The Girls Series by Jacqueline Wilson

Book Review Apr 09, 2025

My reviews

I recently got a hold of Jacqueline Wilson's adult follow-on to the Girls series. I loved those books as a teenager, so I went back and gave them all a re-read before diving into the new content.

Girls In Love

4/5 stars

14-year-old Ellie Allard comes back from a holiday in Wales to find that her two best friends, Nadine and Magda have got boyfriends. In a panic, she makes up a boyfriend based on a family friend from Wales and a local boy she has a crush on but doesn't know. The book follows the three girls as they navigate the perils of first relationships.

The nostalgia of re-reading this was so strong. This is the story that I remember most from the series, and it was just as enjoyable now as it was then, but probably for different reasons. I feel like it captured the inner workings of a 14-year-old girl's brain very well, and the topics that were covered still feel relevant for today's world. The topics were handled in a way that felt a little dated as a modern, adult reader, but it was age-appropriate for the time. Ellie was relatable to me then, and I loved revisiting her through adult eyes and appreciating how much I have grown.

Girls Under Pressure

4/5 stars

Ellie finds herself the recipient of a cruel comment about her weight and falls into the dangerous world of eating disorders. She makes a new friend in Zoe, who shows her that being thin might not be all it's cracked up to be.

The re-read of this book really made me appreciate the author's talent - she tackled a heavy and serious subject in a way that felt accessible to a teenage reader without totally terrifying them or making the book feel like a lecture. While there is an argument that the subject matter needed more direct attention, that feels like a modern argument for a 25 year old book - the realities of eating disorders were not shied away from, they just weren't drilled into for a younger audience.

Girls Out Late

3/5 stars

Ellie finally has a real boyfriend, and Russell is head over heels in love with her. The girls celebrate with a night out that take a turn for the worse and lands the three of them way out of their depth.

This is the book in the series that I least enjoyed, then and now. The character of Russell never hugely appealed to me, and the plot points felt somewhat uninteresting compared to the other topics that were covered across the series.

Girls In Tears

4/5 stars

The girls' friendship is tested when all three of them find themselves in a challenging situation but none of them are in a position to support each other properly because they are so deep in their own problems.

The content in this book felt like the most mature of the series, as the author clearly made an attempt to age with her readership. It validated my dislike of Russell's character, and reminded me of all the silly decisions we make about relationships as teenagers. My adult eyes saw the friendship element of the story through different eyes, that somewhat soured my memories of the book, and I felt that the story ended on a note that hasn't aged well. Despite this, I do feel it captured a wide spectrum of teenage girl issues and emotions well.

Think Again

4/5 stars

Ellie is turning 40 and is feeling dissatisfied with her life. Her daughter has moved to uni and loneliness has set in. With problems at work compounding her negative feelings, and Nadine and Madga both busy, she decides to give herself a kick up the ass and try making new friends and dating again. Whats happens after comes as a surprise for everyone involved.

Sadly, this didn't quite hit the spot for me in terms of revisiting some much beloved characters as grown-ups. It didn't feel like the three main characters had matured much past their original teenage dramas, which was disappointing. I did enjoy the introduction of Ellie's daughter, with her fast becoming my favourite character of the book. There was too much focus on the romance of the story, and not enough on the friendships between Ellie, Nadine and Magda, with the semi-autobiographical nature of the ending feeling a little misplaced for me.