Friday, April 3, 2015

Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Published: September 10, 2013
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
A coming-of-age tale of fanfiction, family, and first love.

Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan.... But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she's really good at it. She and her twin, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it's what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fanfiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere. Cath's sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can't let go. She doesn't want to.

Now that they're going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn't want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She's got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend; a fiction-writing professor who thinks fanfiction is the end of the civilized world; a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... and she can't stop worrying about her dad, who's loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

My Thoughts
“To really be a nerd, she'd decided, you had to prefer fictional worlds to the real one.”

~Raises hand~ Yes, I’m a nerd.

This was it! I’m so glad I gave Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell a try. After plowing through several books that were falling in the 3 and 4 star categories, impatience was setting in as I waited to stumble upon my next 5 star experience. Loved this book!

Cather Avery and her twin sister Wren are off to college to embark on a new journey. However, where Wren is ready to embrace college life and enjoy the freedom, parties and new friends, Cath is scared to death of leaving her comfortable world by her sister’s side behind. Cath struggles with moving passed her Simon Snow fiction obsession. She’s made a name for herself in the fanfic world writing about Simon and Bass, hanging out in fan forums and creating an alternate story about this world she knows so much about. So, when one of her college writing class throws her a curve ball when submits fanfic for one of her assignments, a big fat F for plagiarizing has Cath wondering if college and fictional writing is really for her. Add a zany cast of roommates, her roommate’s ex-boyfriend falling for her, a classmate exploiting her craft, and this book becomes dramatic in the most subtle way. There were so many turns to this story, but the flow was perfect and steady.

Fangirl is a perfect balance of character driven and well paced drama. The cast blends and crashes in the most intriguing ways ever. There was not one wasted moment of interaction between the cast and I enjoyed every minute.

It goes without saying that I loved Cath and Levi together! Levi was full of smiles of heartfelt moments. Levi was such a great guy. It was hard not to fall for him.

“You give away nice like it doesn't cost you anything.” ~Cath

I enjoyed how Levi tested Cath’s emotional limits and was honest with her despite how he knew she’d react. Honesty, smiles, lattes and muffins… I could fall for a guy like this!

“I miss you."
"That's stupid," she said. "I saw you this morning."
"It's not the time," Levi said, and she could hear that he was smiling." It's the distance.”~Levi

I embraced Cath’s insecurities and angry kitten attitude. This character sure went through a lot with the abandonment of her mom, her father’s psychological struggles and her twin sister’s desire to go out on her own. This played into how Cath connected with others, so yes… I sympathized with her.

“I don’t trust anybody. Not anybody. And the more that I care about someone, the more sure I am they’re going to get tired of me and take off.” ~Cath

Overall, Fangirl had it all - a great cast, an original plot and a steady stream of drama that kept me glued to the story. Love!
5 Snowflakes

6 comments:

  1. I really, really loved this book too. There were so many great quotes. I do think I liked Eleanor and Park more though.

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  2. I still haven't read this book but I really want to! It sounds soo good! Great review.

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  3. Yay! This is one of my favorite Rainbow Rowell books and I'm so glad that you loved it. Great review!!

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  4. As someone who very rarely reads contemporaries, this was a favorite of mine too so I'm so happy to see that it got you out of something of a slump :) As book nerds, I think it's impossible not to relate to Cath and want to hug her haha! And then of course, there's Levi - who wouldn't fall for him?! ♥ Wonderful review^^

    Micheline @ Lunar Rainbows Reviews

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  5. Well, I haven't read the other books she wrote yet, but I really love this one.

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  6. Someone suggested I read this a few days ago because I said I barely ever seem to find contemporaries that I like. You've definitely solidified that I'm going to try this one out! It sounds like so much fun.

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