The Secret Life of Debbie G.

by Vibha Batra

The Secret Life of Debbie G is the story of a sixteen-year-old who becomes an online sensation overnight. Except, it's her online persona that hits big time. Set in contemporary times, where the number of likes/ comments/ shares/ DMs/ followers determine a teenager's sense of self-worth, the story takes a close look at how social media influences their behaviour and affects their emotional health. Equal parts poignant and fun, this is a bittersweet coming-of-age story.

Genres: Graphic Novels

296 pages, Paperback

First published October 27, 2020

About the author

Vibha Batra is an author, advertising consultant, graphic novelist, poet, lyricist, translator,
travel writer, playwright, translator and columnist. Her published books include: The Secret Life of Debbie G, Merry the Elephant's Rainy Day, Bathinda to Bangkok, The Reluctant Debutante, The Dream Merchants, Keeping it Real, Euro Trip,
Ludhiana to London, Glitter and Gloss, The Activist and The Capitalist, Sweet Sixteen (Yeah,
Right!), Seventeen and Done (You Bet!), Eighteen and Wiser (Not Quite!,) Ishaavaasya
Upanishad: Knowledge and Action, Tongue-in-cheek, A Twist of Lime and Family Crossword.
She has also contributed short stories and poems to several anthologies.

Reviews

[Mugdha Mahajan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book follows the journey of Soundarya, a 16 year old teenager who used to hate everything about her life. She was angry with her parents, she hated her name, she was body shamed and the list goes on!
✨
Soundarya’s relationship with her mother was of a friend and they always used to share everything with each other until her mother suddenly announced her remarriage.
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Arya was left all alone and she finally found solace in social media. She made a social media account to spread rumours about students of her own school and she became an instant hit. But soon after, her friends started distancing themselves from her!
✨
A coming of the age story, which focuses on how teenagers now a days depend so much on social media validation! All that matters for them is number of likes and comments. The author very well explained the cons of using too much of social media too!!
✨
Beautifully written, the author takes you on a roller coaster ride- focusing on different aspects of a teenager’s life. It was my first graphic novel and I loved reading it, Though the ending could’ve been a bit better.
Definitely recommended to all the teenagers out there!!

[Araadhi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book taught me that we should not watch too much social media and we should not get affected by body shaming and likes and comments. And we should not spread rumours also on social media. We should not bully people on social media or make fun of their disease like bulimia. We should not be rude to people who are different than us. We should use social media for positive things.

[Nachiketh (thedocreadstoomuch) · Rating 4 out of 5]

TW: Divorce, separation, outing, homophobia, bullying, fat shaming, slut shaming

“I’d been angry a long time. At life in general. At my parents in particular. I’d held on to my anger for so long that it had become a part of me. That’s the thing about rage, it consumes you from within, leaves you hollow. It’s like a parasite that needs a host to live off. Once it infects you, it takes over your mind, impairs your judgment slowly but surely, until eventually you can’t tell right from wrong, friend from foe.”

The Secret Life of Debbie G is probably one of the most relatable books I’ve read of late. This coming-of-age graphic novel follows 16-year-old Soundarya (who, for the record, hates her name and prefers to go by Arya. We are soulsisters, gurl.) who hails from a South Indian family and attends a posh school in New Delhi. She is a plus-sized teen who is unapologetic and embraces her curves (Yay for rep!) This heartfelt story is all about how her plan to get back at the bullies and meanies at school makes her an online sensation in an instant, and how things start going downhill! I don’t want to divulge too much of the plot here. Read the book to find out more!

It amazed me how Vibha Batra has effortlessly managed to step into the mind of the current Gen Z teenager with just the right dose of modern phrases and lingo! Considering how the illustrations are the mainstay of a graphic novel, Kalyani Ganapathy’s illustration style paired with Vibha’s quirky writing made this a joyful and quick reading experience! Arya's deadpan sarcasm had me giggling!

Arya’s maternal grandparents are your typical judgmental Indian grandparents and had me rolling my eyes multiple times. Vibha has managed to perfectly capture Indian family dynamics, while also dealing with issues such as divorce, separation, remarriage and most importantly, finding love all over again.

Arya’s relationship with her mother, Aishwarya is one of my favorite mother-daughter relationships in YA. Aishwarya, a divorcee, is portrayed as a strong, broad-minded, independent woman with a modern outlook who wants to bring out the best in the people around her. The sub-plot of her falling in love all over again and marrying her new-found love interest shows how such events have to be normalized and how the stigma following the same has to be erased from the society we are a part of.

Nickster and Rucksack (a.k.a Nikhil and Rukhsar) are super endearing and I was constantly looking forward to their hilarious banter with Arya throughout the book! Rukhsar, a budding TV star and Nikhil, who has found a new partner (not talking more about this here because hey, spoilers), are Arya’s two besties and they own storylines highlight some of the evils prevalent in our society.

Most importantly, this book conveys how social media and want for online fame(followers, likes, comments etc.) can have an adverse effect on one’s mental health and emotional wellbeing, and also shows how we might go to extreme lengths for popularity and fame and how things can come crumbling down. In short, the perils of social media and what becoming prey to social media might make us do.

Batra doesn’t shy away from the harsh truths of life and addresses a myriad of sensitive issues in this book, viz. slut-shaming, fat-shaming, divorce, bullying, outing, homophobia to name a few.

This would have been a solid 5-star read for me, if not for the abrupt ending and the absence of a trigger warning. Since this book deals with sensitive issues, I would have appreciated a trigger warning in the beginning. Being someone who has dealt with outing and extreme homophobia, I found those scenes a bit triggering. Trigger warnings are extremely important in books that deal with sensitive topics.

The ending was very abrupt and seemed choppy to me. Had the book been wrapped up on a better note, with some healing time, it would have been the perfect graphic novel for me.

If you're in the mood for a quick read and want to roll your eyes at judgmental uncles and aunties and relate to how everything was about looking and doing 'cool' stuff back in school, pick this one up. Trust me, you're in for a rollercoaster ride!

Thank you HarperCollins India for the review copy! ❤️

[Smit Zaveri · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really excited about this book! The cover was delicious and the promise of a homegrown comic book so large. I am a huge fan of Kalyani’s art in this book and the style and layout of it but that just wasn’t enough to keep my interest because the writing just didn’t work for me. It was trying too hard to be young and relatable and cool and somewhere along the way it forgot to be honest and heartfelt. I really wish it wasn’t so but the characters and the writing just didn’t click.

[Shruti Sharma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really loved the concept, the illustrations, and the storyline-- a very relatable book for the teenagers who grew up with the internet.

[Cherlynn | cherreading · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fell flat for me and some parts (both the text and artwork) were confusing.

[Raj Nandani ( Wrap the Fury) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The secret Life of Debbie G, the title is intriguing enough that I wanted to dive right into it the day I got my hands on it! But first, let's begin from the beginning.

The cover of the book is so amazing that I was drooling all over it! (My grandmother literally snatched it out of my hands before I gulped it down as I sniffed and stared at it). The catchy title and the amazing illustrations are eue-catcher and expectation-elevators!!

I read a few pages with the snappy retorts and witty eye-rolls by Saundarya aka Arya, and I was in love with the story!! My expectations from the story shooting right out of the roof!

The hide and seek with the book continued, online classes and beautiful book covers with interesting storyline don't mix up nicely. I had to hide this beneath my course book for a few days, but one frustrating day with too much online classes, and I was back to my safe place - books!

First thing first, it has about 290 pages filled with illustrations and conversations! This was turning into one of my favs! So many pages of such a good book, I was on cloud nine!

The writing style is no preachy or philosophical, yet the awareness is there. The dialogues fit to the age group author tried to depict. Many a times, I found myself witnessing myself in there, making snippy remarks in my head, which Arya made sure to blurt out in the atmosphere. I love her!

The illustrations are amazing and I was relishing them except for one slide where I confused between Nick and Yash 🙈🙈 XD my bad! I want to talk badly about the story, it is very good, but will refrain from giving away any spoiler!

This is a light, comic stripe type formatting filled with heavy issues hidden beneath the grumbles and gasps. The essence of teenage troubles, inside home and outside it, has been covered amazingly! The conversations were fulfilling and representative of real situations.

I cannot force this point regarding the reality of the situation! (Sorry if it has started sounding repetitive). There is the topic of body shaming, remarriage, familial situations, parent-child binding, high school drama, social media stress upon the Z generation and many more issues.

I would've preferred the ending to be more elaborative, the last dozen pages seemed a bit rushed up. The awkwardness amongst the characters are depicted clearly and the chemistry built was suddenly broken up, just like rela life. I am glad that it was not forced towards a happy ending, it felt natural and realistic.

All in all, I would suggest you to read this book if you like reading Young Adult genre or want to read some graphic story or are searching for something light to read. It was fun, light, striking on point kind of story.

[Ashima Jain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating 3.5.

"... the most dangerous things on earth are not guns, not bullets, not bombs. It's ideas. I mean, they are positively lethal. They can blow up reputations, assassinate characters, rip apart lives."

It all started because Debbie wanted to mess with the Invincibles (the superbrats). #SorryNotSorry. But one thing led to another, and before she knew it, she was hitting out at everyone, even the Incredibles (the geeks) and the Invisibles (the losers), and soon her secret online persona became an overnight sensation. How will her newly-acquired celebrity status influence her behaviour and affect her emotional health?

In this coming of age novel, Vibha Batra draws on the urban Indian family dynamic and raises pertinent questions such as parental divorce, body shaming, bullying, gender and sexuality that affect young impressionable minds.

I loved the concept of the book and the medium the author uses to raise awareness around a global mental health pandemic. At the same time, I thought the introduction of Arya's anonymous persona, which is the premise of the book, past the halfway mark was too late to effectively explore the issues it set out with.

As a graphic novel, I liked the overall styling of the book with the balance of text and images. The jet black illustrations, however, seemed to overpower the emotional arc of the story creating a disconnect between the two.

At an age when the young and younger are increasingly searching for validation online, this book dissects its effects on their mental health and development as well as their understanding of life.

This review copy courtesy of the author.

For complete review, visit https://aquamarineflavours.wordpress....
Find me on other platforms via https://linktr.ee/AshieJayn

[Sruthy Pisharady · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely love reading graphic novels and the theme of this book was very interesting. It is the coming-of-age story of Soundarya, an outspoken and feisty teenager. The book covers a small part of her life which includes her family, school and friends. From the beginning, I loved the Gossip Girl and Gilmore Girls references. I was so thrilled to see Soundarya describe her relationship with her mom like they were Rory and Lorelai. Technology and social media play a massive role in this book, as is the case with most teenagers today. The book has tried to address some critical issues like body shaming, homophobia, cyberbullying, etc., and I felt that the themes were handled well. The message was conveyed without being preachy, and the characters of this book face the consequences of their actions. That is something I really liked because usually, everything falls in place at the end for protagonists of books and movies. I was fully immersed in the book, and I finished it in one go. I especially loved the illustrations of the comics made by Debbie G. The language used in the book was also on point. It felt very natural and did not feel forced. Few of the things that I felt did not work were – the relationship between mother and daughter, which was later wholly forgotten, and the book ends very abruptly. I would have loved for the book to end with the same clarity as it had in the beginning. Overall, it is an enjoyable read and an excellent choice of gift for the teenagers in your life.

[Aishwariya Laxmi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic novel is a coming-of-age tale or bildungsroman for the internet generation. It is about a sixteen-year-old girl called Soundarya, who is dealing with the re-marriage of her mother, Aishwarya.

Soundarya is a TamBrahm while her mother’s husband-to-be is a Punjabi. The husband-to-be already has children, too. How Soundarya deals with the imminent re-marriage of her single mom and the prospect of having a half-brother and half-sister form the crux of the book.

Soundarya, who likes to be called Arya, has two close friends. One of them is a girl who is into professional acting and the other is a boy who is into books, just like Arya. You will notice that the names of the protagonist and her mother are the same as superstar Rajnikanth’s daughters in real life.

The graphic novel deals with issues such as the #MeToo movement, gender and sexuality, fat-shaming, bullying and even touches upon self-harm and the casting couch. A part of the book is about how a teen becomes an internet sensation overnight and the price she pays for it. It is a later-day version of Hollywood’s ‘Mean Girls’. The book has oodles of sassy conversation, literary allusions and pop culture references, which will appeal to the modern reader.

[Ankita Arora · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unexpectedly fun graphic novel. A good choice for Teen reading.

(Saund)Arya is a high school teen going through some solid family drama with her parents separated and her mom dating her crush's father.

With the strong advent of technology & social media, Arya finds herself in quite a fix while facing bullying at school, struggling to keep up with her friends, marriage at home, finding herself amidst the chaos, some difficult choices to make in all!

Her secret identity causes quite a stir in school and you gotta read this book to know which Mean Girl/ Gossip Girl she is!
..
It's not just a girl's story of everyday struggles, rather an educational ride to the pros & cons of Social Media, definitely the stronger cons.

I would recommend this to the targeted age group for enlightenment & intellectual reading.
.
P.S The illustrations are super cool and provide quite the visual imagery.

[Nikita Jhanglani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leveraging how social media is a part of the day-to-day of Gen Z, and how it often shapes their oversharing and overbearing personalities, TSLODG employs a fun, non-preachy tone to set the tone right on various issues that plague Gen Z.
In sketching Arya’s character to become overbearing and rude because of her insecurities, the authors, Vibhy Batra and Kalayani Ganapathy, have created a very relatable example for people to understand and identify their own toxic behaviour traits.
In getting irritated at and then analyzing the way Arya reacted to certain situations, in some places, I realized that her responses were pretty much like mine would be in that situation.
The cover and the whole packaging of the book is mind-blowing. It is bigger than the usual paperbacks, and I, for one, was really thrilled when I held it in my hands for the first time. IT IS WRITTEN AS A COMIC BOOK, and that makes it a super fun, super light, and fast-paced read for readers across age groups.
A detailed review is here: https://nikitajhanglani.wordpress.com...

[Sukanya Arora · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Storm and Stress' is the term used by Erik Erikson, a developmental psychologist, connoting the whirlwind of emotions a teen goes through. And I couldn't agree more, given the roller-ride I went into back in the day.

Bombarded with like a gazillion things- doing well in academics, dealing with heartbreaks and body-shaming, staying 'relevant ' in the fancy school group, ritualized weekly/daily conflicts with parents, because 'HEY, they don't get me!!!' --All this and more whilst Mr.Impulsive-Highly Volatile and Sentimental becomes the puppeteer of the teenage mind. And, you add the current perils of the social-media-age- KABOOM!

Evincing the struggles and journey of today's teens, The Secret Life of Debbie.G is a truly 'unputdownable' graphic novel, weaved around the story of a 16 year old teen Saundarya, sort of an 'Invisible' in a top-shot school, who builds an alter-ego through social media to give back to all the 'super-brats' and the 'geeks'. Yes, there existed such hierarchies of 'coolness' in our school too, didn't they?

The tale is a witty and warm saga of the life of today's teens, and how turbulent family dynamics, along with all the existing pressures of social media, body-shaming, and just being a Millennial or Gen-Z kid can take a toll on one's mental and emotional health.

Being a graphic novel, it is through and through illustrated with the cutest graphics, and I must add I learnt a lot many 'cool-tween-terminologies'.

This book, is so far my most engaging read of the year. Seldom does it happen that I 'pull an all-nighter' to read a book. It did happen with this one.

A 10 on 10 kind of a read that gives you a ride of the rollercoaster (of quirky emotions)!

Big thank you to Harper Collins India for recommending and sending the advanced review copy of this endearing book.

[Egbert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this book to help filter a friend's library.
The story was not written in an easy to understand way. The images were difficult to decifer from the background of and it was hard to know which panels to read in what order. The story itself felt very flat in relation to the characters written and especially to the main character.
The overall story is that of the power and danger of the anonymity of online posting. It showed its point well overall but I don't recommend.

[SJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was an amazing book. the cartoon representation was loving. You won't get bored. A simple story with a good message.

[unironically_resurrected · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Secret Life of Debbie G. tried so, so hard to be 'hip' and 'upcoming' that it seems to have lost the story it was trying to tell in the first place. Thoroughly disappointing.

CW: mentions of homophobia + forced outing

There are a couple of big problems this book has that I'll try to list in some cohesive order.

First, like many reviews have mentioned before me, is the issue of layout. The book couldn't seem to decide whether or not it was a novel or a comic; readers are often blasted with paragraphs shoved into tiny word bubbles-- it's pretty clear that this was not written with a traditional script. It was a constant annoyance throughout the book (and when I say constant, boy do I mean constant). I enjoyed the style, especially Debbie's comics, but they were hardly given any focus when there were massive word bubbles standing in front of them. The tendency to use talking heads during conversation was also irritating-- when Arya had conversations over the phone, the artist would often just copy-paste headshots of the characters with slightly different expressions (a big comic nope for me).

Secondly, Arya's character was.... oof. I know that she's supposed to come off as a relatable teen struggling with being an 'Invisible' (or whatever Divergent metaphor was being used) and with her mom's remarriage, but this did not work. Like, at all. She was mean. Don't get me wrong, I felt for her at times! And as brown afab whose been in similar situations regarding her parents, I understood what she was going through! But the way that she treated her friends and the people around her was... well, mean. She was borderline-manipulative for most of the book, and it was really uncomfortable to read. She uses her circumstances as justification for being a straight-up bully, and it's hard to take her sob story seriously after a while.

Third, the language. Oh. My. God. I hated it. Hated it! The 'cool teen lingo' was so unbelievably awful. I have never heard anyone talk remotely like this in my entire life. It didn't help that it was on every singly goddamn page, either. Reading this made me feel like my eyeballs had been scorched out. Please send help. The term amazeballs will not leave my head and I hate it.

Fourth, and arguably the reason I'm rating this two stars instead of three, is the most spoiler-full bit, so maybe skip this part if you haven't read the book yet (or better yet... just read a different book... this wasn't the worst, but there are so many better ones out there, trust me.)

Towards the end of the book, Arya and her friend, Nick are at a (party? wedding? not even a goodreads review is going to make me go back and look, so you'll have to imagine something here.), right? Nick gets a phonecall from a contact named Fatal Attraction, the person he's been dating who his friends don't know the identity of. Arya snatches the phone out of his hand and picks up (red flag), only to find that-- GASP-- it's a guy! Nick has been gay this whole time! (at least, I think he's gay. the book never clarifies what his sexuality is, so we just get a bunch of deeply homophobic comments about this; Nick's input is passed over entirely.) Shocker.

Nick grabs the phone and walks away, things happen, and somehow, Arya ends up in a room alone with the guy she apparently has a crush on (you wouldn't know it from the way that she's bullied him and he's been vaguely characterized as an incel, but it's true) who she's seen kissing her step-sister. They go back and forth for a while, and eventually Arya asks how he knew she was in the room. He tells her that Nick told him.

Arya decides ever-so-logically that clearly this makes all of this Nick's fault, and decides to publicly post a comic outing him to their deeply homophobic peers, where he gets a) bullied to the point of leaving the school b) forced to break contact with his boyfriend, who is also outed, and c) considered a disgrace by his parents and shipped off overseas.

But it's totally cool and fine, because Nick meant to come out one of these days anyway!!

The way that this is dealt with makes me sick to my stomach. Would not reccomend.

[Shreshta Manikandan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title of this very interesting book is “The secret life of Debbie G.” This book is written by Vibha Batra and the illustrator is Kalyani Ganapathy. You might be thinking that our protagonists’ name is Debbie G. But, no. Her actual name is Soundarya and people call her Arya. She hails from a South-Indian family but resides in Delhi.
The story starts in Chennai, her native place. She comes there to her grandparents’ house for vacations. She has 2 best friends, Nikhil and Rukhsar, with whom she talks a lot and shares her problems with. Rukhsar is an actress who acts in small shows like ads and Nikhil is a person who takes a lot of coaching classes and is quite studious.

One day, Tarun, one of Arya’s classmates’ father pays a visit to their house in Chennai. Aishwarya, Arya’s mom, had been divorced 2 years ago. Arya is shocked to know when Aishwarya tells her that she and Tarun are planning to marry. She is shocked for 2 reasons; 1 because she is so confused about having a stepdad and 2 that he is the dad of her enemy, Kiara. She is very confused and talks about this with Rukhsar and Nikhil. At first, Arya makes a terrible face when her mom tells her the news. Later, she is happy that her mother is going to be happy. Aishwarya’s father, Soundarya’s grandfather, isn’t satisfied with Aishwarya’s decision, while her mother is content with Aishwarya’s choice.

Once all the marriage is done, Soundarya begins her 11th grade in Delhi. She is so glad to meet her friends but Rukhsar isn’t there. She gets selected to act in a tv serial. So, she stays in Mumbai. On the evening of the first day, a fresher’s party happens in which one of the schoolboys, from the other section, messes up with Soundarya. He talks bad things about Rukhsar which makes Soundarya angry. To this, she starts an Instagram account in the name of ‘The Secret Life of Debbie G,’ where she starts posting some school stories targeting a particular group of people. No one, even her best friends, knows that it is Soundarya who is behind all the mess caused at school. The rest of the story lies in whether Soundarya reveals her identity and whether her friends accept her.

This book was a new experience for me. Nowadays, most people are addicted a lot towards social media and this story gives a closer view on how social media influences their attitudes and behaviours. I really adored the illustrations and would have liked it more if it were in a colour print. This book also reflects a lot on the true meaning of friendship. And I would recommend this book to any teenager around the world.

[The Book Chief · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

The awesome folks at Harper Collins Children’s Books had sent me their festive collection way back around Diwali last year. One of the books was a graphic novel- so cool! But it was a whole 3 months before I got around to reading it. 🙈

The Secret Life of Debbie G is narrated by 16-year old Arya (Soundarya) who has faced a lot of upheavals - moving from Bangalore to Delhi and then her parents’ divorce a few months after the move. She is finally settling into her Delhi life, poking fun at the popular cliquey crowd in her posh school with her best friends Nikster and Rucksack, when life throws another curve ball- her mother is thinking of remarrying. And the man in question? Tarun Kapoor, the father of two kids in Arya’s school! After an initial outburst, Arya realises that she does want her mom to find happiness again. So now she has to adjust to being ‘family’ with Kiara, the queen bee of her class (who keeps mocking Arya for her geekiness and her plus-sized figure) and Kiaan, Arya’s one time crush! Talk about awkward!

After her mom’s wedding, Arya and her mom move into the Kapoor home, where Arya and Kiara have to share a room. That’s when Arya starts getting the scoop of gossip about the popular kids- thanks to overhearing her stepsister’s conversations with her friends. Suddenly Arya has the power to turn the tables on the “in crowd”- termed as Invincibles by Manish, the new guy in class who seems to be interested in Arya. Per Manish, their school’s social pecking order consists of three tiers. The good looking, fashion conscious and popular kids are at the apex- the Invincibles. Next come the sports stars and brainiacs- the Incredibles. Finally at the bottom of the period are everyone else- the supposed ‘nobodies’ aptly titled Invisibles, where Manish, Arya and her friends happily exist.

Armed with powerful knowledge and her own talent in sketching, Arya creates an online alter ego called Debbie G who posts telling doodles that detail juicy gossip and potent secrets about the Invincibles. Overnight, Debbie G is a sensation at school. At first, Arya feels punch drunk on her newfound power. But as post follows post, Arya feels more and more pressured under continuously having to find scandalous material and protecting her true identity.
And when she finds Manish (whom she has started liking back) making out with another girl, something inside her snaps- and with a flood of vicious resentment, she exposes a secret that has devastating effects.

I liked the book for featuring sensitive and relevant topics like fat shaming, bullying, eating disorders, divorce, the casting couch, self image and homosexuality. The depictions of teenage emotions and insecurities is spot on. However, the end was too abrupt, and Arya’s behaviour towards the end was inexplicably out of character. That is why I knocked off half a star from the total rating.

Suitable for 14+ year olds.

I got this copy free of cost from the publisher Harper Collins (and the sweet people that they are, they didn’t even ask for a review in return- thanks, folks! You’re too nice!), but this has no bearing on my opinion and review. :)

[Sheetal Maurya - Godse (Halo of Books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book starts with Soundarya’s summer vacation at her grandparents’ house in Chennai. Soundarya finds her name odd and loves to be called Arya. She is a chubby teenage girl with big curly hair.

Read more such reviews on Haloofbooks.com

Rukhsar and Nikhil are her two best friends. Rukhsar is a struggling actress waiting to get a break in the industry and latter is always busy taking coaching classes. This trio shares their problems.

The story starts when one of Arya’s classmate’s dad, Tarun visits them in Chennai. Arya’s mom, Aishwarya is a divorcee and she is an independent woman who has a successful career. Slowly, Arya picks a hint that Tarun and her mom love each other, and they are planning to get married. However, the problem here is that Tarun is the father of her enemy Kiara and she had a crush on Kiara’s brother Kiaan.

Struggling with all the negative aspects, she agrees to the marriage for the sake of her mom’s happiness.

Soon, before attending 11th standard classes, there was a fresher’s party, and there she heard how the students talks! Some were body-shaming her, some were saying bad words about her friend Rukhsar who has recently bagged a role in a serial. She was going through changes around her family, life and she had a rage hidden within her.

So, at that time, she gets an idea of putting the gossips around her school campus as a comic strip on Instagram. She created a fake account named ‘The secret life of Debbie G.’ and started posting numerous gossips.

However, the intention gets wrong and soon she regrets her decision of posting it.

My perception:

Social media’s craze was not there when I was a teenager (thank god!) This book shows some of the crucial aspects which today’s parents and teenager ignores. Having more likes and followers is kind of made everyone crazy today. However, one should understand its limitations and how this shouldn’t affect anyone’s life around us. This book also shows how divorce can disturb the child. But I love Aishwarya and Soudarya’s relation. This book should be read by every teenager. Kudos to Vibha for writing this book in a very interesting way, adding a dose of humor and then giving a lesson.

The graphics of this novel is simply breathtaking and make it unputdownable. A must-read!

[Harshita Nanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soundarya ( who prefers to be caller Arya) is undergoing upheavals in her life. Her parents ( who are divorced) have their own life, with Arya's dad having moved to the US and expecting a new baby and her mom marrying Tarun Kapoor. Tarun, another single parent, has two children Kian and Kiara, who study in the same school as Arya. Kiara is in the same grade as Arya. However, that is where the similarity ends. Kian and Kiara are cool and popular, while Arya is, well, invisible. To top it off, her best friends Nikhil and Ruksar get busy in their own lives. Arya struggles to accept the new changes. They are too fast and too disruptive for her to emotionally process them. As an outlet, she creates an online fake persona, Debbie G where she dishes out the dirt on the students of her school, comic strip style. She enjoys the anonymous attention, until one day, everything goes wrong.
"Secret Life Of Debbi G" is Mean Girls and Never Have I Ever rolled into one. As a typical teenage novel, there is lots of heartbreak and emotional drama. It also touches upon the topics such as body shaming, bullying in school, cyberbullying, gay rights, casting couch and mental health. Written in a comic book format, the book engrosses the reader with its snarky humour. The interactions between Arya and her best friends, Nikhil and Ruksar, are funny and heartwarming.
Arya as a protagonist, tugs at your heartstrings. She is hurt and confused by the changes all around her but covers it up with humour. The story is kind of predictable, but the humour gives it an edge. The book shows the impact of social media on getting likes, comments, followers and its negative effect on mental health. The dangers of placing too much emphasis on social media interactions and the psychological implications of bullying have been portrayed sensitively. In this book, there are no happily-ever-afters, but there is a lot of growing up and facing the truth for Arya. This makes the book much more relatable to the readers.
Since this book is written in a comic book format would recommend getting a paperback than an online version. The Secret Life Of Debbie G is targeted at teenagers and is perfect for tweens as well.

[Aneesha Shewani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Graphic novels are much-loved by young adults. Riding the wave of the trend, writer Vibha Batra and illustrator Kalyani Ganpathy bring us The Secret Life of Debbie G. Arya, the 16-year old protagonist is sassy and independent. She questions traditions and is open-minded about social constructs.

Arya is spending the summer vacations in Chennai with her mother and maternal grandparents. The book introduces the culture and traditions of South and North India. In few words, we get a glimpse of the characters and lives of the main players. Emotions come out well - humor, anger, disappointment, desperation, shock, jealousy, and fear.

Arya is your typical teenager with special bonding with her phone and savvy online presence. Her conversation is peppered with memes and pop-culture references, such as the popularity of the letter K in names in sitcom- and Bollywood- obsessed Indian households. The story evolves well as we see that our dear Arya may not be as open-minded as she projects herself to be.

We meet Arya's friends and classmates with their teenage issues and angst. Arya joins Instagram with an alter profile while navigating the fast-paced changes in her life. As she asks - "Has a tidal wave of change ever swept over your life, taking everything away with it, leaving you with an empty feeling and not much else?" How does Arya cope up with the tide? Does she make the right decisions along the way? Read the comic book to know about it all!

While the book cover is alluring, the illustrations inside could do with some styling. Arya's caricature is good. Compared to popular books like The Wimpy Kid, Captain Underpants, or even Geronimo Stilton series, the graphics in Debbie's story are bland. Finesse and layout organization in the comics would have made the book more impressive. For children below 13 years, I suggest parental guidance as some slang words are used. The book is more appropriate for high-school students.

All in all, a refreshing and contemporary take on the life of a typical, urban Indian teenager that young adults will like.

[Bewitchingly Paranoid · Rating 4 out of 5]

To tell you a bit about the plot line, the story starts with a teenage girl named Soundarya or Arya, as she likes to be called, visiting her grandparents along with her mother (single parent) in Chennai. Her mother’s friend Tarun (who is also her classmate’s father & a single parent as well) visits them which eventually leads to her mother confessing about a budding relationship with him, fast forward to their marriage, Arya’s nemesis turns into her step-sister and her one-time-crush, her step-brother.

The main twist starts during a fresher’s party when she heard someone talk bad about her best friend Rukhsar getting a role in a serial and someone body shaming her. Along with this and what was happening at home, she decides to create comic strips of all the hot school gossips and post on Instagram under ‘The Secret Life of Debbie G’. Slowly things starts to get out of control and even though her intention wasn’t wrong, she ends up regretting her decision big time!

Firstly, I would like to say that it is a very cute, important and creative story. I wouldn’t say this is a story, this is something that can happen or might have already happen multiple times, knowingly or unknowingly. With social media ruling the world nowadays (yes, being a blogger, digital marketer and entrepreneur, I can say how important it is) it is very essential for everyone to understand the pros and cons of it. Especially for teenagers of this century.

I truly liked the way authors used the creative angle along with a strong storyline to make one understand the on-going social issues. Be it re-marriage, struggles of being a single parent, misuse of social media, peer pressure, bully & lgbtq, they have been taken care of. This is an important and must-read!

[Rani V S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Atleast once in our life most of us had made a fake account to hide from the bitter experiences life thrown at us. I too had a fake account in fb and a page linked to it. I wrote short stories in it . It was my medicines to forget my sorrows. It was my savior during worst phase of my life.
It is the reason I felt this book pretty relatable.
It is the story of Saundarya, a 16 old who endures many stressful incidents in life- divorced parents, mom dating her crush's parents , body shaming etc. She was angry at everything. She was alone. Finally she found solace in social media. Through a fake account in instagram she posted comic strips targeting her schoolmates. It became a online sensation overnight. She fell in the black hole of likes, comments and shares. But in this journey she hurt many people, even her best friends.
A coming of the age story which focuses on how teenegers depend on social media and how it affect them.
A beautifully written and beautifully illustrated graphic novel which takes us through the rollercoaster ride of the life of a teenager

[Arti · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author has beautifully portrayed a sixteen year old in this graphic novel. The illustrations are beautiful. And the author has actually used the language the kids use these days.
I enjoyed her relationship with her mother and how it changes over time. I loved her friends Nikhil and Rukhsaar. Her maternal grandparents and their affection, seemed too realistic.
The author has discussed sensitive issues, be it divorce, remarriage, classmate dynamics or even image issues. The story talks about social media and also about how it can help or ruin a person.
The language is simple and the story is fast paced. At the end, I wanted a bit more conversation between the three best friends. The illustrations are beautiful. This book is a must read for teenagers as well as their parents.

[Saranya Dhandapani · Rating 4 out of 5]

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Book 39 of 2022- The Secret life of Debbie G
Author-Vibha Batra
Illustrator- Kalyani Ganapathy
Graphic novel

#reviewcopy

Story (from the blurb)-A 16 year old girl becomes an online sensation overnight. Except,it’s her online persona that hits big time. See in contemporary times,where the number of likes,comments,shares,DMs and followers determine a teenager’s sense of self-worth,the story takes a close look at how social media influences their behaviour and affects their emotional health.

This became a must read book for this this generation teenagers. The storytelling is super witty,poignant and fun. The illustrations were so beautiful and one could not stop reading the book..the illustrations were on point.

Why this book is ideal for adults aka teenagers?
It talks about Gender stereotyping, sexual predators,Body shaming, parents getting remarried, cultural diversities,LGBTQ+,discovering one’s sexuality when they are teen or adult..all these intense topics which schools aren’t teaching these days and the topics which they should be aware of. This book has it all. Even though it’s a children’s book, I enjoyed and loved reading it.

[Shalini (readingwithmuffy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

🐶🐶🐶.75/5
The Secret Life of Debbie G. is a graphic novel written from a teen girl's perspective. Our protagonist Soundarya's journey through high-school bullies, body shaming, homophobia, and slut-shaming while she deals with divorced parents is what the book is about. Soundarya or Arya is unapologetic and feisty. She loves to doodle and creates an Instagram page to get back at the mean ones at school. Think Gossip Girls? Arya enjoys her online persona until things start going downhill.

I started reading graphic novels only last year and I realize how much I love it. Though this book is a one-sitting read, it covers some important issues like divorce, remarriage, family dynamics, along with the above-mentioned topics. And therefore this is both a joyful as well as profound read.

My most important takeaway was dealing with social media anxiety and how sometimes, one would go to any lengths for a little bit of popularity.

One should always put oneself first. Nothing is worth your mental health and emotional wellness. Don't let the fear of being judged stop you from being happy or doing something you love to do.
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I loved almost everything about the book but felt the ending a wee bit rushed.

[ℓιαиg иι · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️
The ending was really really really really weird helps. Why was it necessary to make nick gay?¿ and then resolve the entire thing in like 10 pages. Have the entire Debbie g thing come out only in like the last third of the book. Idk man the pacing was just kinda off but I still really liked it. The family dynamic and also finding out more about the Indian culture. But yeah, this graphic novel isn’t really something I would recommend but oh well it was still ok ig

[Gurleen Kaur · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book's title immediately made me jump towards it. It was so engaging, lucid and the illustrations had such a charm in them. The mixed emotions of the girl made me rethink what life has to offer. Too much for the girl to offer:- parent's remarriage, divorce, new cultural upheavals, homophobia & bullying.

[HWR Book Club · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptionally brave book. It talks about topics that are otherwise considered taboo and can be called a conversation starter in all aspects.

Strongly recommended not only for Young Adults but also for adults to understand the world of teenagers, their challenges and how they think.

[; Anah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bullying, Body Shaming & Divorced parents everything from a teenage girl's perspective is what Secret life of Debbie G is all about !

It was a simple, light read !