Month: February 2018

Girl Online: Going Solo Book Review!

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment



Remember when I read the first Girl Online book and I said that the series wasn’t for me? Well, that was a lie.

Maybe not a complete one but still a lie. Especially since I have just finished reading the third book of the series.
Somehow Zoe managed to completely change her writing from the first book to the second and then kept up the momentum in the third book. Part of me likes to think it’s because she decided to ditch the ghostwriter.
So yes, here I am reviewing the third and final(?) instalment of the Girl Online series.
This story follows Penny Porter trying to get her life back to normal after breaking up with Noah and leaving his tour. She begins focusing on her photography and helping a new friend overcome stage fright.
Honestly, the story is nothing spectacular. I found the second book more gripping but it’s not like this one lacked any action.
I think it’s important to enjoy the “fluffy” stories like this one. And by that I mean no one dies (spoiler alert) and it’s got an overall upbeat tone. All my TV shows are very serious and full of mystery so I think it’s nice that the books I read don’t also have the same tone. It’s a nice break.
But even though no one died and there weren’t huge mysteries to be solved the book still had a lot going on.
It took me a while to come back to the world of Girl Online though because I couldn’t remember anything that happened in the first or second books. So the beginning of the book for me was kind of slow mainly because I was taking time to piece together what had even happened in the past to lead up to the current situation in the book.
But it didn’t take long for me to be sucked in. I guess it helped that I took some time off work and wanted to read something. So I got through very quickly. One thing that helped was that once the ball started rolling and action was happening it kept going. It made me want to read more. I wanted to know what was gonna happen with Penny and her potential new love interest. I was freaking out when I found out Noah came back. I needed to know who leaked Leah’s song.
And like I said, none of these things are actually that shocking or even big mysteries. It’s the writing that kept me coming back.
With the first book, I felt like the series was aimed at a younger audience because the language was very basic and not very interesting from what I remember. Since then Zoe has definitely stepped it up with the writing. So I’m a fan. I even got emotional towards the end when Penny finally got to meet the mysterious Pegasus Girl.
I think overall it’s a good read. Something kind of fun and lighthearted but also opening up about anxiety which is a thing we know Zoe suffers with on a daily basis. I liked that this time it wasn’t about Penny’s anxiety and it was about someone else’s. It’s important to show that anxiety can be triggered by lots of things and affect people’s lives in many different ways on different things.
I don’t think I have anything negative to say about the book other than maybe that I’m not a fan of Penny and Noah getting back together again. At least I felt like it shouldn’t have been right away after he disappeared and everything. But it is just a fictional story so I’m not too bothered by it. Of course, they were gonna get back together again. Gotta have that happy ending. I just think if you call the book Girl Online: Going Solo you assume Penny is gonna continue on with no man by her side. And she did for the most part.
So those were all my thoughts on Girl Online: Going Solo! Would I hope for another book in the series? I don’t think so. I feel like this was a good ending for Penny and her adventures. And I don’t think Zoe has hinted about there being another one. So I’m happy to leave this series as it is.
Now the only question is what will my next book be? I’m definitely enjoying reading again so now I’ve picked up momentum I’m definitely not stopping.
So follow me on Goodreads if you wanna know what I’m gonna be making my way through next. And let me know if you’ve got any recommendations for me because I’d love to hear them!
~ Courtney x

Wilde Like Me Book Review

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment
 
 
I picked up Louise’s book one day at Tesco after I had just moved house. I thought I should get back into reading and so if I bought a book then it would encourage me to read. That was a lie.
It sat on my bedside table for months. And finally, at the start of the year, I picked it up to read.
For my first book of the year, I would say it was a good one. I enjoyed it. I think it’s great when a YouTuber decides to write fiction rather than a memoir. Mainly because a lot of them are still young and maybe don’t have a lot of stories/experiences to share that they haven’t already shared online. And I usually prefer fiction to reading about people’s real lives.
This book is about Robin Wilde, a single mum struggling with depression and also trying to be the best mum possible. Very different from my normal reads that consist of teenager/high school drama. But also a welcome change.
I enjoyed the story a lot. I think it was interesting to learn about the struggles of being a single mum. Obviously, I can’t relate because I haven’t had a child but I can imagine it’s not an easy thing. That being said I did find Robin very relatable and I think that’s due to Louise’s writing style. It’s very casual and conversational like most other YouTuber books.
That being said that’s not always a good thing. Because of the style of writing and the way Robin acted it was hard to picture Robin as her own character. Throughout the book, I was constantly imagining Louise. The storyline is very similar to things that Louise has been through in her life. And I know people say it’s better to write what you know but I feel like I was expecting something more.
I kind of felt similar vibes in Girl Online when I read it. Zoe does pull on her own experiences with anxiety for that book but at the same time, it’s very much more fiction than based on her life.
But aside from picturing Louise instead of Robin, I enjoyed reading the book. I thought it was fun to learn about Robin’s first experience with online dating and also found the way she talked about depression interesting. I think she described it well in terms of it being “the Emptiness”.
Though I do feel that things happened to turn around very quickly in the book. For the longest time, we saw Robin struggling with everything, parenting, depression, dating, her job and then all of a sudden everything just turns out all right at the end. I guess it’s not a bad thing to want a happy ending I just felt it came on very fast.
I do like that Robin is surrounded by a lot of positive and strong women in her life though. That’s something I can always appreciate. I’m all for girl power and this book has a lot of that.
As for the age group for this book, I wanna say young adults. I don’t think younger viewers of Louise’s channel would be interested in it and as for older people, I don’t quite know. I guess it depends on what kind of writing you like. But it is one of those books that you can read at any age. (Possibly not children as I just remembered they do talk about sex…)
And how it compares to other YouTuber books I think it’s somewhere in the middle. I think it’s a nice read, and in a way, you get to know a version of Louise. Though as most YouTuber books aren’t fiction it is hard to do a real comparison.
Overall I did enjoy the book for what it was. Didn’t know what to expect when I jumped into it but I am glad I took a chance on it. Will I read a sequel if one arises? I don’t know. I might give it a go – it could be like Girl Online where I end up loving it. But I guess we shall see what the future holds.
But until then I am on to my next book which, funny enough happens to be the third book in the Girl Online series. I think it’s about time I got around to it, the book has been sitting on my bookshelf for over a year now. So hopefully I will have another book review for you soon.

 

~ Courtney x