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January 10, 2015

FANGIRL by Rainbow Rowell

January 10, 2015

FANGIRL by Rainbow RowellFangirl by Rainbow Rowell • contains 448 pages • published September 10, 2013 • classified as Contemporary, Young Adult • obtained through Bought • read as eBook • shelve on Goodreads
• shelve on The StoryGraph

Synopsis:

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

Fangirl was funny and sweet and wonderful. What I liked best was the college setting without an intense focus on romance. This book was about Cath who tried to find herself, even though she felt she was losing everything. She so desperately tried to hold on to familiarity through her high school boyfriend, her father and most importantly to her, her twin sister Wren. For the first time, she had to be truly independent. I believe that for many, college is the time to find oneself and Rowell presented this transition very well in Fangirl.

Cath continued to pursue her passion in college, even as her sister abandoned it. Cath loved to write fanfiction so much, it practically was her life. It took precedence over everything else, including her studies. Still, Fangirl was also about more than that. It was also about gaining trust in other people like her roommate Reagan and Reagan’s friend, Levi.

The only parts that I didn’t much care for were the stories of Simon Snow, be it the fanfiction or canon. I liked reading about Cath’s feelings and thoughts about Simon Snow but not so much the actual written pieces. They felt came across like a reincarnation of Harry Potter and Twilight combined. Why Rowell wrote a book for publication about Simon Snow is beyond me. Sure, it’s cool when fictional books become reality but I think some books should just remain fictional.

In any case, Fangirl is a book I would definitely recommend for the college-bound. It’s a fairly realistic representation of what happens when young adults leave home. Some people embrace the newfound freedom and go crazy, while some prefer to live in the past or in the very least, their own shells. I liked the contrast between Cath and Wren, which made for a great dynamic. Reagan and Levi were very cool additions to Fangirl as well.

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· Categories: Epic Recs, Fiction Keywords: alcoholism, american authors, college, family, fanfiction, friendship, humour, mental health, metafiction, on books, postmodernism, realistic fiction, romance, siblinghood, single parenthood, sisters, story-within-a-story, twins, writing

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Comments

  1. Sara Strauss says

    January 12, 2015 at 04:05

    I loved this book so so much! I wrote Harry Potter fan fiction my freshman year of college, so I already felt connected to this book even before I read and then loved reading it and getting to know all of the characters! I’m looking forward to the Simon Snow book!
    ~Sara

    • Joséphine says

      January 13, 2015 at 20:53

      I’m glad you loved it so much! It’s always wonderful when you come across a book you can relate to so much :D

  2. Miss Bookiverse says

    January 12, 2015 at 02:00

    I didn’t enjoy the Simon Snow snippets in the book that much either but I think that’s because they were so out of context and so different from the actual storyline. I do look forward to the Simon Snow book RR is writing right now. I think it will work for me as a separate story… well that and by now I’d read everything Rainbow writes :)

    • Joséphine says

      January 13, 2015 at 20:54

      I was actually glad that the Simon Snow snippets were so out of context. It made it much easier to skim through without missing out on anything of the main story ;D

  3. Melanie (YA Midnight Reads) says

    January 11, 2015 at 17:50

    HOLY CRAP SHE’S WRITING A SIMON AND BAZ LOVE STORY OH MY LORD YESSSSSSSSS I AM SO SATISFIED WITH LIFE RIGHT NOW . Anyway, I (obviously) loved this book as much as you, Josephine. It was such a wonderfully told story and omg Levi <3333

    Lovely review, girl <33

    • Joséphine says

      January 13, 2015 at 20:55

      Ooh! I see I bore good news for you ;)

  4. Ana @ Read Me Away says

    January 11, 2015 at 11:53

    I keep hearing about the awesomeness of this book and I wonder why I haven’t even picked it up yet. :O I love books that feel very realistic, and as a student who has been away from home, I feel like I would be able to relate to this book quite well. :)

    Great review!

    • Joséphine says

      January 13, 2015 at 21:05

      Lol. Yeah, I kept putting it off too, until I was pushed into reading it for Epic Recs. I’m glad I finally read it. I say read it! You’re bound to enjoy it best while you’re still studying ;)

Trackbacks

  1. Retrospect #54-55: January 19 - Word Revel says:
    January 20, 2015 at 05:23

    […] the past two weeks I reviewed Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. I put off reading it for almost a year but thanks to Olena, I finally read it and enjoyed it. My […]

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Joséphine. Word reveller. Loves books. Reads books. Talks about books. Photographs books. When she’s not blogging, she can be found on Instagram under @wordrevel.

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