applepip archives: Girl Online: Going Solo by Zoella BOOK REVIEW
Just a little explanation before this post- this is a book review I published in March 2017 on my other blog, Accio Books. However, I have decided to solely focus on this blog from now on, so I am going to be moving those posts onto this blog, as well as my really old blog posts, back from when I was about 12 on my first blog, in a little series called applepip archives! This is the first of those, I hope you enjoy reading it :)
This is the third book in the Girl Online series written by Zoe Sugg, also known as Zoella. The 27-year-old who started out as a YouTuber soon became a household name and has now turned her hand to writing books. Girl Online, the first book in the series, was released on 25th November 2014, followed by Girl Online: On Tour on 20th October 2015 and now Girl Online: Going Solo, on 17th November 2016.
Before reading any more of this review, I suggest you may want to read the first two books first, as this review may contain spoilers for the first two!
However, for those of you who have already read the first two: Let's begin!
The book is set in Penny's hometown of Brighton, just like the first two. In an attempt to resolve the problems in her and Megan's rocky friendship, Penny travels up to London to visit Megan at her prestigious Performing Arts School, the Madame Laplage School for the Arts. Whilst there, she uncovers some interesting truths about what Megan is up to, as well as making some new friends- Posey, a talented performer with awful stage fright, and Callum, a charming photographer from Scotland. However, when Penny tries to help Posey with overcoming her stage fright, things go from bad to worse...
Meanwhile, everyone's favourite couple, Alexiot, are still together! However, Elliot is going through a rough time with his family. Read the book to find out what happens as things get tough...
Of course, Penny is still busy with her photography! She needs to find something that is "uniquely Penny" for an assignment, something she is struggling with. Her anxiety issues also come to light again as she attends a Halloween party Megan puts on.
And of course, there is Noah. Noah Flynn, worldwide superstar. After quitting the tour, no-one has heard from him in ages. This worries Sadie-Lee and Bella and when they turn up on Penny's doorstep, Penny has no idea what is going on with him!
I really enjoyed this book, albeit targeted to a slightly younger audience than many of the books I read. I would say this book would be most enjoyed by children aged between 11 and 16, although it has great messages for people of all ages.
Although I wasn't particularly a fan of Zoella when I first started reading the series, what drew me to the books was the beautiful covers as well as the photography aspect of the books, as photography happens to be a hobby of mine! These days, however, I am also a firm fan of Zoë, especially her vlog-style videos. I started my own YouTube channel, applepip, a while back, however, I have struggled to find time to make videos- the same goes with writing content for this blog! Never mind, once my GCSEs are over, I'll have loads of free time (over summer, at least)!
One slight criticism would be the writing style in some areas of the book, specifically where direct speech is involved, for example:
""Noooo! I love that you talk like a New Yorker." I attempt an American drawl for that, but it comes out a terrible mix, somewhere between Irish, Indian and French."
In my opinion, this sounds rather cheesy and fake- not something you would actually say in a conversation... However, the book has some gems, too, such as:
This is the third book in the Girl Online series written by Zoe Sugg, also known as Zoella. The 27-year-old who started out as a YouTuber soon became a household name and has now turned her hand to writing books. Girl Online, the first book in the series, was released on 25th November 2014, followed by Girl Online: On Tour on 20th October 2015 and now Girl Online: Going Solo, on 17th November 2016.
Before reading any more of this review, I suggest you may want to read the first two books first, as this review may contain spoilers for the first two!
However, for those of you who have already read the first two: Let's begin!
The book is set in Penny's hometown of Brighton, just like the first two. In an attempt to resolve the problems in her and Megan's rocky friendship, Penny travels up to London to visit Megan at her prestigious Performing Arts School, the Madame Laplage School for the Arts. Whilst there, she uncovers some interesting truths about what Megan is up to, as well as making some new friends- Posey, a talented performer with awful stage fright, and Callum, a charming photographer from Scotland. However, when Penny tries to help Posey with overcoming her stage fright, things go from bad to worse...
Meanwhile, everyone's favourite couple, Alexiot, are still together! However, Elliot is going through a rough time with his family. Read the book to find out what happens as things get tough...
Of course, Penny is still busy with her photography! She needs to find something that is "uniquely Penny" for an assignment, something she is struggling with. Her anxiety issues also come to light again as she attends a Halloween party Megan puts on.
And of course, there is Noah. Noah Flynn, worldwide superstar. After quitting the tour, no-one has heard from him in ages. This worries Sadie-Lee and Bella and when they turn up on Penny's doorstep, Penny has no idea what is going on with him!
I really enjoyed this book, albeit targeted to a slightly younger audience than many of the books I read. I would say this book would be most enjoyed by children aged between 11 and 16, although it has great messages for people of all ages.
Although I wasn't particularly a fan of Zoella when I first started reading the series, what drew me to the books was the beautiful covers as well as the photography aspect of the books, as photography happens to be a hobby of mine! These days, however, I am also a firm fan of Zoë, especially her vlog-style videos. I started my own YouTube channel, applepip, a while back, however, I have struggled to find time to make videos- the same goes with writing content for this blog! Never mind, once my GCSEs are over, I'll have loads of free time (over summer, at least)!
One slight criticism would be the writing style in some areas of the book, specifically where direct speech is involved, for example:
""Noooo! I love that you talk like a New Yorker." I attempt an American drawl for that, but it comes out a terrible mix, somewhere between Irish, Indian and French."
In my opinion, this sounds rather cheesy and fake- not something you would actually say in a conversation... However, the book has some gems, too, such as:
"One thing I've learnt recently is that blowing out someone else's candle doesn't make yours shine any brighter"
and
"There's enough room for everyone to do the thing they're good at".
Overall, I think this is a great feel-good book or one to cosy up with on the sofa or in bed. Although the writing style feels cheesy to me in places, I appreciate that the target audience is probably people slightly younger than me (I would say about 11-13). In order to appeal to a wider demographic, my one suggestion would be to look again at the writing style. However, I still really enjoyed the book and am actually going to read this again once I have finished writing this blog post!
Score: 7/10
Thanks for reading!
Pip
ISBN: 978-0-141-37217-4
Pages: 324
Price: £12.99
Comments
Post a Comment