THE SECRET LIFE OF DEBBIE G. // BOOK REVIEW

H ere’s what The Secret Life of Debbie G. is about:

It all started cos I wanted to mess with the Invincibles (the superbrats). #SorryNotSorry. But one thing led to another, and before I knew it, I was hitting out at everyone, even the Incredibles (the geeks) and the Invisibles (the losers). Seriously, my online persona is starting to mess with my head.

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 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. Equal parts poignant and fun, this is a bittersweet coming-of-age story.

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!