Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell



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 sister, 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 fan fiction, 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 fan fiction 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? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?



Rainbow Rowell's works has become popular lately in the YA genre and so I decided to review Fangirl. Her popular work Eleanor and Park will be featured in the book club review soon!

Fangirl is a coming of age story that centers around the main character Cath. She's a popular fanfiction writer in the Simon Snow fandom (think Harry Potter) but outside the online world, she's awkward and an introvert, preferring the company of her laptop and books.

The best part in this novel would be the characters. The twins Cath and Wren are complete opposites, but their bond as sisters were touching. I also liked Cath's roommate Regan, who made her dorm life interesting.

The love story was subtle and it developed slowly - from friendship to love which I really liked.  I didn't see it coming at first, but then it made sense when it happened. I loved Levi and thought he was a perfect fit for Cath.

The novel also explored what it means to be in a fandom. I was quite curious at the start but then found out that it wasn't really much explored. As more chapters went by, the fandom part of the story was lost and then just appeared suddenly at the end.

The pacing was also a bit off. It started okay, then the middle part was dragged out and then boom, the end! Rainbow Rowell wrote excerpts of Cath's fanfictions - and I didn't really like them because to me they were more like distractions.

Overall, I managed to read this in one sitting unlike Eleanor and Park, which I suppose is a good thing. It wasn't a book that I hated, but I didn't love it so much either. Better editing would make this more enjoyable for me.

Title: Fangirl
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Young Adult
Published: 2013
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Rating: ♨♨♨ 1/2 (3.5 cups)

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