Username: Evie by Joe Sugg

 

I’ve eagerly been waiting to read Username: Evie since it’s release in September and I finally got my hands on a copy for Christmas! I rarely buy books written by YouTubers, however i’ve grown a fondness for Joe Sugg and figured at least his book wasn’t a very strangely written self-help/memoir. I was excited to get in to it!

Title: Username: Evie

Author: Joe Sugg

Genre: Graphic Novel, fantasy 

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Publication Date: September 10th 2015

Pages: 192

Summery : Despite his failing health, Evie’s father comes close to creating such a virtual idyll. Passing away before it’s finished, he leaves her the key in the form of an app, and Evie finds herself transported to a world where the population is influenced by her personality. Everyone shines in her presence, until her devious cousin, Mallory, discovers the app… and the power to cause trouble in paradise.

Username: Evie is the story of a young girl whose parents have both passed away. Before her father died he created an online world for her to escape in to when she felt like she needed to get away from the world. That is until that world goes a little bit wrong!

First of all I’d like to point out that even though Joe didn’t write Username: Evie, he states right at the start of the novel that he didn’t write a word of it and actually credits the writer! Learning from his big sister! I respect him quite a lot for admitting that he didn’t write his own graphic novel, just came up with the idea!

I was very excited to start Username: Evie, however I must admit after finishing it I felt a little disappointed and deflated. Whereas the story was unique and the general premise for the book I enjoyed. It lacked quite a lot in the actual story telling. Joe’s incredible idea for this world was a little lack luster once it was down on paper.

I think the majority of this was down to layout ad art work. The actual style of art work was beautiful and incredible. One of the main reasons I enjoy graphic novels is for the incredible artwork it offers and I will only read graphic novels where I know I’ll enjoy the style it’s drawn. Even though the images were stunning, the layout of the story was quite frankly confusing. It seemed to skip from place to place with not enough images for you to fathom what had actually happened. I managed to get the jist of what happened and I could follow it to an extent, but I couldn’t really focus on the actual story.

Overall Username: Evie was a pretty average young adult graphic novel. I’m not sure if my expectations were too high to begin with but it was just slightly disappointing. Joe is working on a sequel to Username: Evie and I’ll definitely carry on to see what else his genius mind comes up with. His ideas are brilliant, I honestly cannot fault that.