I remember when Girl Online got so popular years ago. I heard about the first book when I was still writing on my first Polish blog called Laura’s Diary – My Awesome Life. Well, this book came out in 2014, Girl Online: On Tour in 2015 and Girl Online Solo in 2016. I was writing my first novel in a form of blog in 2014-2015 and never published the ending of my story. Why do I compare these two works here? You will find out reading this post.

Zoe Sugg is a British fashion blogger known also as Zoella. She’s also a YT-er and writer. Girl Online was her first book but she published more books since then. It’s also known that she didn’t write her books completely on her own but I want to discuss here something else…

Girl Online Trilogy is about the blogger who met a boy who happened to be a rock star. Later she goes on tour with him and then in the third book Penny is trying to find out who she really is and what she wants. All these books are a perfect example of young adult genre. And a romance. But it’s also about making dreams come true… And friendships (I like Elliot very much, he’s a great dude).

Now I must say this story is something so close to my heart that I just was making jokes like “how strange that I’m not the author of this book”… My first novel will come out in a better shape this spring and then you will realize what I mean! And… Well… We all have secrets and one day you will understand even better what I mean saying “I know how you felt, Penny”. But well… I’m also a blogger, after all!

Another thing that was surprising to me was how similar some scenes from the Girl Online Trilogy are to those from my Laura’s Diary. Me and Zoe were writing these books in the same time and I don’t know, she’s my soul mate or we were inspired by the same things. That’s truly something unbelievable. I bought these books in 2020 but I’ve read them now in January 2023 (my studies never let me read too much for pleasure) so I’ve just discovered these similarities. In the meantime I work on turning my first fan fiction into an original novel so it’s so fresh. Also, it was my first ever prose written when I was just 15-17 years old so after five years of literary studies it’s also a hard work on making it look professional. I mean editing, formatting and simply rewriting. If you’re Polish, you can take a look at the very first version of this novel here:

https://followandlistentoyourheart.blogspot.com/

Or maybe you remember me when I was so young and I was just learning who I want to be just like the main character of the book this post is about…? I guess it must be interesting for people who has known me from the very beginning and saw how I have been developing my writing skills…

Well, it’s time to say few things about the Girl Online and nothing in between. At first few things that I loved about the trilogy. Well, almost…

1. Girl Online is a book that made me feel sentimental thinking about 2014 in every possible way. I truly recommend this book because this story is so sweet and just beautiful. Just read it to find out what I mean! I don’t want to spoil anything… Though I believe it’s impossible to write a review without discussing the book… But let’s try to describe it in the best possible way… Hmm… A bullied girl realizes she’s a lucky one. Maybe all those the worst experiences are the price she had to pay to be in a better place?
2. Girl Online: On Tour starts like a dream and then things get a little rough. I still recommend this book very much but it made me feel quite unstable emotionally. I have my reasons… I won’t say more about this… But anyways… These two books are really worth reading.
3. Girl Online Solo is the only book that I can say I recommend if you want to find out what future brought. To be honest… I enjoyed this book only in 50%. The half of this book seemed boring to me because I believe one of main characters shouldn’t have disappeared and suddenly appear in the middle of the story. Honestly, it gets much more interesting in the middle and the ending brought few pretty scenes (one is a holiday, the second one is the comeback to the place from the beginning; we call it a compositional brace; and the very final scene is like a dream again). Well, previous books were surprising to me and fascinating and here… Some chapters were unfortunately too predictable…

There is one thing that wasn’t said in the last book and I believe I must say it now and that’s the second part of my thoughts on this trilogy. I think there is a simple solution what Penny and Noah can do to be themselves and happy in their relationship at the same time. They’re 27 and 25 now, I guess, and they still live in the land called unwritten paradise like… He put out few records and she’s a successful photographer who is finally done with education. He goes on tour with her by his side again and… She’s not afraid anymore (well, her fear was an extreme one here indeed…). I imagine she has a job to do there as well and that’s… Being a very personal Noah’s tour photographer! Wouldn’t it be simple and beautiful?

I also must say few things about feminism which I can see so clearly in the 3rd book. Penny Porter is a girl who wants to be independent, have you guys noticed? She’s not the one who gives up on anything. She’s not the one who runs away from problems, she’s trying to face it. She’s a really strong young lady. And I guess she didn’t fully realize it… But I think she found her way in the end… She was ready to give up on love just to follow her dreams… I wouldn’t do such a thing, because it’s a very lonely way and maybe a little bit selfish at the same time. Things got too hard to handle for Noah and she at first couldn’t understand it. I think I would find a way to make it work and help the loved one and myself at the same time. I mean I wouldn’t let him run away like Penny did. I believe that they could run away together to find the best possible solution. Compromise is a key… But sure… It would be more romantic than feministic then.

Another thing that I want to talk about here is more of a literary subject… I mean it’s really cool to put blog posts in the story, emails or messages. It’s like the reader is following the thread of the story but also sees the sign from the official world (blog) and private at the same time (emails, messages). Normally, we wouldn’t know what kind of messages celebrities get… Here we can look behind the scenes…

I believe that’s it… Have you read these books? Let me know how it liked it commenting below!

The next post will be about the film… I won’t tell the title now because I want it to be a surprise because why not…

Until the next time!

AA