sit this one out but otherwise it’s a great depiction of mental health, overcoming obstacles, and still being able to find love. 
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