Ttyl (Internet Girls, #1)

by Lauren Myracle

[clementine]

Ahhh, this book has definitely lost some of its magic. My copy is super beat up, and you can tell that at one point in my life I loved it. In fact, I'm pretty sure I bought it one day, read the entire thing, had dinner, and then read it again. And did the same thing with the sequel.

I think a lot of its appeal had to do with the novelty of the format. It came out when instant messaging was still pretty new and exciting, and when people had ridiculous screennames such as "SnowAngel" and "MadMaddie". And when they used Comic Sans earnestly. It's really interesting, and I do love books told through letters, emails, blog posts, etc, but I don't know that this was actually the best way to tell the story.

Its main strength is that it's a good vehicle for giving all the girls their voices. This is a double-edged sword, though; Myracle sort of pigeonholes them, and they're actually not all that complex. Zoe is the good girl, Maddie is the rebel, and Angela is the slightly vapid, effervescent one. There's not really much character development, despite the excellent opportunity to let them all speak directly to the readers. They're archetypes, in essence. Likeable, engaging archetypes, but still archetypes when you get down to it.

The story also isn't particularly innovative or engaging: for most of it, they're just talking about regular teenage girl things. It's relatable, I'll give it that. And it is kind of nice just to see a few months of grade ten through the eyes of three girls, without anything particularly exciting happening until the end. But still - the story's nothing special.

Another issue with it is that it's pretty dated. I IM all the time (not that anyone calls it that anymore - it's Facebook chat!), and nobody really talks like that. And it's not just the phrasing that's slightly off, it's the way they talk in complete sentences and paragraphs and all that. That's just... not the way it's done, at least not anymore, which dates it pretty quickly. I guess that's the danger of using such a medium to tell a story!

This series really does have a soft spot in my heart, and I feel attached to the characters, even if they're not super complex or interesting. There are some legitimately funny parts, and I admire these books for their frank discussions of sexuality and for giving a platform to teen girls' issues. However, it's pretty clear that if it weren't for the format, this book would not be very interesting.