GIRL (In Real Life)
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- Create Date：2021-07-11 11:15:56
- Update Date：2025-09-24
- Status：finish
- Author：Tamsin Winter
- ISBN：1474978487
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Summary
What's it like to grow up online and have every tantrum， every spot - even your first period - broadcast to hundreds of thousands of followers？
Most parents try to limit their kids' online exposure。 But not Eva's。 Her parents run a hugely successful YouTube channel， and Eva is the star of the show。 But Eva is getting sick of being made to pose in stupid mum-and-daughter matching outfits for sponsored posts。 The freebies aren't worth the teasing at school。 And when an intensely humiliating "period party" post goes viral， Eva is outraged。 She's going to find a way to stop the channel， even if she has to sabotage it herself。
Most parents try to limit their kids' online exposure。 But not Eva's。 Her parents run a hugely successful YouTube channel， and Eva is the star of the show。 But Eva is getting sick of being made to pose in stupid mum-and-daughter matching outfits for sponsored posts。 The freebies aren't worth the teasing at school。 And when an intensely humiliating "period party" post goes viral， Eva is outraged。 She's going to find a way to stop the channel， even if she has to sabotage it herself。
Reviews
stefiereads
，
CW: Bullying， death of a family member。It's so hard for me to review this book。 Because I feel both feelings at the same time。 Eva our MC is a daughter of a famous family vlogger where her life has been put on display and famous even before she was born。 And she is the subject of the family's social media channels。 I feel so angry at her parents。 So reading this book made me mad。 From the very first page to the end。 Poor， poor Eva。 She did not deserve any of this from her parents。 AND at the sam CW: Bullying， death of a family member。It's so hard for me to review this book。 Because I feel both feelings at the same time。 Eva our MC is a daughter of a famous family vlogger where her life has been put on display and famous even before she was born。 And she is the subject of the family's social media channels。 I feel so angry at her parents。 So reading this book made me mad。 From the very first page to the end。 Poor， poor Eva。 She did not deserve any of this from her parents。 AND at the same time。 I am grateful that a book like this exist。 Not saying at all family vloggers are bad。 But， I am saying your kid's feelings are valid and should be respected。 Anyway for real， am I the only one feel so mad reading this book？ 。。。more
Jenn
，
Whenever I read books like this， I'm so pleased that I grew up while the Internet was still in its infancy。 （No， don't do any math， it's depressing。） The kids at my school were bad enough。 If we'd had YouTube and Twitter， Instagram。。。I can't believe kids make it out with their sanity intact， to be honest。Eva's parents run a YouTube channel about。。。something。 Parenting？ Their vlogs are very unclear about what they're actually talking about。 Whatever it is， Eva is the unwilling star。 Everything sh Whenever I read books like this， I'm so pleased that I grew up while the Internet was still in its infancy。 （No， don't do any math， it's depressing。） The kids at my school were bad enough。 If we'd had YouTube and Twitter， Instagram。。。I can't believe kids make it out with their sanity intact， to be honest。Eva's parents run a YouTube channel about。。。something。 Parenting？ Their vlogs are very unclear about what they're actually talking about。 Whatever it is， Eva is the unwilling star。 Everything she does and says is staged， posed and recorded before being shared with hundreds of thousands of viewers online。That was。。。well， still problematic， but less so， when Eva was four。 Now that she's twelve， things are getting out of hand， and something is going to have to give。 Either her parent's channel。。。or their relationship。There's so much second hand embarrassment reading this book！ Eva's parents are awful， the things they put her through。 Complicating that， it's clear they do care about her and they mean well; they aren't complete villains， like the majority of people in the real world。 They just aren't listening to her real needs and wants for anything not connected to the channel。Eva's friend group is brilliant。 I'd like to point out that there's no romance， although it's clear one character has a crush on another。 But these are twelve year olds who actually behave like twelve year olds， which is lovely to see。 （also， what's with Eva's mother telling the world that Eva is a late starter？ Is twelve late to get your period now？ That was early when I was that age！ [Again， please no math]） It's also refreshing that there's no Mean Girl; there's a male bully， who's fairly awful， and a girl who's clearly trying to steal Eva's friend， but she isn't a bully; she's catty， but not cruel。 Otherwise， the female characters are almost universally supportive and nice。BE AWARE a minor character dies， affecting Eva quite seriously。I loved this。 I think even kids who aren't Youtube stars can relate to it - we've all been embarrassed by our parents at some point！ I'd love to read more about Eva and her parents as they transition to a less-famous lifestyle， but if this is what we get， I'll be happy with it。（quick note to add I read this a few days ago and I keep going back to reread sections！ I think this is one I'll be dipping in and out of for a while。） 。。。more
Raena
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I love the cover of this book， Arty， eye catching and one of the reasons I wanted to read it。 A fresh idea which I believe will become reality for a lot of people as more and more parents are posting their children online， without their consent。 Eva’s parents have vlogged her whole life。 From her first scan picture， To her first period。 But Eva has had enough。 I enjoyed the authors writing style which was easy to read， and hard to put down。 This is a YA/Teen book and my 9 year old is currently r I love the cover of this book， Arty， eye catching and one of the reasons I wanted to read it。 A fresh idea which I believe will become reality for a lot of people as more and more parents are posting their children online， without their consent。 Eva’s parents have vlogged her whole life。 From her first scan picture， To her first period。 But Eva has had enough。 I enjoyed the authors writing style which was easy to read， and hard to put down。 This is a YA/Teen book and my 9 year old is currently reading it too。 I want to show her that life ‘online’ isn’t all it’s cracked up to be。 This is the perfect book to emphasise that。 All parents should read this， and all young adults， too。 。。。more
Rebecca Veight
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Eva has been the star of a YouTube channel run by her parents since before she was born， but now in her early teens， she is tired of the attention， teasing and humiliation。 After a particularly embarrassing '1st period party' incident， she decides this all needs to stop， even if she has to sabotage it herself。Eva's snark is pretty entertaining as is the wit of the narrative in general。 Insightful。 the author has done a great job of conveying the protagonist's feelings， helping us 'walk in her sh Eva has been the star of a YouTube channel run by her parents since before she was born， but now in her early teens， she is tired of the attention， teasing and humiliation。 After a particularly embarrassing '1st period party' incident， she decides this all needs to stop， even if she has to sabotage it herself。Eva's snark is pretty entertaining as is the wit of the narrative in general。 Insightful。 the author has done a great job of conveying the protagonist's feelings， helping us 'walk in her shoes'。 How she gets lost in her own drama。The hyperbole of social media and the need to be seen， plus people's obsession with celebrity life details is a main theme here。 Also the selfishness， and how self-absorbed people can be about their image。Trying to be your real self in an internet world where everything is scrutinized and people can be offended is tricky。 Respect of one's privacy and being， and also dealing with how the promise of fame and money have disrupted that。 Kids need to be kids。Eva's friendship woes are understandable but get too whiny。 Also things wrapping up nicely might be a good thing， but too easily and too quickly。With a wonderful approachable feel to it， this is a coming of age story in a 'count your likes' world that makes you think on what extent should social media define us。 How life really needs to be lived， not staged。 。。。more
Kate Henderson
，
This was such an interesting premise - so unique， and so relevant。 With more and more families becoming 'influencers' it's only a matter of time before this book becomes a reality I think。 That's why i picked this book up to read - because of the fresh idea。 I have never seen anything along these lines before。Overall I enjoyed the reading experience， I found Tamsin Winter's writing style so easy to get on with。 I sped through this。 The reason I couldn't give this a higher star rating was because This was such an interesting premise - so unique， and so relevant。 With more and more families becoming 'influencers' it's only a matter of time before this book becomes a reality I think。 That's why i picked this book up to read - because of the fresh idea。 I have never seen anything along these lines before。Overall I enjoyed the reading experience， I found Tamsin Winter's writing style so easy to get on with。 I sped through this。 The reason I couldn't give this a higher star rating was because of the unlikeable characters。 I really felt for Eva。 No matter how much she told her parents her feelings about youtube， her parents didn't listen。 This became very repetitive， and it felt uncomfortable at times。 I appreciate this will sound extreme， but it felt like child abuse at times and Eva definitely was a victim。 This didn't sit well with me。 Particularly in a YA book。I loved the concept， and adored Winter's writing style but it felt uncomfortable at times。 。。。more
Karen Barber
，
Girl （in real life） is a great teen read， broaching the topic of social media and the extent to which we invite unknown people into our lives while showing us a character trying to come to terms with who she is。Eva is - in many ways - a typical girl…but since she was young her parents have vlogged about her。 Videos of her hamster’s funeral and ‘cute’ events in her life have been viewed by thousands of people。 She’s used to her home time being carefully orchestrated to protect ‘the brand’。 As she Girl （in real life） is a great teen read， broaching the topic of social media and the extent to which we invite unknown people into our lives while showing us a character trying to come to terms with who she is。Eva is - in many ways - a typical girl…but since she was young her parents have vlogged about her。 Videos of her hamster’s funeral and ‘cute’ events in her life have been viewed by thousands of people。 She’s used to her home time being carefully orchestrated to protect ‘the brand’。 As she’s grown up， however， Eva is more conscious of how this constant presence invades her life。 Schoolmates mock her， some find it entertaining…but when her mum posts about her first period Eva decides enough is enough。Eva tries to explain her reluctance - and her parents were portrayed as highly insensitive in this regard。 But nothing changes。As we can see coming a mile off， Eva takes matters into her own hands and enlists the help of a new student to reclaim her life。 Badly thought out， messy， but it doesn’t totally backfire so Eva is happy enough and their comfortable ‘real life’ funded lifestyle isn’t affected。With the younger audience in mind it doesn’t do anything than skirt a very complex issue。 It is from Eva’s perspective so it’s quite easy to see it in isolation， but it’s a good starting point。Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this prior to publication in exchange for my honest review。 。。。more
Vandana
，
Girl in real life was a brilliant quick read that had online fame， drama， family and friendship！The plot followed Eva Anderson who would want anything but her online fame on her parents' YouTube channel She comes up with a plan with her friend Carys to stop her life being shared in public。The writing was very engaging with a unique entertaining voice。 The plot was reflective and showed how online fame can be damaging to kids。 I was thoroughly entertained and I definitely enjoyed reading this！Tha Girl in real life was a brilliant quick read that had online fame， drama， family and friendship！The plot followed Eva Anderson who would want anything but her online fame on her parents' YouTube channel She comes up with a plan with her friend Carys to stop her life being shared in public。The writing was very engaging with a unique entertaining voice。 The plot was reflective and showed how online fame can be damaging to kids。 I was thoroughly entertained and I definitely enjoyed reading this！Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the E-arc。 All opinions are my own。 。。。more
Sophie
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I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley。 This in no way impacted on my view。While some people may relish the fame that comes from being a Youtube star， for Eva， she's been famous since before she was even born。 Her entire childhood has been out there for the world to see， and it's never been harder than when her mam vlogs her first period， and Year 8 has become beyond embarrassing。 Eva wants nothing more than for the channel to stop， or at the very least not completely I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley。 This in no way impacted on my view。While some people may relish the fame that comes from being a Youtube star， for Eva， she's been famous since before she was even born。 Her entire childhood has been out there for the world to see， and it's never been harder than when her mam vlogs her first period， and Year 8 has become beyond embarrassing。 Eva wants nothing more than for the channel to stop， or at the very least not completely invade her privacy。 Her newest friend， Carys， knows her way around a computer， and together they try to interrupt the channel - but with Eva's parents listen？Now， as soon as I started reading this book， I was hooked， and understood Eva so much！ As a teacher， I've seen the struggles some students have when private topics come to public light， and the way that some people - mainly boys - react to topics such as puberty， periods， and general teenage life。 Eva， for me， totally embodied a modern teenager， one who's whole life had known the online world， and social media， and who was starting to realise the pitfalls that being connected can bring with it。 Her parents， to me， were annoying， and though they clearly did love Eva - having tried so long to have children， they adored her - they also treated her like a commodity at times， or as a child with no autonomy over what people know about her。 I mean， she clearly told her mam she didn't want anything about her period being spoken about - she didn't even want her dad to know about it - but then her mam turns around and makes the entire thing all about herself， and how 'her baby has all grown up'。 Honestly， that part made me sick， and I wanted to console Eva！ Yes， some parts of the book were a little over the top， but it was also very heartfelt， and real， and I'll be recommending it to my students once it's released！ 。。。more
Sophie
，
I have read all of Tamsin Winter's books and I think this one is my favourite of the three。 I love reading about famous people， and this one was a lot different to any other book about famous people I have read， because Eva does not want to be famous and this book is about her trying to escape the fame that her parents have forced her into。 I really enjoyed Eva as a main character and loved that she was not a perfect person and would make mistakes constantly but was able to own up to them in the I have read all of Tamsin Winter's books and I think this one is my favourite of the three。 I love reading about famous people， and this one was a lot different to any other book about famous people I have read， because Eva does not want to be famous and this book is about her trying to escape the fame that her parents have forced her into。 I really enjoyed Eva as a main character and loved that she was not a perfect person and would make mistakes constantly but was able to own up to them in the end。 I really liked that sometimes it felt like Eva was speaking directly to the audience and hinting to what was going to happen next in the story。 I felt like this made the story more exciting and made me want to read on to know what thing Eva was going to do next in order to try and ruin her parents YouTube channel。 I feel like this book is a really good children's book， just like all of Tamsin Winter's other books and it is definitely very entertaining to read。 Also the cover of this book is beautiful and one of the main reasons I wanted to pick this book up。Thank you to Usborne Publishing for providing me with an advance copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review。 。。。more
Oriana Blyth （_head_in_a_book）
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Thank you so much @usborneya and @netgalley for approving me to read this AMAZING BOOK！！！！！ I am a huge fan of Tamsin Winter and in my opinion she writes the BEST young adult fiction！！Girl In Real Life is just brilliant， we follow Eva， who’s parents have a YouTube channel following their lives。 Except Eva has had enough。 She doesn’t want every single bit of her life being shared with their fans， the For-Eva’s， no matter how “on brand” it might be！For me this book is everything that is wrong with Thank you so much @usborneya and @netgalley for approving me to read this AMAZING BOOK！！！！！ I am a huge fan of Tamsin Winter and in my opinion she writes the BEST young adult fiction！！Girl In Real Life is just brilliant， we follow Eva， who’s parents have a YouTube channel following their lives。 Except Eva has had enough。 She doesn’t want every single bit of her life being shared with their fans， the For-Eva’s， no matter how “on brand” it might be！For me this book is everything that is wrong with these YouTube family vloggers （purely my opinion） My daughter watches loads of this kind of stuff and I just struggle with it， so I found the story completely relatable！！ It’s wonderfully written and the story flows perfectly。There are some fabulous supporting characters， such as Spud and Carys and quite honestly I was devastated when the book finished！！All in all this is sheer young adult perfection and I cannot wait for more people to read this amazing book！！！ 。。。more
Natasha
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Being a teenager can be tough at the best of times—spots， bad hair days and of course， PERIODS！ But when your parents broadcast all of your most embarrassing moments to hundreds of thousands of people it’s bound to be even worse。 For Eva， her parents wilfully successful YouTube channel revolves around her and her most embarrassing milestones。 It’s not enough that she’s constantly ridicule for it， but when her parents’ post about her period goes viral， Eva decides to do something drastic。 Even if Being a teenager can be tough at the best of times—spots， bad hair days and of course， PERIODS！ But when your parents broadcast all of your most embarrassing moments to hundreds of thousands of people it’s bound to be even worse。 For Eva， her parents wilfully successful YouTube channel revolves around her and her most embarrassing milestones。 It’s not enough that she’s constantly ridicule for it， but when her parents’ post about her period goes viral， Eva decides to do something drastic。 Even if she has to sabotage herself。An absolutely heartfelt coming-of-age tale that was equal parts funny and thought provoking。 The premise was definitely intriguing， a great starting point for discussion on consent of minors and the psychological ramifications social media can have on young people， especially when their entire lives have been posted for the world to see。 It did sort of remind me of the teens who sued their parents for posting their childhood pictures to social media without their consent。 Also， although Tamsin Winter does tackle （and highlight） some important and complex topics， it’s definitely still fairly light in tone， which I’d say suits the younger teen audience this is geared towards。I particularly enjoyed how well-written the characters were， I loved that although Eva’s parents are technically the antagonists， they are superbly written。 They could’ve easily veered into vaudevillian caricature’s， but instead Winter gives us two flawed and complex characters that are difficult to truly hate。 In fact， all of the characters are well rounded and relatable to a degree。 I’d have to say Eva and Carys were my absolute favourite characters though spud was also a really entertaining support character。 I’d recommend to Coming Of Age or Contemporary YA fans though， it is at the younger end of the YA genre。 Overall it was thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining—definitely worth a read。 I’d also like to thank Usborne Publishing and NetGalley for the Digital ARC。 。。。more
Fatima
，
The concept of family vloggers has long interested me， particularly those parents who film their children from before the kids are even born or from an age before they can even talk。 These kids’ lives are documented on video and posted on the internet for anyone to see。 The discussion over whether it’s ethically okay for kids to be filmed and the content posted to the internet when they can’t consent has been ongoing for a long time and is definitely a complicated one。 So， I was really intrigued The concept of family vloggers has long interested me， particularly those parents who film their children from before the kids are even born or from an age before they can even talk。 These kids’ lives are documented on video and posted on the internet for anyone to see。 The discussion over whether it’s ethically okay for kids to be filmed and the content posted to the internet when they can’t consent has been ongoing for a long time and is definitely a complicated one。 So， I was really intrigued by the concept of this book， being about a girl， Eva， whose parents have been posting weekly vlogs since before she was born and whose entire life has been documented on her parents’ YouTube channel。 However， Eva doesn’t feel comfortable with her life being shared online and decides to push back at her parents’ insistence that she takes part in the vlogs。 I think I went into this book with slightly misplaced expectations。 My interest and excitement at reading a book on this topic blinded me to the fact that this is a book for younger readers and so it can’t delve too deeply into what is certainly a complex topic。 The protagonist is 12 years old and the book is very much written for readers of around that age; with this in mind I definitely think it was a well-written book with an engaging plot that many young readers of that age will enjoy and maybe even relate to。 Aside from the main topic it also touches on friendship， friendship break-ups， and bullying， among other topics that young teens would find relatable。 So， if you’re an older reader， keep that in mind and don’t make the same mistake as me of expecting it to be written for a slightly older audience – this is definitely aimed at a younger teen/YA audience。Generally， I thought the author did a fairly good job of writing a story that is both an easy and fun read and tackles an important and complex topic。 However， I do think the issue of the consent of minors could have been taken a bit more seriously。 Eva’s parents ignoring her wishes， guilt-tripping her into going along with things and generally putting an immense amount of pressure on a child to do something she feels uncomfortable with because her family’s income and security depends on it is， without exaggeration， a form of child abuse。 However， I felt Eva’s parents were portrayed as slightly annoying and maybe a bit too obsessed with their YouTube channel but ultimately caring and capable parents。 Almost everybody else also dismisses Eva’s discomfort at being on YouTube and basically gaslights her into thinking she’s overreacting and should be grateful for everything she has。 This is something that I don’t think is challenged enough in this book， particularly in the third act when Eva takes “drastic action” （which arguably wasn’t really that drastic as it was her only option considering her parents kept ignoring her repeated pleas for privacy） to cut herself off from her parents’ vlogs， the reaction to which doesn’t， I feel， do enough to highlight that Eva was correct to stand up for herself and her right to privacy and shouldn’t be made to feel guilty for it。It’s very likely that I’m being overly sensitive and overreacting， particularly as this is meant to be a fairly light-hearted book for younger readers， but I think when covering a topic such as this you should be over cautious about the message younger readers are getting from it and it should be highlighted that the parents’ behaviour is not acceptable and cannot be excused。 I think if you plan to get this book for a younger reader then it would be helpful to also have a conversation with them about the topic and help them to understand that defending their right to privacy is okay。I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review。 。。。more
☆Pelumi☆ （On major hiatus）
，
Thanks to Netgally and Usborne publishing for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest reviewOMG！I loved this so much， it was a bit cheesy， sort of predictable and maybe you might even think its absolute trash but guess what？！ I'm absolute trash for it！This book follows Eva， a popular youtuber whose parents have been posting about her even before she was born！ Her parents are the ones managing the YouTube channel and they post stuff about her from adverts to her everyday life activities。 The Thanks to Netgally and Usborne publishing for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest reviewOMG！I loved this so much， it was a bit cheesy， sort of predictable and maybe you might even think its absolute trash but guess what？！ I'm absolute trash for it！This book follows Eva， a popular youtuber whose parents have been posting about her even before she was born！ Her parents are the ones managing the YouTube channel and they post stuff about her from adverts to her everyday life activities。 The YouTube channel is pretty popular with almost a half million subscribers。 Things aren't going so well as Eva gets teased about the channel a lot in school but shit really gets real when her parents post about HER FIRST PERIOD（WTF！！！）She decides to take laws into her hands， she's basically like "you know what bitches？？ Imma stop this channel myself since you hoes refuse to listen to me！" （She didn't say that but this would have been much better if she did :D）。Basically， she sabotages her own channel with the help of her friend。 Mistakes are made， secrets are exposed and things really go down hill。 I lived it！The plot was pretty fast but a bit slow（It was fast at the beginning but towards the end of the reveal， it just dragged。。。）The characters were quirky and some of them a bit funny， but like they could be cringey sometimes。。。I loved the resolution of the story and I would recommend this to anyone looking for a cute， fluffy and light read。 I loved the representation of young youtubers who are exposed to fame when they're a little too young。 It also takes on how much hate comments affect their everyday lives。Being famous is cool until your parents post about your period like wth， who does that？？ 。。。more
Sam B
，
I'm not the target demographic for this book however I have heard a lot about family vloggers and always wondered what would happen when these children grew up and hated that their life was on the internet？ This story deals with that situation and I found it extremely interesting。 The way Tamsin wrote， it reminded me of how I felt when I was in school （I won't lie， I really hated Gabi） and the struggles of navigating friendships， especially with kids you'd known for so long。 I think at times the I'm not the target demographic for this book however I have heard a lot about family vloggers and always wondered what would happen when these children grew up and hated that their life was on the internet？ This story deals with that situation and I found it extremely interesting。 The way Tamsin wrote， it reminded me of how I felt when I was in school （I won't lie， I really hated Gabi） and the struggles of navigating friendships， especially with kids you'd known for so long。 I think at times the parent's were a little too naïve but overall， I liked how it was handled。 I think this would be a great book for young teens to read， especially if they wished they were famous on the internet！ 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=GIRL (In Real Life)
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=GIRL (In Real Life)&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,GIRL (In Real Life)&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0