Book Review: Girl Online: Going Solo by Zoe Sugg

 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

World Book Day 2017

 Welcome back!


Recently, it was World Book Day 2017, an event which my school loves to celebrate every year. Last year, I dressed up as Isabelle Lightwood from The Mortal Instruments, complete with runes, stele and even a (plastic) sword! Yes, I know, Izzy uses her awesome electrum whip in the books, but I just couldn't find one for sale anywhere!! My friend Amber also dressed up as Izzy that year, so that was fun- we decided in the end that she could be Maia instead to avoid confusion! I love the Mortal Instruments so much- I almost went as Magnus Bane this year!




 In the end, however, I decided to do my most simple costume ever! I dug my pig onesie out of my wardrobe and went as Wilbur the pig, from Charlotte's Web! I actually haven't read this book in years, despite my best efforts to find it in both the school library and the town library. However, it still stands as one of my favourite books from my childhood.




 The first problem occurred when I realised I would have to travel on the school bus in my costume. It would have been fine if it was just students from my school on the bus, however, there are students from other local schools on it, as well as people travelling into town. I decided to wear a black top and leggings to the bus stop and whilst on the bus, and then put my onesie on when I got to school.


 This decision, however, meant that the people from my school at the bus stop/ on the bus kept asking "What's your costume supposed to be?" as our school has a uniform, so they assumed this must be my costume- I had my onesie stuffed into my bag.


 Once I got to school, I rushed to form and put my onesie on over my clothes, before any teachers stopped me to question me on my costume! Some of my friends thought my choice of costume was crazy, but that's kind of what I was going for! One of the reasons I love World Book Day is because we have the freedom to dress up as whoever/ whatever we like (within reason!) No-one else in my friendship group dressed up this year, however, plenty of other people did! I even found myself a Fern to go with my Wilbur! Some of the teachers made a great effort, too- my Geography teacher came as Madame Hooch from Harry Potter (the Quidditch coach)- the resemblance was actually uncanny! The entire English department decided to follow a Jane Eyre theme this year, as this is one of the book we are studying for GCSE English. My English teacher was Jane, whilst others included Bertha, Mr Brocklehurst and St. John.


 It was a great day overall, and our form even almost won the WBD Quiz, thanks to my superior Harry Potter knowledge, of course... ;)


 Did you celebrate World Book Day? Or do you have any childhood World Book Day memories you'd like to share? Feel free to comment down below!


Pip x