Trigger warnings: Anxiety

Update: 4/10, after I made that statement I finally read this book this year after reading an epic sci-fi adventure and I was hoping that I would enjoy this but alas I did not whatsoever so I won't pick this up again or the next two books in the series, I just found so many issues I kind of foreshadowed earlier, where do I begin. It starts off with the main character Penny living her life as usual but then she starts a new blog and goes by the name GirlOnline and I liked it at first. However only a few pages in things start to go south in the book when Penny starts to whine and I hated when that happens which was like half the time, anyways Penny is somehow privileged enough to go to New York with her family and then she meets a new character called Noah who according to her is kind of attractive and I think they fell in love instantly. I have two problems with this, one instalove is just too unrealistic and two I didn't care for either character nor their dynamic even when it grew deeper. The story takes a turn for the worst towards the end when Noah framed Penny for cheating and everyone was after her and it looked like the blog was over but after that the author somehow pulled off a high note out of nowhere when Noah was exposed not long after the framing which was strange to say the least.

Rant before reading this:
I've seen some reviews of this book, and it sounds like the worst book I've ever seen, worse than Gotham High or Maybe We're Electric. I'm not even sure if I'll finish this book without using up all of my energy. The worst parts of this book might be the concept and characters though I'll have to read it to find out. There's also some controversy about the author being a ghostwriter and got famous from vlogging and her book became a bestseller? That sounds dubious at best and outright false at worst but despite all of this I will try to read it in its entirety. ( )

This book was pretty cute and a lot of fun but felt a little be contrived at points.

Though there were a lot of things that looking back I didn't enjoy about this book, I did really enjoy reading it and found it fast paced and entertaining to follow along.

I struggled to understand why she continued to hang out and crush on a guy that she referred to perpetually as obsessed with selfies who'd already treated her unfairly. I know not every character is strongheaded, but Penny was a total pushover.

The plot twist felt a little forced to me, and I would have liked to see more foreshadowing. Also, the idea of a US/UK relationship working at their age is very unrealistic.

I really hated Penny's blogposts. I really did. She sounded so patronizing and, well, dumb, and since this was such a huge part of the book, it really detracted. I also wanted to yell at her to get it together at some points--she was very good at avoiding uncomfortable situations and going with the flow since that was what she always did.

I am also very skeptical towards her success with her blog. She blogs about everyday life and her writing style isn't particularly enticing. Also, even with all her follows, I doubt her friends at school would have discovered it.

Penny's anxiety and her struggles with dealing with a past trauma were really the only thing that gave this book literary merit.

Despite some very obvious flaws and some juvenile writing, this book was a lot of fun to read. ( )

I didn't totally hate this book, but I can tell her ghostwriter wrote it, not her. Which does bug me. This is just another book that blew up due to e-fame and I was hoping it would have some extra work in it.

It doesn't.

Definitely would have enjoyed this book better if the main character wasn't a budding nonce. The main characters are fifteen and eighteen, so in even one year it's gonna be sketchy, but it's definitely not allowed. Straight up if they were both the same age or even adults, this book would have been fine!

Who picked those ages? It felt too specific.

No thanks. ( )

Kinda cute, but bland. Cliché. It did a better job than some current books at depicting life online and it did entertain me, so being kinda generous with the rating. Might read the sequels if they fall into my lap. ( )

A very pleasant surprise!

This is a book that has been on my shelves for a good few years, so when I picked it up I was slightly anxious especially with it being a debut novel.

The anxiety was not needed! From the offset the story sucked me in & I loved the format going between the story, blog posts & texts. I am not one for contemporarys or romance but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. In fact I enjoyed it that much I read it in a matter of hours.

Will definitely be reading the rest of the series. ( )