Review: Girl Online

Title: Girl Online (Girl Online #1)

Author: Zoe Sugg, ghostwritten by Siobhan Curham
Publisher: Penguin Books
Year published: 2015
How I got this book: I got it as a present for christmas
My rating: 4 stars

Goodreads synopsis:
I had no idea GirlOnline would take off the way it has - I can't believe I now have 5432 followers, thanks so much! - and the thought of opening up to you all about this is terrifying, but here goes...

Penny has a secret.

Under the alias GirlOnline, she blogs about school dramas, boys, her mad, whirlwind family - and the panic attacks she's suffered from lately. When things go from bad to worse, her family whisks her away to New York, where she meets the gorgeous, guitar-strumming Noah. Suddenly Penny is falling in love - and capturing every moment of it on her blog.

But Noah has a secret too. One that threatens to ruin Penny's cover - and her closest friendship - forever.

My thoughts:
I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. One of my friends told me that this book was really disappointing, so I didn't want to go in with high expectations. I really like Zoe's videos on youtube, and because I watch her videos, I read this with her voice in my head. I caught myself looking for similarities in Penny's life, and in Zoe's. 

I read this book in one sitting, though that wasn't planned. I started to read it at night to relax a bit, and kept telling myself "just one more chapter, then I'll turn off the lights". Before I knew it, the book was finished and I actually wanted to read the next one.

The characters in this book were all relatable, in some way or another. The plot wasn't anything new, but still felt a bit refreshing. 

I remember that there was a bit of a "scandal" with this book a while ago, because it turned out Zoe didn't write it herself. She had a ghostwriter that wasn't mentioned at all. However, on goodreads it now says that it was ghostwritten by Siobhan Curham. The writing was good, and I have no doubt that that was because of the ghostwriter. I still found the idea and plot good as well, and I just enjoyed this book. 

This isn't a book that will stick with me forever, or made me think that much. It brings attention to anxiety and panic attacks, which I think is wonderful, and I also think it's dealt with in a good way. I don't have much more to say about this, except that if you're looking for a nice beach read or something like that, I will recommend this.

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