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Girls #3
Girls Out Late
Ellie has a boyfriend! Interested in her - not in her best friends, Magda and Nadine! She and Russell are made for each other - drawn together by their shared enjoyment of art. If only Dad thought Russell was perfect too... And as Ellie runs into trouble with a parent who thinks his daughter is too young for after-dark trysts in the park with oh-so-gorgeous Russell, Magda has a crush on a teacher - and Nadine's falling for slimy Liam again. What they need is a girls' night out - Girls Out Late!
191 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
About the author
Jacqueline Wilson
366 books5,017 followersJacqueline Wilson was born in Bath in 1945, but spent most of her childhood in Kingston-on-Thames. She always wanted to be a writer and wrote her first ‘novel’ when she was nine, filling in countless Woolworths’ exercise books as she grew up. As a teenager she started work for a magazine publishing company and then went on to work as a journalist on Jackie magazine (which she was told was named after her!) before turning to writing novels full-time.
One of Jacqueline’s most successful and enduring creations has been the famous Tracy Beaker, who first appeared in 1991 in The Story of Tracy Beaker. This was also the first of her books to be illustrated by Nick Sharratt. Since then Jacqueline has been on countless awards shortlists and has gone on to win many awards. The Illustrated Mum won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award, the 1999 Children’s Book of the Year at the British Book Awards and was also shortlisted for the 1999 Whitbread Children’s Book Award.
Double Act won the prestigious Smarties Medal and the Children’s Book Award as well as being highly commended for the Carnegie Medal. The Story of Tracy Beaker won the 2002 Blue Peter People’s Choice Award.
Jacqueline is one of the nation’s favourite authors, and her books are loved and cherished by young readers not only in the UK but all over the world. She has sold millions of books and in the UK alone the total now stands at over 35 million!
In 2002 Jacqueline was awarded the OBE for services to literacy in schools and from 2005 to 2007 she was the Children’s Laureate. In 2008 she became Dame Jacqueline Wilson.
One of Jacqueline’s most successful and enduring creations has been the famous Tracy Beaker, who first appeared in 1991 in The Story of Tracy Beaker. This was also the first of her books to be illustrated by Nick Sharratt. Since then Jacqueline has been on countless awards shortlists and has gone on to win many awards. The Illustrated Mum won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award, the 1999 Children’s Book of the Year at the British Book Awards and was also shortlisted for the 1999 Whitbread Children’s Book Award.
Double Act won the prestigious Smarties Medal and the Children’s Book Award as well as being highly commended for the Carnegie Medal. The Story of Tracy Beaker won the 2002 Blue Peter People’s Choice Award.
Jacqueline is one of the nation’s favourite authors, and her books are loved and cherished by young readers not only in the UK but all over the world. She has sold millions of books and in the UK alone the total now stands at over 35 million!
In 2002 Jacqueline was awarded the OBE for services to literacy in schools and from 2005 to 2007 she was the Children’s Laureate. In 2008 she became Dame Jacqueline Wilson.
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September 22, 2024My goodness was we all reckless like this as teenagers?
The trio is back in the third of the series and our girl Ellie has finally bagged herself a guy who is completely into her and her only. We follow Ellie swooning over Loverboy Russel, Nadine dealing with past boy woes and Magda dealing with a mega crush on her art teacher.
Whew pass me an aspirin, because this third book was a HEADACHE! Honestly all of the girls were so silly and reckless in this one and I just wanted to bang all their heads together. Stranger Danger was not even a concept in this storyline, and they were all running towards Red Flags like it just came into fashion!
Now I can give a bit of compassion when it comes to the girls because they are just teens after all and are bound to make mistakes after mistakes, but you know who really irked me in this book?... THE PARENTS! Ellie’s dad, stepmom Anna and Nadine’s mother all need a SLAP! Frankly they were behaving worse than the girls and it was shocking to read.
Ellie’s dad conversing with Ellie about him and Anna’s relationship was so annoying to me. Why did he feel like that was a suitable conversation to have with his preteen daughter.
Then Anna throwing all caution to the wind and letting Ellie go and be gallivanting out and alone with a boy she barely knows was mind numbingly panful to read. Anna I know you are trying to be a “cool stepmom” or whatever but ARE YOU DUMB!?. No common sense whatsoever!
The girls were extremely boy hungry in this book and it was slightly nauseating to read, because I know for a fact younger me was probably just as bad and obsessed! LOL
There is one more book left in the series and I’m heading to read it straight away because I’m too excited to read the new release (Think Again) of the girls now in their 40s. I wonder how life has shaped them!
Again, I am not rating this series, as I’m only reading to remember the characters and the issues they dealt/ went through and for nostalgic purposes.
ONTO BOOK FOUR… GIRLS IN TEARS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
⋆｡°✩pre read⋆｡°✩
Onto book #3
Following the adventures of my favourite girly trio
Looks like my girl Ellie has bagged herself a guy! I hope it ends well and not in tears!😌❤️💚
The trio is back in the third of the series and our girl Ellie has finally bagged herself a guy who is completely into her and her only. We follow Ellie swooning over Loverboy Russel, Nadine dealing with past boy woes and Magda dealing with a mega crush on her art teacher.
Whew pass me an aspirin, because this third book was a HEADACHE! Honestly all of the girls were so silly and reckless in this one and I just wanted to bang all their heads together. Stranger Danger was not even a concept in this storyline, and they were all running towards Red Flags like it just came into fashion!
Now I can give a bit of compassion when it comes to the girls because they are just teens after all and are bound to make mistakes after mistakes, but you know who really irked me in this book?... THE PARENTS! Ellie’s dad, stepmom Anna and Nadine’s mother all need a SLAP! Frankly they were behaving worse than the girls and it was shocking to read.
Ellie’s dad conversing with Ellie about him and Anna’s relationship was so annoying to me. Why did he feel like that was a suitable conversation to have with his preteen daughter.
Then Anna throwing all caution to the wind and letting Ellie go and be gallivanting out and alone with a boy she barely knows was mind numbingly panful to read. Anna I know you are trying to be a “cool stepmom” or whatever but ARE YOU DUMB!?. No common sense whatsoever!
The girls were extremely boy hungry in this book and it was slightly nauseating to read, because I know for a fact younger me was probably just as bad and obsessed! LOL
There is one more book left in the series and I’m heading to read it straight away because I’m too excited to read the new release (Think Again) of the girls now in their 40s. I wonder how life has shaped them!
Again, I am not rating this series, as I’m only reading to remember the characters and the issues they dealt/ went through and for nostalgic purposes.
ONTO BOOK FOUR… GIRLS IN TEARS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
⋆｡°✩pre read⋆｡°✩
Onto book #3
Following the adventures of my favourite girly trio
Looks like my girl Ellie has bagged herself a guy! I hope it ends well and not in tears!😌❤️💚
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July 21, 2016
The third in the "Girls" series, as Ellie and her friends start exploring relationships. Wilson expertly tackles issues surrounding teenaged friendship when boys become involved! I recall much of this book emphasising issues surrounding consent and stranger danger, as the three friends go to a concert and decide to go off with some shady boys in a van they have only just met.
I really enjoyed this book and re-read it many times as a young teen myself. I was upset when the series ended, although a fourth and final book was subsequently released some time later.
I really enjoyed this book and re-read it many times as a young teen myself. I was upset when the series ended, although a fourth and final book was subsequently released some time later.
August 5, 2015
Source: I own this book.
Cost: Unknown
Title: Girls Out Late
Series: Girls #3
Author: Jacqueline Wilson
Overall Rating: 3 stars
In some ways, this is my favourite in the series.
But in other ways, it's my least favourite. But I think it all comes down to the age thing.
Reading this at the age it was intended for, I loved it, I thought Russell was so nice and I loved the idea of breaking Curfew. However, now, I just see Ellie as kind of stupid and boy obsessed, she's 14. It doesn't matter if you have a boyfriend or not, I went to an all girls school so maybe that's why I have no sympathy there. We just sort of didn't care about boys in our school, because there was none.
I just didn't enjoy revisiting this one.
Cost: Unknown
Title: Girls Out Late
Series: Girls #3
Author: Jacqueline Wilson
Overall Rating: 3 stars
In some ways, this is my favourite in the series.
But in other ways, it's my least favourite. But I think it all comes down to the age thing.
Reading this at the age it was intended for, I loved it, I thought Russell was so nice and I loved the idea of breaking Curfew. However, now, I just see Ellie as kind of stupid and boy obsessed, she's 14. It doesn't matter if you have a boyfriend or not, I went to an all girls school so maybe that's why I have no sympathy there. We just sort of didn't care about boys in our school, because there was none.
I just didn't enjoy revisiting this one.
July 24, 2023
A perfectly fun read. I really do struggle with an age range for these books. It's written like MG/ young-YA, and the characters are YOUNG but there's talks of sex, all focused on having a boyfriend, and in this one even a very scary experience at the end. I do feel like they should've faced scarier, tougher consequences here as it's not something young teens should take lightly.
August 10, 2024
I sort of wish the original series had finished here as this book was still strong overall, with some quite compelling bits of plot in there. The stranger danger scene where they end up in some shady guy's van still had an adult me on the edge of my seat.
It was both nice to see Ellie get a boyfriend and frustrating to see the lack of support from her friends, and I also don't particularly like Russel in this book. he gets worse but that's for another review.
One thing that I didn't notice as a kid was the age differences between the girls and the boys they dated. These girls are 13-14 being pursued by 16-19 year olds which is SO creepy retrospectively. Makes me really dislike all the boyfriend characters from the get go. But I do remember being that age and all the girls wanted older boyfriends, so it is realistic (unfortunately).
It was both nice to see Ellie get a boyfriend and frustrating to see the lack of support from her friends, and I also don't particularly like Russel in this book. he gets worse but that's for another review.
One thing that I didn't notice as a kid was the age differences between the girls and the boys they dated. These girls are 13-14 being pursued by 16-19 year olds which is SO creepy retrospectively. Makes me really dislike all the boyfriend characters from the get go. But I do remember being that age and all the girls wanted older boyfriends, so it is realistic (unfortunately).
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August 3, 2024Why am I getting Vietnam style flashbacks now Russell is in the series, he’s defo a cock, I can sense it
Also Nadine is a horrible friend, & makes such bad life decisions involving adult men every book? Why are adults sleazing on a year 9. I remember what I looked like in year 9 in the early 00s, no one was mistaking me for 18
Also Nadine is a horrible friend, & makes such bad life decisions involving adult men every book? Why are adults sleazing on a year 9. I remember what I looked like in year 9 in the early 00s, no one was mistaking me for 18
April 22, 2019
I downloaded it randomly. The cover was cute.
The book started cute too. Then it got a bit stretchy. The end in particular was a tad bit boring.
It is about three girlfriends in year nine and rneire adventures with each other and boys.
The book started cute too. Then it got a bit stretchy. The end in particular was a tad bit boring.
It is about three girlfriends in year nine and rneire adventures with each other and boys.
December 15, 2019
Why am I still reading this series?
So this book is by far the worst in the series so far. Ellie is even more annoying, Nadine and Magda keep doing stupid stuff and the love interest is barely a good person. Honestly, it's hard to believe sometimes that these girls are supposed to be 13 years old. They go from acting like childish schoolgirls (which they are) to super mature boy-addicts who apparently have grown men throwing themselves at them. What?
Russell - fuck you. I found him very emotionally manipulating and I hated him shaming Ellie for her friends and the fact that she wanted to go to the concert with them over a dance with him. Firstly, she barely knows you and she's been friends with these girls for years. Secondly, the concert was planned first so fuck you for trying to shame her into letting her friends down. I don't like him already.
Also, a warning to any younger readers: DO NOT JUMP IN A VAN WITH RANDOM MEN THAT YOU MET 5 SECONDS BEFORE AND GO TO A SECOND LOCATION WITH THEM. I mean, it's common sense but that scene PISSED ME RIGHT OFF. It was so dangerous and unbelievable. I have no idea how they got out of that situation unhurt.
I guess I'll have to read the next book to finish my read-through BUT I'M NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT.
So this book is by far the worst in the series so far. Ellie is even more annoying, Nadine and Magda keep doing stupid stuff and the love interest is barely a good person. Honestly, it's hard to believe sometimes that these girls are supposed to be 13 years old. They go from acting like childish schoolgirls (which they are) to super mature boy-addicts who apparently have grown men throwing themselves at them. What?
Russell - fuck you. I found him very emotionally manipulating and I hated him shaming Ellie for her friends and the fact that she wanted to go to the concert with them over a dance with him. Firstly, she barely knows you and she's been friends with these girls for years. Secondly, the concert was planned first so fuck you for trying to shame her into letting her friends down. I don't like him already.
Also, a warning to any younger readers: DO NOT JUMP IN A VAN WITH RANDOM MEN THAT YOU MET 5 SECONDS BEFORE AND GO TO A SECOND LOCATION WITH THEM. I mean, it's common sense but that scene PISSED ME RIGHT OFF. It was so dangerous and unbelievable. I have no idea how they got out of that situation unhurt.
I guess I'll have to read the next book to finish my read-through BUT I'M NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT.
October 15, 2014
I revisited this book from my early teens to have a laugh at what I used to read. Not only do I think it's highly inappropriate for teens to believe its acceptable to arrive home at midnight at age 14 which I remember puzzling me greatly, I also think that Jacqueline's teens were far different to the ones of the girls described in the book.
It's a cute read but completely unbelievable and found myself doing a giant eye roll throughout the evening.
It's a cute read but completely unbelievable and found myself doing a giant eye roll throughout the evening.
December 7, 2014
i completely forgot how stupid this book is. i enjoyed the previous ones because they were relatable and taught some kind of lesson but this one was just plain stupid. i hated ellies relationship with russell and she was just acting completely weird with him. he seems like an extremely creepy guy and i didn't like him at all. every single one of the situations described in this book seemed a little over the top and and i kind of started disliking ellie and her way of thinking.
March 7, 2023
I loved this book series when I was a teenager and love it now :)))
April 16, 2024
Girls Out Late is definitely a book that I remembered enjoying much more in my youth than on this re-read. Still enjoyable and easy to get through, though. It’s the third installment of the Girls series and this one focuses more on the girls’ different relationships with boys as they progress through high school - specifically Ellie with a new lad from a nearby Boy’s School called Russell. He seems to be all about her, not like how boys are usually into her two best friends, Magda and Nadine, more. But will she be able to hang out with Russell much as her Dad is being strict with how late she is allowed to stay out for? Especially after she came home at 11pm one night after meeting Russell!
Also, how will the three girls handle travelling into London by train and tube on their own to go to their favourite popstar’s concert?
3 Stars
Also, how will the three girls handle travelling into London by train and tube on their own to go to their favourite popstar’s concert?
3 Stars
July 7, 2024
I was really enjoying taking part in the Nostalgic read-along with @thistashreads and it is just reminding me how different things were back in the 90s! 😅 I think as an educational professional and adult, I read this completely differently! I loved the fact that I actually found the MMC cringy but actually like him towards the end! 🤣 it had more drama then I ever expected it to have but still related to some aspects of it!
September 21, 2024
Ellie, Nadine and Magda are truly insane but it made for great literature
January 24, 2022
The first book that I read from Jacqueline Wilson amazing I got obsessed and got more. I recommend it
May 10, 2020
I've been rereading the whole of Jacquline Wilson's Girls series in the last week and the previous instalments have been wonderfully nostalgic. When I was younger, the third book in the series wasn't my favourite. Out of them all, it was the one that I related to the least and I just really hated Russell. Ellie and her friends were just making stupid mistakes left right and centre. For me, it seemed to be verging away from reality a bit more. I also wasn't impressed with the continuity from the previous book. In Girls Under Pressure, Ellie started to suffer from an eating disorder and there is very little mention to it here. Ellie seemed to get over it quickly and I think it really diminished the power of the previous book. Watching her slow recovery and her slow acceptance of her body would have been more impactful than her getting over it almost instantly.
Yes, there are a few mentions about eating and feeling fat here but the topic of this book is definitely on other things. This is the book where Ellie gets her first real boyfriend and has to deal with the headaches that come along with it. She meets an older boy on an evening out with her friends and he ends up walking her home. Unfortunately, they get a bit distracted and Ellie ends up getting home late. Her dad and stepmother ground her which results in Ellie starting her rebellious teen phase. Sneaking out to meet her new boyfriend and lying to her dad become second nature. But what will Ellie do when she has to choose between her boyfriend and her best friends?
Especially as they're both making silly mistakes as well. Nadine is still sorting out her feelings for her creepy ex-boyfriend Liam. When she spots him with a girl in the year below, she can't help herself and decides to confront him. But will Nadine go back to him? At the same time, Magda has developed an intense crush on the girls' art teacher and decides she has to tell him. What will happen when she goes to visit him at his flat? Adding to Ellie's woes is her home life. Anna, her stepmother, starts to worry that her dad is having an affair. What will it mean for Ellie is Anna leaves just as they're starting to become friends?
There's a lot going on in this book but we never really get time to deal with it. This was the first book that made me feel as though Wilson was trying to do too much. I understand that she's looking at the different aspects of being a teenage girl but there are four separate storylines to contend with. This means most of them end up being thin and underdeveloped. The focus is, obviously on Ellie and Russell, and the others just sort of happen in the background. Fights take place and are resolved a page later. I just wish that this had been more focused. It makes the novel feel messy when you compare it to the previous two novels. It also feels kind of boring at the same time. I know you'd think that is as crammed with plot points as this would feel anything but. However, the lack of depth to it all just makes the whole thing quite dull.
I also think that Wilson maybe went a bit too far with her stories. I know that teenage girls have different experiences but I also think the scenarios in this book are a bit too melodramatic. The girls' night out in London feels like something out of a soap opera and even as a teenager I thought it was a bit ridiculous. 14-year-old girls as stupid but to get in a van with a load of strange men? I'm not sure the majority of teens would take that path. Then there's Magda's storyline. That just made me cringe. Yes, teenage girls get crushes on their teachers all the time but to have her go to his flat? It's just ridiculous. And I wasn't happy about the way she resolved that storyline. It sends the wrong message.
Finally, and most importantly, there's the central relationship of the whole book. Let's be honest, Russell is a terrible boyfriend. He emotionally blackmails Ellie into doing things she doesn't want to do. He's jealous of her friends. Tries to push her into moving too quickly. Shames her. Speaks down to her. He treats her so badly but we're supposed to find him endearing. Ellie lets him get away with this behaviour and then Wilson paints their relationship as a fairytale ending. This isn't the type of relationship that we should be encouraging young girls to be striving for. The last book in this series was dealing with an important issue for young people. This one just feels like trash in comparison. As if Wilson just went down the road of basic romance. It's disappointing.
Yes, there are a few mentions about eating and feeling fat here but the topic of this book is definitely on other things. This is the book where Ellie gets her first real boyfriend and has to deal with the headaches that come along with it. She meets an older boy on an evening out with her friends and he ends up walking her home. Unfortunately, they get a bit distracted and Ellie ends up getting home late. Her dad and stepmother ground her which results in Ellie starting her rebellious teen phase. Sneaking out to meet her new boyfriend and lying to her dad become second nature. But what will Ellie do when she has to choose between her boyfriend and her best friends?
Especially as they're both making silly mistakes as well. Nadine is still sorting out her feelings for her creepy ex-boyfriend Liam. When she spots him with a girl in the year below, she can't help herself and decides to confront him. But will Nadine go back to him? At the same time, Magda has developed an intense crush on the girls' art teacher and decides she has to tell him. What will happen when she goes to visit him at his flat? Adding to Ellie's woes is her home life. Anna, her stepmother, starts to worry that her dad is having an affair. What will it mean for Ellie is Anna leaves just as they're starting to become friends?
There's a lot going on in this book but we never really get time to deal with it. This was the first book that made me feel as though Wilson was trying to do too much. I understand that she's looking at the different aspects of being a teenage girl but there are four separate storylines to contend with. This means most of them end up being thin and underdeveloped. The focus is, obviously on Ellie and Russell, and the others just sort of happen in the background. Fights take place and are resolved a page later. I just wish that this had been more focused. It makes the novel feel messy when you compare it to the previous two novels. It also feels kind of boring at the same time. I know you'd think that is as crammed with plot points as this would feel anything but. However, the lack of depth to it all just makes the whole thing quite dull.
I also think that Wilson maybe went a bit too far with her stories. I know that teenage girls have different experiences but I also think the scenarios in this book are a bit too melodramatic. The girls' night out in London feels like something out of a soap opera and even as a teenager I thought it was a bit ridiculous. 14-year-old girls as stupid but to get in a van with a load of strange men? I'm not sure the majority of teens would take that path. Then there's Magda's storyline. That just made me cringe. Yes, teenage girls get crushes on their teachers all the time but to have her go to his flat? It's just ridiculous. And I wasn't happy about the way she resolved that storyline. It sends the wrong message.
Finally, and most importantly, there's the central relationship of the whole book. Let's be honest, Russell is a terrible boyfriend. He emotionally blackmails Ellie into doing things she doesn't want to do. He's jealous of her friends. Tries to push her into moving too quickly. Shames her. Speaks down to her. He treats her so badly but we're supposed to find him endearing. Ellie lets him get away with this behaviour and then Wilson paints their relationship as a fairytale ending. This isn't the type of relationship that we should be encouraging young girls to be striving for. The last book in this series was dealing with an important issue for young people. This one just feels like trash in comparison. As if Wilson just went down the road of basic romance. It's disappointing.
March 8, 2022
Έχω υπάρξει το κορίτσι που έπρεπε μέχρι τις 22.00 να είμαι σπίτι, και το βιβλίο αυτό, αν και απευθυνόμενο σε έφηβες (κάτι που δεν είμαι) μου έφερε όμορφες αναμνήσεις...
November 18, 2011
I've read a few of Jacqueline Wilson's books by now, and I do recall quite liking Double Act and not disliking whatever the other one I read was - though nothing too special, she can write a very natural, realistic voice for a young girl.
This book, however... wow no. See, to ME, it just wasn't that realistic - nor were any of the characters likable. I swapped it through readitswapit.co.uk because I'm more keen on sending out my books to good homes that I'll swap with almost anything that sounds halfway decent. (*cough*Sweet*cough* another disaster!) This didn't even make a quarter.
First of all, I didn't like Ellie much. I didn't enjoy her voice at all - too boy-obsessed AND only 13. Come on, really? Really?? And then, she meets Russell - she's sketching him while he's sketching her in McDonald's. And he's in year 11 (so I assume 16), and he totally gets on the same bus as her and wants to walk her home, with a detour on the way to a park. Where they practically make out, after having known each other for all of an hour. I'm sorry, but it just read like he was coming on WAY too strongly. At one point he was about to grope her chest and Ellie was all thinking, do I want this? But then I *don't* want him to think I'm all uptight, so okay I'll let him go this far... and this could have totally turned into a cautionary tale about how It's Okay To Say No, but it didn't. Blah.
Also, I can't buy a 13-year-old staying out until 11 and whining that her friends can stay out past midnight. THIRTEEN. I don't think her 9pm curfew is that bad at ALL for her age.
And then Russell is a total douche, I'm sorry. I mean he throws a whiny hissy-fit about Ellie spending time with her girlfriends, like she dares to think they're more important than him. Magda's father bought their concert tickets ages before he invited her to the dance. He wants her to just ditch her friends and be rude to Magda's father. Pssht, douche.
And then the ending was just crap and awful with the whole going in the sketchy van of the sketchy boys debacle... again, could have been a cautionary tale! And okay in that case it was a little, though of course nothing too bad happened. But ughhhh, those three girls were dreadful and shallow and so unbelievable as 13-year-olds. Or are kids really like that these days?! I refuse to believe it. But come on, the BSC were 13... and sure they weren't entirely that believable either, but at least they didn't behave like these three did!
This book, however... wow no. See, to ME, it just wasn't that realistic - nor were any of the characters likable. I swapped it through readitswapit.co.uk because I'm more keen on sending out my books to good homes that I'll swap with almost anything that sounds halfway decent. (*cough*Sweet*cough* another disaster!) This didn't even make a quarter.
First of all, I didn't like Ellie much. I didn't enjoy her voice at all - too boy-obsessed AND only 13. Come on, really? Really?? And then, she meets Russell - she's sketching him while he's sketching her in McDonald's. And he's in year 11 (so I assume 16), and he totally gets on the same bus as her and wants to walk her home, with a detour on the way to a park. Where they practically make out, after having known each other for all of an hour. I'm sorry, but it just read like he was coming on WAY too strongly. At one point he was about to grope her chest and Ellie was all thinking, do I want this? But then I *don't* want him to think I'm all uptight, so okay I'll let him go this far... and this could have totally turned into a cautionary tale about how It's Okay To Say No, but it didn't. Blah.
Also, I can't buy a 13-year-old staying out until 11 and whining that her friends can stay out past midnight. THIRTEEN. I don't think her 9pm curfew is that bad at ALL for her age.
And then Russell is a total douche, I'm sorry. I mean he throws a whiny hissy-fit about Ellie spending time with her girlfriends, like she dares to think they're more important than him. Magda's father bought their concert tickets ages before he invited her to the dance. He wants her to just ditch her friends and be rude to Magda's father. Pssht, douche.
And then the ending was just crap and awful with the whole going in the sketchy van of the sketchy boys debacle... again, could have been a cautionary tale! And okay in that case it was a little, though of course nothing too bad happened. But ughhhh, those three girls were dreadful and shallow and so unbelievable as 13-year-olds. Or are kids really like that these days?! I refuse to believe it. But come on, the BSC were 13... and sure they weren't entirely that believable either, but at least they didn't behave like these three did!
June 6, 2024
Re-read, 06/06/2024
Russell was and is a CREEP.
Original 2022 review:
Girls Out Late is when Ellie finally gets the boyfriend she's been dreaming of. However I've never been able to enjoy the relationship nor this book, because her boyfriend is incredibly dodgy. Russell is sixteen. Ellie is thirteen. Sure three years isn't much between adults, but adolescents are so developmentally different physically and emotionally every year of their lives. Ellie is a literal child, and Russell is an adult in quite a few contexts. It's disgusting, I think back to when I was sixteen and none of us could imagine dating anyone from the year below - three years below is just horrifying. I thought the turn for the worst only came in Girls In Tears when Russell keeps trying to use Ellie for sex, but it's that way in this book too. He's practically necking on with her after she's tried to escape many times on the first night they've met. She says no, and he keeps trying to touch her. It's awful and never treated as such.
We had a similar setup in Girls In Love, when Liam was using Nadine for sex. But at least that book had the sense to call Liam the creep he was and made it clear he was taking advantage of Nadine. No such luck here, though.
Russell also tells Ellie she's Not Like Other Girls, which is a huge red flag.
One good thing about this book is the reference to Sylvia Plath's poetry in chapter three. I love a good Plath reference.
There are a lot of typos in this book. I remember one or two in my old hardcover edition, but you'd think by the 2016 edition they'd have fixed them.
One thing that's always stuck out to me is the way Magda speaks when talking about her encounter with Mr Windsor. I can see her calling herself "batty" and maybe even "barking mad", but a fourteen year old girl saying "pussyfooting around"????
Russell was and is a CREEP.
Original 2022 review:
Girls Out Late is when Ellie finally gets the boyfriend she's been dreaming of. However I've never been able to enjoy the relationship nor this book, because her boyfriend is incredibly dodgy. Russell is sixteen. Ellie is thirteen. Sure three years isn't much between adults, but adolescents are so developmentally different physically and emotionally every year of their lives. Ellie is a literal child, and Russell is an adult in quite a few contexts. It's disgusting, I think back to when I was sixteen and none of us could imagine dating anyone from the year below - three years below is just horrifying. I thought the turn for the worst only came in Girls In Tears when Russell keeps trying to use Ellie for sex, but it's that way in this book too. He's practically necking on with her after she's tried to escape many times on the first night they've met. She says no, and he keeps trying to touch her. It's awful and never treated as such.
We had a similar setup in Girls In Love, when Liam was using Nadine for sex. But at least that book had the sense to call Liam the creep he was and made it clear he was taking advantage of Nadine. No such luck here, though.
Russell also tells Ellie she's Not Like Other Girls, which is a huge red flag.
One good thing about this book is the reference to Sylvia Plath's poetry in chapter three. I love a good Plath reference.
There are a lot of typos in this book. I remember one or two in my old hardcover edition, but you'd think by the 2016 edition they'd have fixed them.
One thing that's always stuck out to me is the way Magda speaks when talking about her encounter with Mr Windsor. I can see her calling herself "batty" and maybe even "barking mad", but a fourteen year old girl saying "pussyfooting around"????
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February 29, 2020Nie mam nawet zbyt wielkiej ochoty na znęcanie się nad tą książką. Nigdy więcej tych głupich dziewuch, nigdy więcej Jacqueline Wilson! Ludzie, dzięki którym cztery książki tej autorki znalazły się na liście BBC, powinni pójść siedzieć. A odsiadując wyrok powinni mieć dostęp czytelniczy wyłącznie do instrukcji obsługi tostera.
Przepraszam wszystkich, dla których książki tej autorki stanowią jakąś wartość sentymentalną. Naprawdę rozumiem, że dla kogoś mogą one stanowić miłe wspomnienie, sama jako nastolatka czytałam "Pamiętnik księżniczki" Meg Cabot i mam dla tej książki sporo pozytywnych uczuć, które z obiektywizmem mają niewiele wspólnego. Dlatego konsekwentnie powstrzymuję się od wystawienia negatywnej oceny dla książek autorki.
Książki Jacqueline Wilson są jednak dla mnie nie do zniesienia. Za stara jestem na czytanie o obmacujących się trzynastolatkach.
Przepraszam wszystkich, dla których książki tej autorki stanowią jakąś wartość sentymentalną. Naprawdę rozumiem, że dla kogoś mogą one stanowić miłe wspomnienie, sama jako nastolatka czytałam "Pamiętnik księżniczki" Meg Cabot i mam dla tej książki sporo pozytywnych uczuć, które z obiektywizmem mają niewiele wspólnego. Dlatego konsekwentnie powstrzymuję się od wystawienia negatywnej oceny dla książek autorki.
Książki Jacqueline Wilson są jednak dla mnie nie do zniesienia. Za stara jestem na czytanie o obmacujących się trzynastolatkach.
May 30, 2015
Oh God I literally do not like Ellie and I find her character so annoying. Thus, it was difficult to like the story itself. Personally did not enjoy this one.
July 29, 2016
My personal opinion...!!
This book was probably the only book in the Girls series I wanted to finish and didn't feel disgusted... ( If you read Girls under pressure you might know what I mean )
This book was probably the only book in the Girls series I wanted to finish and didn't feel disgusted... ( If you read Girls under pressure you might know what I mean )
August 21, 2020
To say that this book was a trip is an understatement.
'Girls Out Late', book 3 of the 'Girls' series is yet another bizarre continuation of the trials and tribulations of Ellie, Magda and Nadine. In this novel, we see Ellie, our protagonist, start a relationship with Russell, a year eleven boy, and the main plot follows Ellie navigating this relationship whilst also being mindful of her curfew. Simple right? Well...
'Girls Out Late' follows the same predictable set of story beats as very book in this series has so far. However, it seems that the stakes in this novel are raised out of nowhere - a cancelled concert results in the titular trio going into a strange van with men the don't know BEFORE even thinking that they could get assaulted or killed?! What?! I get that these three have done bad things before (ie going to a club underage for one thing) but going willingly into a van because you think someone wears cool rings and is edgy is something else. The amount of times these three girls almost die or almost get assaulted after trying to help someone not die or get assaulted is insane, it's insane! That's not even to mention the subplot of Magda and Mr. Windsor where she somehow ends up in his house (which is very questionable and seemingly unlawful), the reappearance of no good Liam in Nadine's life and the main plot of Ellie trying to romantically please a boy she just met (who seems wayyy too into her for someone for a total stranger - there's also the predatory aspect as well...).
I think what Wilson achieves in this novel is to simply scare her audience. She lures them in with promises of young romance that a reader of a similar age can only hope for before scaring them sh*tless and using the dangerous moment of the novel to have the trio band together. To me, this is insane. I think that by this point, 'Girls' is a series that is aimed to scare its audience - it's like Wilson is asking the reader to come for the female friendship and stay for the possible danger and trauma that takes place for the protagonists. It's crazy. And whilst I do understand the need to get a younger audience invested in a story, is this really the way? To scare them senseless? I was scared reading this novel, scared for all the teenage girls who read this and thought that the dangerous situations that Ellie, Magda and Nadine escape scott free from are worth seeking out. After all, if everything always works out for them, why wouldn't it work out for those readers in real life?
I do understand that this is all designed to entertain. We know that the trio is in no real danger because they aren't real people. All the same, I feel that because the novel does a whole 180 on the main plot (Ellie and Russell) to focus its last few chapters (the van incident) the story that's been building is just gone, all the threads that were made are just cut because it doesn't matter that Ellie double booked herself and lied to the boy she now loves (yes loves) to go to a concert with Magda and Nadine - that doesn't matter because they end up in the most dangerous situation where they could've died or been assaulted! Isn't that insane! What!?
Overall, the problems of 'Girls Out Late' are echoed from the previous novels; that Wilson struggles to write male characters with any real depth (as in book 2) and that the teenage experiences of the girls are just dashed and blown up under a microscope to scare the novel's teenage readership.
I wasn't sure what I was expecting after book 2, but it certainly wasn't this. What a shocking, bizarre let down.
'Girls Out Late', book 3 of the 'Girls' series is yet another bizarre continuation of the trials and tribulations of Ellie, Magda and Nadine. In this novel, we see Ellie, our protagonist, start a relationship with Russell, a year eleven boy, and the main plot follows Ellie navigating this relationship whilst also being mindful of her curfew. Simple right? Well...
'Girls Out Late' follows the same predictable set of story beats as very book in this series has so far. However, it seems that the stakes in this novel are raised out of nowhere - a cancelled concert results in the titular trio going into a strange van with men the don't know BEFORE even thinking that they could get assaulted or killed?! What?! I get that these three have done bad things before (ie going to a club underage for one thing) but going willingly into a van because you think someone wears cool rings and is edgy is something else. The amount of times these three girls almost die or almost get assaulted after trying to help someone not die or get assaulted is insane, it's insane! That's not even to mention the subplot of Magda and Mr. Windsor where she somehow ends up in his house (which is very questionable and seemingly unlawful), the reappearance of no good Liam in Nadine's life and the main plot of Ellie trying to romantically please a boy she just met (who seems wayyy too into her for someone for a total stranger - there's also the predatory aspect as well...).
I think what Wilson achieves in this novel is to simply scare her audience. She lures them in with promises of young romance that a reader of a similar age can only hope for before scaring them sh*tless and using the dangerous moment of the novel to have the trio band together. To me, this is insane. I think that by this point, 'Girls' is a series that is aimed to scare its audience - it's like Wilson is asking the reader to come for the female friendship and stay for the possible danger and trauma that takes place for the protagonists. It's crazy. And whilst I do understand the need to get a younger audience invested in a story, is this really the way? To scare them senseless? I was scared reading this novel, scared for all the teenage girls who read this and thought that the dangerous situations that Ellie, Magda and Nadine escape scott free from are worth seeking out. After all, if everything always works out for them, why wouldn't it work out for those readers in real life?
I do understand that this is all designed to entertain. We know that the trio is in no real danger because they aren't real people. All the same, I feel that because the novel does a whole 180 on the main plot (Ellie and Russell) to focus its last few chapters (the van incident) the story that's been building is just gone, all the threads that were made are just cut because it doesn't matter that Ellie double booked herself and lied to the boy she now loves (yes loves) to go to a concert with Magda and Nadine - that doesn't matter because they end up in the most dangerous situation where they could've died or been assaulted! Isn't that insane! What!?
Overall, the problems of 'Girls Out Late' are echoed from the previous novels; that Wilson struggles to write male characters with any real depth (as in book 2) and that the teenage experiences of the girls are just dashed and blown up under a microscope to scare the novel's teenage readership.
I wasn't sure what I was expecting after book 2, but it certainly wasn't this. What a shocking, bizarre let down.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 8, 2024
The one where Ellie gets her sparkle back, and where I'm suddenly glad that kids have mobile phones nowadays after all! The girls continue to make a series of terrible decisions and act like infants crossed with adults, which is kind of true to the teenage experience as far as I remember. This one is a little more didactic, with a feminist message about being the artists not the muse, and I'm surprisingly glad to see it. I agree with the other reviewers that Ellie's new love interest Russell is full of red flags, but he is only young and I'm happy that Ellie gets a turn at being desired. For me this one isn't as unbelievable as other readers have suggested, except maybe the pop star cancelling her gig for some bloke she fancies, although I did enjoy the irony. Onto the next one!
February 25, 2018
Another check mark on the BBC Top 200 list. I don’t recommend this title unless you enjoy stereotypical depictions of teen girls as vapid, mean, and irritating. I find Wilson’s depictions of much younger characters to be more sympathetic and she at least works some teachable moments into the story. In this one Wilson misses the opportunity several times (don’t let a guy fondle your chest an hour after meeting him, don’t follow your art teacher home and try to seduce him, etc) - instead her characters just make lots of bad choices, lie about them and act snotty. No thankee.
December 29, 2022
i literally hate ellie in this because of the way she’s so shocked russell likes her and not magda and nadine. that art teacher was surprisingly chill about magda just turning up to his flat and professing her love for him. slay nadine warning that year 8 about liam. anyway didn’t like most of these characters icl
January 22, 2019
The 'Girls' series is one of my favourite YA series of all time. Girls Out Late is witty and wonderful - Ellie is one of Jacqueline Wilson's best characters, and her family are so well-realised and authentic. Absolutely iconic book, and a very important part of my teens.
February 17, 2022
2.75 ⭐️
August 28, 2023
Girls out late 🕰️~3.5 stars~
(27th of august - 27th of august)
My favourite in the series so far, fun and interesting
(27th of august - 27th of august)
My favourite in the series so far, fun and interesting
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