Book Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl

By Rainbow Rowell

Release Date: September 10, 2013

Source: Edelweiss 

Summary: A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, 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 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?

Review: After reading Eleanor & Park, I fell in love with Rainbow Rowell's writing. The characters and story she created were so gosh darn amazing. So when I saw that she had a new book coming out, I got way to excited and made sure I could snag a review copy from edelweiss. Thankfully, my request got accepted right away and I was able to dig into Rainbow's newest creation. 

Cath has always gone through life with her twin sister Wren by her side, but when her sister decides that they shouldn't room together in college, Cath is on her own for the first time. And all she has to get her though it is Simon Snow, the biggest character in fiction. As a fan fiction writer, Cath's Carry On Simon has become an internet sensation and all Cath wants to do is write and live in her own little Simon world. But with her dad home alone for the first time and her fiction-writing professor hating on fan fiction, Cath has to get a grasp on college before she goes completely crazy. 

I was so excited that Cath was a twin and was going to college because I'm a twin and I go to a college 5 hours away from my sister. I could totally relate to Cath on that aspect, along with everything she goes through during her first semester in college. Unlike the perfect, glammed up college experience, Cath doesn't know how to fit in since she'd rather write all day than go to keggers and bars every night. I really liked Cath's character and how even though she had a ton of fans of her fan fiction, she still has her insecurities and is just a regular girl trying to make her way through college life. 

I really liked Levi's character too, because he's the adorable, quirky guy that make YA romances that much more fun to read. The only thing I didn't like about him, though, was how his relationship with Cath progressed. He did something stupid, and then it wasn't really addressed exactly why he did it. And it seemed like Cath got over it way too quickly. Then, the way Cath acts when she's finally in a relationship kinda makes her seem naive and a lot younger than she is. I don't know, it just didn't sit well with me how she thought about being in a relationship and her comments/thoughts about it. But that's just me. 

Overall, this story was cute enough but I was waiting for something more to happen the entire time. I really liked Cath, along with all of the other people in her life (her sister, her dad, her roommate), and the story was definitely original, with Cath being this all star fan fiction writer online. If you like Rainbow Rowell and a cute read, I'd say go ahead and check out Fangirl.