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Through texts and messages, the mega-bestselling, beloved Internet Girls series followed the ups and downs of school for three very different, very close friends. Now it’s freshman year of college for the winsome threesome, and *everything* is different. For one, the best friends are facing their first semester apart. Way, way apart. Maddie’s in California, Zoe’s in Ohio, and Angela’s back in Georgia. And it’s not just the girls who are separated. Zoe’s worried that Doug wants to break up now that they’re at different schools, and Maddie’s boyfriend, Ian, is on the other side of the country.In the face of change and diverging paths, Maddie’s got a plan to keep the friends close, and it involves embracing the present, making memories, and . . . roller derby! Using of-the-moment technology, Lauren Myracle brings her groundbreaking series into the brave new virtual world of texting and tweets.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published August 26, 2014
54 people are currently reading
2481 people want to read
About the author
Lauren Myracle
95 books2,026 followersLauren Myracle is the author of numerous young adult novels. She was born in 1969 in North Carolina. Lauren Myracle holds an MA in English from Colorado State University and an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College. she has written many novels, including the famous IM books, ttyl, ttfn, and l8r, g8r.
Her first novel, Kissing Kate, was selected as one of ALA's "Best Books for Young Adults" for the year 2004. It was named by Booklist as one of the "Top Ten Youth Romances" of the year, as well as one of the "Top Ten Books by New Writers." Her middle-grade novel, Eleven, came out 2004, followed by its YA sequels (Twelve, Thirteen, Thirteen Plus One) .
Her first novel, Kissing Kate, was selected as one of ALA's "Best Books for Young Adults" for the year 2004. It was named by Booklist as one of the "Top Ten Youth Romances" of the year, as well as one of the "Top Ten Books by New Writers." Her middle-grade novel, Eleven, came out 2004, followed by its YA sequels (Twelve, Thirteen, Thirteen Plus One) .
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 243 reviews
January 28, 2022
Cute YA novel about best friends and love events that happen when you go to college. I enjoyed this book, reminds me of my friends and I always having one another's backs. No major climax or twists, but was a cute read throughout.
October 4, 2014
I hadn't originally intended to read this book (or this series), and I'm writing one review for the whole series. You'll see why.
What happened was I read an article on banned books, and this was mentioned. I went to Amazon to read a synopsis, and somehow my finger hit the "Buy With One-Click" or whatever button, and there it was, on my Kindle.
The Internet Girls series follows the lives of three Atlanta girls who are BFF's: wild-child Maddie, relatively normal Angela, and the quiet, bookish Zoe.
The books are written all in text message form, which--as a Lit major--should have taken me awhile to get used to. Here's the odd part: I got it immediately. I'm sitting here, writing this review, and I have text open on my phone, chats on Facebook going, and I check Twitter every few minutes.
I don't know that this series' intention was to point out the Facebookisation of the world, but it spotlighted it brilliantly. The girls text, check Facebook pages of friends and enemies alike, get into Twitter to spy on a former nemesis--it's a slice of 2014 life.
Ms. Myracle does an admirable job of showing how this technology has inculcated itself into our lives, especially those young enough never to have lived without a smartphone.
I won't go into each of the stories individually, for they basically form one seamless tale, despite covering different blocks of time.
TTYL is tenth grade; TTFN is junior year; L8TR G8TR is senior year, and the latest release--YOLO--is the "Winsome Threesome's" first year at college, and the first time they're all scattered about the country.
I liked the characters--enigmatic good-girl Zoe, especially--and the three truly have some adventures. The books are all good (though I thought TTFN was the least of the three, but still worth reading), and I can see why they were banned.
They were banned for being honest about how teenagers behave. No, there weren't sexual references on every page, nor was each book a 225 page orgy. But teenagers explore. They talk about sex. They HAVE sex. This sex thing--GASP--has been going on for years. Maybe decades or centuries. Who knows? I would suspect that as long as our species has reproduced the way we do, people have talked about it.
These four books just take it to a new level by making it CASUAL. It's not a big deal. When one character asks another about a...um, BJ, the question is answered, then they plan to go get Starbuck's. When a character decides she's ready to have sex with her boyfriend (Yikes!), she sagely goes to Planned Parenthood, gets on The Pill, and waits till she's "safe." Yes, she has sex after that, but she did so with somebody she deeply loved, and she did so responsibly.
There are other conversations that might ruffle a feather here or there, but nothing overtly awful. I don't think I'd want my Tween reading these books, but for the books' target audience--probably ninth or tenth grade and up--I can't see any real problem.
I find it highly unlikely that any girl would read these books, then run out of her convent school to become a wanton hussy.
As far as the characters, I liked the three unique personae that make up "The Winsome Threesome" (their name for themselves). They deal with high school problems--bullying, sex, homework, wanting to get their driver's licenses--as I imagine teens today do: texting, Facebook messaging, etc.
One thing I found disconcerting--but interesting--is that there is no narrative point of view. In most books, you have third-person, where we can see what everyone is doing. In others, we find first-person omniscient, where we see the story through one character's eyes, experiences, and thoughts. (We'll skip second-person). There isn't really a narrative slant here: we're just reading communications between people. There's no sense of setting. I've just read all four books, and I couldn't tell you what any of the schools, houses, streets, etc, look like. That's assumed by the three girls, because they live there.
In other words, we're not invited into their world, just into their communications. Some writers describe every lid on every trashcan on every driveway on every street. Here, there's none of that, except when it's communicated via text (what kind of clothing one or another should wear, e.g.).
"Internet Girls" is an interesting experiment, and I was drawn into it, even though I'm not usually a YA reader. If there's a fault here, some of the texts seem a bit wordy for text messages from a phone (as the character states), though not for an Instant Message on a laptop.
Were I to choose, I think YOLO would be my favorite, followed by L8RG8R, with ttfn as my least (it's fine, but there's one plot thread that felt wrong to me). Mainly, though, I <3 the Internet Girl Series
(I'm writing one review for the series, because they're all so similar in the way they're told, that I don't see the need to detail each book individually, except to say this: THEY SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN BANNED!!!)
What happened was I read an article on banned books, and this was mentioned. I went to Amazon to read a synopsis, and somehow my finger hit the "Buy With One-Click" or whatever button, and there it was, on my Kindle.
The Internet Girls series follows the lives of three Atlanta girls who are BFF's: wild-child Maddie, relatively normal Angela, and the quiet, bookish Zoe.
The books are written all in text message form, which--as a Lit major--should have taken me awhile to get used to. Here's the odd part: I got it immediately. I'm sitting here, writing this review, and I have text open on my phone, chats on Facebook going, and I check Twitter every few minutes.
I don't know that this series' intention was to point out the Facebookisation of the world, but it spotlighted it brilliantly. The girls text, check Facebook pages of friends and enemies alike, get into Twitter to spy on a former nemesis--it's a slice of 2014 life.
Ms. Myracle does an admirable job of showing how this technology has inculcated itself into our lives, especially those young enough never to have lived without a smartphone.
I won't go into each of the stories individually, for they basically form one seamless tale, despite covering different blocks of time.
TTYL is tenth grade; TTFN is junior year; L8TR G8TR is senior year, and the latest release--YOLO--is the "Winsome Threesome's" first year at college, and the first time they're all scattered about the country.
I liked the characters--enigmatic good-girl Zoe, especially--and the three truly have some adventures. The books are all good (though I thought TTFN was the least of the three, but still worth reading), and I can see why they were banned.
They were banned for being honest about how teenagers behave. No, there weren't sexual references on every page, nor was each book a 225 page orgy. But teenagers explore. They talk about sex. They HAVE sex. This sex thing--GASP--has been going on for years. Maybe decades or centuries. Who knows? I would suspect that as long as our species has reproduced the way we do, people have talked about it.
These four books just take it to a new level by making it CASUAL. It's not a big deal. When one character asks another about a...um, BJ, the question is answered, then they plan to go get Starbuck's. When a character decides she's ready to have sex with her boyfriend (Yikes!), she sagely goes to Planned Parenthood, gets on The Pill, and waits till she's "safe." Yes, she has sex after that, but she did so with somebody she deeply loved, and she did so responsibly.
There are other conversations that might ruffle a feather here or there, but nothing overtly awful. I don't think I'd want my Tween reading these books, but for the books' target audience--probably ninth or tenth grade and up--I can't see any real problem.
I find it highly unlikely that any girl would read these books, then run out of her convent school to become a wanton hussy.
As far as the characters, I liked the three unique personae that make up "The Winsome Threesome" (their name for themselves). They deal with high school problems--bullying, sex, homework, wanting to get their driver's licenses--as I imagine teens today do: texting, Facebook messaging, etc.
One thing I found disconcerting--but interesting--is that there is no narrative point of view. In most books, you have third-person, where we can see what everyone is doing. In others, we find first-person omniscient, where we see the story through one character's eyes, experiences, and thoughts. (We'll skip second-person). There isn't really a narrative slant here: we're just reading communications between people. There's no sense of setting. I've just read all four books, and I couldn't tell you what any of the schools, houses, streets, etc, look like. That's assumed by the three girls, because they live there.
In other words, we're not invited into their world, just into their communications. Some writers describe every lid on every trashcan on every driveway on every street. Here, there's none of that, except when it's communicated via text (what kind of clothing one or another should wear, e.g.).
"Internet Girls" is an interesting experiment, and I was drawn into it, even though I'm not usually a YA reader. If there's a fault here, some of the texts seem a bit wordy for text messages from a phone (as the character states), though not for an Instant Message on a laptop.
Were I to choose, I think YOLO would be my favorite, followed by L8RG8R, with ttfn as my least (it's fine, but there's one plot thread that felt wrong to me). Mainly, though, I <3 the Internet Girl Series
(I'm writing one review for the series, because they're all so similar in the way they're told, that I don't see the need to detail each book individually, except to say this: THEY SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN BANNED!!!)
July 14, 2015
I have to admit, I’m disappointed. When I heard that there was a fourth “Internet Girls” book, I was really excited, as I read the first three books as a preteen/teenager and really loved them. Maybe I just set my hopes too high? Regardless, I don’t think that this book lives up to its predecessors. I don't know if this is TRULY a 1-star read, and I might come back later and bump it up to two stars, but like I said, I had high hopes and I feel let down!
The premise is pretty straightforward: YOLO picks up right where L8R, G8R left off, during the Winsome Threesome’s first year of college, and perhaps this is the root of my problem with the book. TTYL was published ten years ago. L8R, G8R - the book in which the three best friends graduate high school - was published in 2007. Now, it’s 2014....and also their freshman year of college? For a series that relies so heavily on references to pop culture and technology, the time jump felt awkward. Before starting YOLO, I reread the first three books, and it was very strange going from AIM-style conversations and Xanga references to Twitter-stalking and iMessages, supposedly just one year later.
As a side note, I am aware that the first three books were recently republished with updated cultural references in honor of TTYL’s 10th anniversary. Perhaps the time difference is less jarring if one were to read the updated editions rather than the older ones. But I don’t think so.
My problems with this book went beyond the frequent references to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. Yes, these references did contribute to the feeling that I had “outgrown” Maddie, Zoe, and Angela (they graduated high school three years before me and started college four years after me…?), but that wasn’t the only reason why this book didn’t seem to mesh with the other three.
In general, the formatting doesn’t work as well in this book as it used to. The fact of the matter is that technology has advanced well beyond AIM-style communication. Now, Instant Messaging has been mostly replaced by Facebook messaging and iMessage, which seems to be what Myracle is going for here. The problem is that in real life, these new forms of communication involve a lot of multitasking, and in college, it’s much easier to keep in touch via Skype and phone calls. Personally, I rarely use iMessage and Facebook to have in-depth conversations with friends like I used to do with AIM as a middle schooler and high schooler. What I’m getting at is that these newer forms of communication don’t necessarily work as well as Instant Messaging to convey a linear story. It just didn’t feel genuine. It didn’t feel like I was reading an iMessage convo between my friends. It didn’t really read like an iMessage convo at all. I don’t think you COULD write a real story in iMessage because iMessage conversations tend to be so disjointed. Furthermore, the characters do reference iMessage’s Autocorrect feature, yet they still use annoying abbreviations like “shld” instead of “should” and they don’t use capitalization when they start sentences. Pretty sure that Autocorrect would fix both of those issues!
I was also kind of annoyed with the formatting because the headings of each conversation don’t convey who is being texted/messaged (or even what form of communication is being used - at least the old books had those little phone icons when they were texting). Sometimes a character might be texting one friend, or both, but it was often hard to tell. I also just didn’t get the fact that they’re still using their old screennames, since both Facebook and iMessage use real names. See what I mean? The whole book felt like some weird culture clash. I could really feel that 10-year gap between TTYL and YOLO.
Honestly, Lauren Myracle seemed to lose sight of her three main characters in this book. Zoe, Maddie, and Angela were such strong characters in the first three books. They had such clear, distinct voices and well-developed personalities, and that was what made those books so enjoyable to read - it felt like you were talking to your best friends. In this book, I felt like I was reading about strangers. And ANNOYING strangers, to boot.
If you read the four books in succession, I think it is very apparent that the characters’ voices are not consistent in this book. To be honest, I felt like Myracle was more concerned with making sure Zoe, Maddie, and Angela sounded like “normal 2014 teenagers” than making them sound like Zoe, Maddie, and Angela. I got the impression that in writing this book, the author had stalked teen Twitters and Tumblr pages, trying to capture the “teenage voice.” Now, out of nowhere, the girls say things like “(((((HUGS)))))” (all the time) and “I haz” instead of “I have.” It was disorienting. Not to mention, the character of Angela has been transformed into a total airhead. Not that she was ever presented as a braniac, but she was never stupid either. To give an example, there’s a conversation between Angela and Zoe toward the end, and Angela says something like “Reid and me” and Zoe corrects her by replying “Reid and I,” and Angela responds something like, “You and Reid? What are you talking about?” and this “joke” gets drawn out for several lines, with Angela just completely unable to process understand what’s going on. It made me cringe. It wasn’t even funny.
Beyond the glaring characterization issues, the plot is a mess. I have always appreciated Myracle’s attempt to incorporate “serious issues” in a lighthearted yet still genuine way, but having just graduated college, I felt like this book really missed the mark. The Maddie plotline was an absolute mess. The Zoe plotline is plausible, but hardly gripping.
The Angela plotline really bothered me in particular because I was a sorority girl in college, and I felt like Myracle gave a very one-sided, inaccurate portrayal of Greek life. It very much felt like I was reading about Greek life from the point of view of someone who wasn’t Greek (even though Angela supposedly is). All we see are pretty, shallow party girls and drunk, sexist frat boys. Sure, these things exist to an extent (especially at big Southern party schools), but come on, there is a reason why people in the Greek system love it so much, and the author didn’t capture that at all. The only positives we get from Angela are, “Well, I like the parties, and I made one really good friend.” Greek life definitely isn’t for everyone, but the character of Angela (pretty, peppy, girly, bubbly, extremely social) would have LOVED Greek life. It’s generally a very fun, social atmosphere. Instead, I got the impression that Myracle sat down and said, “I want to write about the DARK SIDE of Greek life,” and so we end up with this ridiculous portrayal of constant hazing, date rape, sexual harassment, and sorority sisters who have the nerve to tell a new sister who it’s “acceptable” to date. (No, that doesn’t really happen.)
Another little thing that bothered me because it just PROVED that the author had NO idea what she was talking about: toward the beginning of the book, Zoe messages Angela and says that she saw Angela’s Facebook status, which apparently states that Angela is about to be hazed by her sorority sisters. Having been in Greek life and knowing a thing or two about hazing culture, I just want to point out that if a girl actually is being hazed, she doesn’t post about it on social media because hazing is against campus policies and will get a chapter shut down if it’s discovered. (Even more disappointingly, the “hazing” in question involved the pledges being stripped down to their underwear and frat boys circling their “flaws” with permanent market. This is the oldest hazing urban legend in the book. It’s probably the first thing that comes up if you Google “sorority hazing.” Nice research skills, Lauren Myracle.)
It’s really a shame, because I felt like Myracle handled difficult and controversial topics in a very careful and subtle way in the past three books. Sadly, that’s not the case here. It’s too bad, because hazing and loneliness and breakups actually are important issues and things that I saw a lot of people experience in college, but I just felt like this book oversimplified and trivialized everything. But hey, I guess Lauren Myracle is also ten years older since TTYL came out. Maybe it’s just become harder for her to effectively capture the voices of a younger generation. Younger girls might still get a kick out of this, but if you're new to "Internet Girls," I'd recommend you stick with the original trilogy (go for the updated 10-year-anniversary edition if you aren't from the AIM generation, like I am).
The premise is pretty straightforward: YOLO picks up right where L8R, G8R left off, during the Winsome Threesome’s first year of college, and perhaps this is the root of my problem with the book. TTYL was published ten years ago. L8R, G8R - the book in which the three best friends graduate high school - was published in 2007. Now, it’s 2014....and also their freshman year of college? For a series that relies so heavily on references to pop culture and technology, the time jump felt awkward. Before starting YOLO, I reread the first three books, and it was very strange going from AIM-style conversations and Xanga references to Twitter-stalking and iMessages, supposedly just one year later.
As a side note, I am aware that the first three books were recently republished with updated cultural references in honor of TTYL’s 10th anniversary. Perhaps the time difference is less jarring if one were to read the updated editions rather than the older ones. But I don’t think so.
My problems with this book went beyond the frequent references to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. Yes, these references did contribute to the feeling that I had “outgrown” Maddie, Zoe, and Angela (they graduated high school three years before me and started college four years after me…?), but that wasn’t the only reason why this book didn’t seem to mesh with the other three.
In general, the formatting doesn’t work as well in this book as it used to. The fact of the matter is that technology has advanced well beyond AIM-style communication. Now, Instant Messaging has been mostly replaced by Facebook messaging and iMessage, which seems to be what Myracle is going for here. The problem is that in real life, these new forms of communication involve a lot of multitasking, and in college, it’s much easier to keep in touch via Skype and phone calls. Personally, I rarely use iMessage and Facebook to have in-depth conversations with friends like I used to do with AIM as a middle schooler and high schooler. What I’m getting at is that these newer forms of communication don’t necessarily work as well as Instant Messaging to convey a linear story. It just didn’t feel genuine. It didn’t feel like I was reading an iMessage convo between my friends. It didn’t really read like an iMessage convo at all. I don’t think you COULD write a real story in iMessage because iMessage conversations tend to be so disjointed. Furthermore, the characters do reference iMessage’s Autocorrect feature, yet they still use annoying abbreviations like “shld” instead of “should” and they don’t use capitalization when they start sentences. Pretty sure that Autocorrect would fix both of those issues!
I was also kind of annoyed with the formatting because the headings of each conversation don’t convey who is being texted/messaged (or even what form of communication is being used - at least the old books had those little phone icons when they were texting). Sometimes a character might be texting one friend, or both, but it was often hard to tell. I also just didn’t get the fact that they’re still using their old screennames, since both Facebook and iMessage use real names. See what I mean? The whole book felt like some weird culture clash. I could really feel that 10-year gap between TTYL and YOLO.
Honestly, Lauren Myracle seemed to lose sight of her three main characters in this book. Zoe, Maddie, and Angela were such strong characters in the first three books. They had such clear, distinct voices and well-developed personalities, and that was what made those books so enjoyable to read - it felt like you were talking to your best friends. In this book, I felt like I was reading about strangers. And ANNOYING strangers, to boot.
If you read the four books in succession, I think it is very apparent that the characters’ voices are not consistent in this book. To be honest, I felt like Myracle was more concerned with making sure Zoe, Maddie, and Angela sounded like “normal 2014 teenagers” than making them sound like Zoe, Maddie, and Angela. I got the impression that in writing this book, the author had stalked teen Twitters and Tumblr pages, trying to capture the “teenage voice.” Now, out of nowhere, the girls say things like “(((((HUGS)))))” (all the time) and “I haz” instead of “I have.” It was disorienting. Not to mention, the character of Angela has been transformed into a total airhead. Not that she was ever presented as a braniac, but she was never stupid either. To give an example, there’s a conversation between Angela and Zoe toward the end, and Angela says something like “Reid and me” and Zoe corrects her by replying “Reid and I,” and Angela responds something like, “You and Reid? What are you talking about?” and this “joke” gets drawn out for several lines, with Angela just completely unable to process understand what’s going on. It made me cringe. It wasn’t even funny.
Beyond the glaring characterization issues, the plot is a mess. I have always appreciated Myracle’s attempt to incorporate “serious issues” in a lighthearted yet still genuine way, but having just graduated college, I felt like this book really missed the mark. The Maddie plotline was an absolute mess. The Zoe plotline is plausible, but hardly gripping.
The Angela plotline really bothered me in particular because I was a sorority girl in college, and I felt like Myracle gave a very one-sided, inaccurate portrayal of Greek life. It very much felt like I was reading about Greek life from the point of view of someone who wasn’t Greek (even though Angela supposedly is). All we see are pretty, shallow party girls and drunk, sexist frat boys. Sure, these things exist to an extent (especially at big Southern party schools), but come on, there is a reason why people in the Greek system love it so much, and the author didn’t capture that at all. The only positives we get from Angela are, “Well, I like the parties, and I made one really good friend.” Greek life definitely isn’t for everyone, but the character of Angela (pretty, peppy, girly, bubbly, extremely social) would have LOVED Greek life. It’s generally a very fun, social atmosphere. Instead, I got the impression that Myracle sat down and said, “I want to write about the DARK SIDE of Greek life,” and so we end up with this ridiculous portrayal of constant hazing, date rape, sexual harassment, and sorority sisters who have the nerve to tell a new sister who it’s “acceptable” to date. (No, that doesn’t really happen.)
Another little thing that bothered me because it just PROVED that the author had NO idea what she was talking about: toward the beginning of the book, Zoe messages Angela and says that she saw Angela’s Facebook status, which apparently states that Angela is about to be hazed by her sorority sisters. Having been in Greek life and knowing a thing or two about hazing culture, I just want to point out that if a girl actually is being hazed, she doesn’t post about it on social media because hazing is against campus policies and will get a chapter shut down if it’s discovered. (Even more disappointingly, the “hazing” in question involved the pledges being stripped down to their underwear and frat boys circling their “flaws” with permanent market. This is the oldest hazing urban legend in the book. It’s probably the first thing that comes up if you Google “sorority hazing.” Nice research skills, Lauren Myracle.)
It’s really a shame, because I felt like Myracle handled difficult and controversial topics in a very careful and subtle way in the past three books. Sadly, that’s not the case here. It’s too bad, because hazing and loneliness and breakups actually are important issues and things that I saw a lot of people experience in college, but I just felt like this book oversimplified and trivialized everything. But hey, I guess Lauren Myracle is also ten years older since TTYL came out. Maybe it’s just become harder for her to effectively capture the voices of a younger generation. Younger girls might still get a kick out of this, but if you're new to "Internet Girls," I'd recommend you stick with the original trilogy (go for the updated 10-year-anniversary edition if you aren't from the AIM generation, like I am).
December 13, 2021
I am really surprised how much I liked this crazy book! The plot is so very random with all sorts of nutty things going on but that is also what made it so much fun! It's just these three girls going to different colleges in different states and they are sharing news with each other over text. The entire story is text messages, with each girl using a different color or text format. They support each other and get through various crisis, everything from bad boyfriends to those Greek sororities (Alpha Zeta) to even more surprising things! This story just kept going!
There are other books in this series but I have not read them...yet. And I had no problems with this one. But I am glad the book explained what YOLO means: You Only Live Once.
And yeah, college sounds like a mighty bizarre place according to this book, especially if you listen to SnowAngel! But the girls go through highs and lows, deal with roommates, depression and all sorts of problems. And sometimes things don't turn out the way one thinks it will and SnowAngel really does have the heart of an angel! Wow. Didn't see that coming! So there are some real surprises in here and the biggest one was at the end too!
There are other books in this series but I have not read them...yet. And I had no problems with this one. But I am glad the book explained what YOLO means: You Only Live Once.
And yeah, college sounds like a mighty bizarre place according to this book, especially if you listen to SnowAngel! But the girls go through highs and lows, deal with roommates, depression and all sorts of problems. And sometimes things don't turn out the way one thinks it will and SnowAngel really does have the heart of an angel! Wow. Didn't see that coming! So there are some real surprises in here and the biggest one was at the end too!
January 24, 2017
“The best thing you can do is find someone who loves you when you’re pretty, when you’re ugly, when you’re mad, when you’re happy. Someone who, no matter what, is still going to think the sun shines out of your ass.”
Overall Thoughts
- Until Next Time,
Emerald BookWorm
Overall Thoughts
This was a super fun, easy and cute series. Nothing intense of course, there's not much to actually review. But if you're looking for something light and funny, this series is great. The girls are hilarious and I found myself getting actually invested in their story lines and wondering what was going to happen in their lives next.
- Until Next Time,
Emerald BookWorm
March 5, 2015
I loved these books when I first read them so many years ago, so this was nice to get back into this series. I missed Zoe, Angela and Maddie without even realizing it. This book also brought me back in remembering what i was like when I first started university. I would never want to go back but it brought back good memories. Thank you Lauren Myracle for writing this and for bringing the girls back.
April 4, 2015
The last book in the Internet Girls (?right?) series. I feel like it was less than the other books. It was shorter and I feel like compared to the other books not much did happen. And it ends so quickly. I want to hear all about their Thanksgiving together and how things are after, like if Maddie gets better. But I still enjoyed this book and as always I love their friendship.
4/5
4/5
February 21, 2015
Ahhhh!!! There's going to be a new one! I loved the first three and I thought that they were so freaking adorable and fast reads. I can't wait for this to come out and I'm doing everything in my power to try and get an ARC.
July 30, 2024
Love this friendship!!!!!! I finished this book in less than 2 hrs!!!!
/rereading this series at 30: some of you are lesbians
/rereading this series at 30: some of you are lesbians
March 4, 2024
My main reason for reading this YA book was because it has been on lists of banned books for some public schools, and I wanted to know the reason for the controversy. I think it is a clever and accurate representation of the conflicts that many young adults face as they experience their first year of college. If it had been published when my own daughter was in high school, I would have recommended it to her.
August 19, 2017
I've always loved this series! This is the fourth one in the series, and it was so long since the third one came out that I was worried I'd have forgotten too much to pick up the story again now. But I didn't need to worry. This book could even be read by itself, I feel, because it makes just enough references to any bacsktory and not much backstory is necessary in this one anyway. What i definitely did not forget were the distinct personalities of the three characters: Maddie, Angela and Zoe. This book and the series is all about friendships, and this time they are dealing with friendships far apart from one another, being in different states for college. One thing I love about this whole series is the girls talk about everything - they discuss sex (and rape), bras, periods, boyfriends, and a bit about race this time too. They feel so real and their friendship feels so genuine and loving. I always feel like they're one of my friends too... I really wish so!! :)
March 21, 2016
3.5
Didn't get sucked into it until around 10/15 pages in. Once I did though I couldn't stop reading! It just as funny and enjoyable as the past 3. I really like Reid, though it wasn't much we got on him, but I think he's cute! I really wished the book was longer though. It was so short, if all that happened in like 2 months, what'll happen in the rest of the year?! I seriously hope there will be another book!
Didn't get sucked into it until around 10/15 pages in. Once I did though I couldn't stop reading! It just as funny and enjoyable as the past 3. I really like Reid, though it wasn't much we got on him, but I think he's cute! I really wished the book was longer though. It was so short, if all that happened in like 2 months, what'll happen in the rest of the year?! I seriously hope there will be another book!
April 25, 2024
Possibly the worst one in the series
June 18, 2020
When I decided to re-read the TTYL books for the first time in ~a decade the first thing I did was go to Goodreads. When I found out there was a fourth book I didn't know about I was extremely intrigued! But I didn't want to wait 4 - 8 days for it to ship to me, so I bought the ebook. How funny that the first ebook I ever read in my life would be an ebook made up of Internet Messages.
Like the books before it, this was really adorable. The winsome threesome - Zoe, Maddie, and Angela - are in their first semester of college and they realize college isn't as easy or even as fun as they wanted it to be originally. Zoe is having troubles with her boyfriend Doug and thinks he might even be having an affair; Maddie finds it hard to make friends with any of the girls in her dorm because they have all known each other since high school and she is the odd one out; Angela is trying to get in a sorority but she soon realizes that maybe Greek Life isn't nearly as awesome as it seems and some of the other girls in her sorority are kind of jerks. Through all their ups and downs though, the 3 keep offering their support to each other because, after all, you only live once.
The book ends at Thanksgiving Break, similarly to how TTYL and TTFN ended. I kind of wanted to know more of what would happen after Thanksgiving Break, but at the same time, it was a lovely ending that left me feeling like things will work out even if they don't all have all the answers just yet. (College is definitely confusing, after all.)
I'm really glad I decided to re-read these books and read this book for the very first time. Maybe I will buy this one as an actual paperback when I have more money. It might be another decade before I re-read these books again, but they were really sweet and definitely left me reminiscing on the good parts of high school and how special friendships can be. It may just be a series told through Instant Messages and text messages but I did cry, and I'm not ashamed of it. :) <3
Like the books before it, this was really adorable. The winsome threesome - Zoe, Maddie, and Angela - are in their first semester of college and they realize college isn't as easy or even as fun as they wanted it to be originally. Zoe is having troubles with her boyfriend Doug and thinks he might even be having an affair; Maddie finds it hard to make friends with any of the girls in her dorm because they have all known each other since high school and she is the odd one out; Angela is trying to get in a sorority but she soon realizes that maybe Greek Life isn't nearly as awesome as it seems and some of the other girls in her sorority are kind of jerks. Through all their ups and downs though, the 3 keep offering their support to each other because, after all, you only live once.
The book ends at Thanksgiving Break, similarly to how TTYL and TTFN ended. I kind of wanted to know more of what would happen after Thanksgiving Break, but at the same time, it was a lovely ending that left me feeling like things will work out even if they don't all have all the answers just yet. (College is definitely confusing, after all.)
I'm really glad I decided to re-read these books and read this book for the very first time. Maybe I will buy this one as an actual paperback when I have more money. It might be another decade before I re-read these books again, but they were really sweet and definitely left me reminiscing on the good parts of high school and how special friendships can be. It may just be a series told through Instant Messages and text messages but I did cry, and I'm not ashamed of it. :) <3
August 24, 2018
This was the only book in the series I hadn't read before - by 2014 this series was just a part of my childhood, and not one that I was frequently picking up to re-read. Now I've gotten through the entire series with copious amounts of nostalgia and cringing and I've re-lived part of what made me me.
Since I hadn't read this as a kid, and this was me reading college students as a college student instead of reading high schoolers as a preteen/child, I think I was more judgey of how plotlines were handled. I hated the part about roommate stealing in order to help a homeless guy, and while the parts with pretending things are ok while you feel horrible were relatable, it didn't make for much of a story.
I was also uncomfortable with some of the fatphobia and homophobia in the book - maybe it's just because of the buzz about how horrible Insatiable is, but it made me notice that there was casual fatphobic stuff that could've easily been something else. There's also a plotline about one of the characters exploring her sexuality, which is good, but in 2014 we don't need "omg I'm just exploring I'm still hetero" stories. Everything I said in my previous reviews about how the books don't hold up today is exemplified in the fourth book, because it's written in a time when we know better.
I liked seeing the characters in college, but that was it. Firmly certain this series influenced me as a kid but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone today, or probably reread it again.
Since I hadn't read this as a kid, and this was me reading college students as a college student instead of reading high schoolers as a preteen/child, I think I was more judgey of how plotlines were handled. I hated the part about roommate stealing in order to help a homeless guy, and while the parts with pretending things are ok while you feel horrible were relatable, it didn't make for much of a story.
I was also uncomfortable with some of the fatphobia and homophobia in the book - maybe it's just because of the buzz about how horrible Insatiable is, but it made me notice that there was casual fatphobic stuff that could've easily been something else. There's also a plotline about one of the characters exploring her sexuality, which is good, but in 2014 we don't need "omg I'm just exploring I'm still hetero" stories. Everything I said in my previous reviews about how the books don't hold up today is exemplified in the fourth book, because it's written in a time when we know better.
I liked seeing the characters in college, but that was it. Firmly certain this series influenced me as a kid but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone today, or probably reread it again.
June 5, 2017
I went into this book blind, and when I opened it up and realized it was all told through texts, I was skeptical. I thought it might get old fast, or not express enough emotions. I was wrong. This is the tale of three best friends separated for the first time as they go off to different colleges. We follow the girls through, the good, bad, and in-between as the gain that freshman fifteen ( or lose it in some cases) experiment with drinking and dating.
I was charmed! The snapshots we got of their lives were more than enough to convey what was going on, and the events were unexpected as well as real. She touches on some tough topics and stunned me with the reveals she had. People weren't who I thought they were. A fun, fast, feel good read with depth.
I was charmed! The snapshots we got of their lives were more than enough to convey what was going on, and the events were unexpected as well as real. She touches on some tough topics and stunned me with the reveals she had. People weren't who I thought they were. A fun, fast, feel good read with depth.
Read
March 8, 2019The last book they went off the college. They all changed and separated. They got into fights. This was once the inseparable group and now they are in college and they are not friends. Through a lot of crap that went down, they finally realized they cant live without each other. The thing is some of the girls don't want to be friends any more from what happened. They learn to regain their friendship and they are back. I really liked this because it was college based but now I'm sad the series is done. It defiantly was a really good series.
October 5, 2020
weakest one in the series :((!
Angela was my favourite but in this one she seemed super ditzy and completely different than her normal character.
it almost feels like different characters because of the way they were written
Angela was my favourite but in this one she seemed super ditzy and completely different than her normal character.
it almost feels like different characters because of the way they were written
May 18, 2025
really kind of sad to be putting this series down. i read the first three books years ago, and only recently discovered that there’d been a 4th book included a decade later. it was so much fun revisiting these books, and getting to see how the girls’ lives progressed in college. i’ll miss it!
December 14, 2019
yolo
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
to-read-arc-or-galley
April 26, 2020I completely forgot I had this as a galley from a while back. Will probably read it eventually, but I'm putting it on the backburner for now.
August 12, 2020
Thank you for writing a fourth installment! Brings me back to my roots
May 19, 2024
nearly made me cry lmao
March 22, 2025
i’m finally released from this series grasp. wow what a rollercoaster…
July 28, 2025
Read this on the plane!
August 11, 2025
Glad to finally finish off this series I started in high school, but definitely would have enjoyed it more if I was still nearer to starting college myself.
Read
March 18, 2019it wasnt as good as the others in the series, i have to say
March 11, 2019
still preachy and weirdly offensive at times— this one is worse than the others just by virtue of how outdated it is
Read
December 20, 2017I thought this was an overall okay book. I liked this book because it was written in text messages and that made it more exciting to read. I also liked this book because it was about college life and I got a glimpse of what I can expect in college. One of the girls like to party a lot and that was fun to read because I like to party a lot too. So I could relate.
One thing I didn't like about this book was that it had a lot of cursing and it got a little annoying. The three main characters are Maddie, Zoe, and Angela. Maddie is very adventurous and likes to do things on her own. Zoe is very kind to everyone and likes to help anyone she can. Angela is of the "wild" sort and loves to party hard.
One thing I didn't like about this book was that it had a lot of cursing and it got a little annoying. The three main characters are Maddie, Zoe, and Angela. Maddie is very adventurous and likes to do things on her own. Zoe is very kind to everyone and likes to help anyone she can. Angela is of the "wild" sort and loves to party hard.
June 15, 2023
Quick and easy read, a nice trip down memory lane.
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