Girls in Love

I am a huge fan of Jacqueline Wilson, especially the Girls series. The first time I watched this show, I was hugely distracted by all the tiny details that were overlooked or tweaked and changed slightly by the producer. At first these tiny details really got to me, because I was such a huge fan of the books and I judged the show as a huge misrepresentation. I thought that Olivia was an overacter, who was too beautiful to play my beloved Ellie, At first sight I was shocked by Magda, who just looked so contrary to the image of her in my head.

I've now watched the first two seasons, once you adjust to Olivia's style of acting, you realise she's OK. For people who had never read the book, an Ellie as she's described in the book would not be welcome. This is a television show, and beauty always wins. Even though Zarrah is black, she plays the same spunky and out there Magda as in the books. Nadine is pretty much perfect, apart from the fact that she's so short. The one thing I wish they had have included was the Girl's Under Pressure storyline, which is probably my favourite. I'm 14 years old, and I definitely relate to the girls, and to be perfectly honest they look like I do, maturity-wise (but then, I suppose, Olivia is 20!) Once you push the books out of your head, and watch it as a TV show, Girls in Love is a good fun show.

Hi. I think that the film/ TV series was great if you hadn't read the books. I know they were different to the books and I was also disappointed at the way they were portrayed, although if you hadn't read the books you wouldn't know this and it wouldn't be a problem. The books were better than the film and I agree that the actors looked too old although they were only supposed to be 13. The actress who played Ellie was 17 at the time. Also (and this is a problem with not only the film but also the books) some of the things what happened where not appropriate for the age that the characters where supposed to be. I would just also like to add that I was in this film :-) It was only a small role; however I played the part of the 10year old Ellie. Katie Howseman

"Girls in Love" was excellent. Being a teen girl myself, it was thoroughly enjoyable to know that people were going through worse dilemmas than me!

One thing which some people found disappointing was that it didn't remain true to the book. Having not read that particular book in the trilogy, I am forbidden to comment. But I must say that, faithful or not, it was great. Besides, they did say that it was only "based on" the book.

I hope they bring "Girls in Love" to new heights in the near future.

A TV series featuring Olivia Hallinan, who is stuck with the disability of looking rather cute. This series says that she can act.

26 half hour episodes with OH. My DVD of Girls In Tears is a feature made from some of these and there are a few other DVD features based on more episodes.

The storyline is not perfect, but maybe stands comparison with many other series.

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If that was all there was too it then I would now have a set of the DVDs. Instead I only have the one.

The problem comes from this being adapted from a set of novels by the author Jacqueline Wilson. A lot of the details of the novels are changed for this television version and that is normal and often healthy.

Most stuff by that particular author does not appeal to me, I seem to be in a minority re that, so swapping and changing to get stories with the appeal of the DVD I have would typically be an improvement for me, I would hope for a full DVD set.

Most stuff by that particular author does not appeal to me, but this series does, I find it amazing. I have a set of the novels. The difference is so big that I would find a set of the DVDs to be too painful.

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I also have Sugar Rush season 1, another OH. It is as if Olivia was getting the roles of girls who are a lot younger than she actually is. Could be that this adaptation of Sugar Rush might be difficult to film with a genuine 15ish? I would still have preferred OH to be in different roles. She has blatant charisma.

I do not always find such an age difference to be a problem. A good example as Looking For Alibrandi. In these I do experience a problem.

I totally agree with Kate - Girls In Love is nothing like the books! I've got all the books at home and Ellie is meant to be plump, bespectacled girl with frizzy brown hair. How come other programmes and films that are adapted from books do try to find actors and actresses that fit the characters, but on this particular Jacqueline Wilson book, they get it wrong! Harry Potter, for example, the characters look similar to how the characters are described in the books. Also, I'm not racist 'cause I'm black myself, but in the books, Magda's supposed to be a blonde-haired white girl! I'm VERY sure they couldn't change the race of a character in another book, like the Harry Potter books just because the casting director wants to! The story lines in the series are different too. I much prefer The Story of Tracy Beaker, The Illustrated Mum and the recent Best Friends, all of which are true to Jacqueline's books. Anyway, all that said, the series is still very enjoyable, as long as you cast a blind eye on the irregularities in the series and don't expect it to be just like the books.