REVIEW: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

My rating:

From the author of the New York Times bestseller Eleanor & Park.

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?

REACTION AFTER READING THE BOOK

That was me... after I literally finished this book.

And this was me fangirling over this overly cute book.

I finished this book, I think around 12 midnight or a little past that. I didn't care if I had to wake up at around 3:30 am, I told myself, I had to finish it. It was so good. Up until now, I am still feeling the giddiness I felt when I was reading this.

I could not thank you enough Anna for recommending this book to me. You are such a doll, and I would love you forever. LOL. But seriously, THANK YOU FOR RECOMMENDING THIS. I really needed a book like this.

HOW IT BEGINS

There was a boy in her room.

THE GIST

A boy in her room was not what Cath was expecting when she arrived at her dorm room.

This was a mistake - this had to be a mistake. She knew that Pound was a co-ed dorm... is there such a thing as co-ed rooms?

The boy's name was Levi, and he was waiting on Cath's roommate Raegan, who Cath assumed, immediately didn't like her.

This wasn't what she had in mind when she went to college. She always thought that because she had Wren, she would never have to go through having a different room mate than her own twin sister. But Wren, have something else in mind. Wren wanted to have a separate dorm room from Cath. Cath was not too thrilled.

" We're supposed to meet new people," Wren repeated.

"I don't need knew people."

"That just shows how much you need new people..."

But Cath, being stubborn as she was, intentionally isolated herself from people. She restricted herself mostly to her classes and dorm room. What does she eat? Well energy bars of course. She had loads of them. Oh and as far as I remember, she also have a big jar of peanut butter. That was what she planned on living on for the whole of the semester. Talk about fear of people.

Anyways, Cath and her sister, Wren, were big fans of the book Simon Snow (which is sort of a Harry Potter reference I believe). They were both fan fiction writers, but Cath was more into it than Wren. She had loads of followers, and they were all expecting her to finish her fanfic of the Simon Snow series called Carry On, Simon. She considered this her biggest accomplishment. Her goal was to finish it before, the release of the last book of the Simon Snow series.

Wren started hanging out with different people, leaving Cath alone and well... alone most of the time. Her room mate, Raegan and Levi, kept on inviting her to hang out, but she... always declined, believing her Simon Snow fanfic is more important than going out and meeting new people. Cath's life revolves around Wren, her dad, and the Simon Snow series and she doesn't want anything to change.

But things change, even when you don't want to. And things did start to change for Cath.

Will Cath be ready for that change?

MEET THE CHARACTERS

Cath

This was why Cath wrote fic. For those hours when their world supplanted the real world. When she could just ride their feelings for each other like a wave, like something falling downhill.

I absolutely adored Cath. The good thing about her character is that she was easily relatable, especially if you're also suffering with social anxiety like her. And I do. Mostly, I kept to myself too. It feels secure. Safe. And that's what Cath does. She surrounds herself with familiarity, so that she's doesn't feel pressured. When Wren decided it was time for them to not share rooms, she was devastated. Okay, devastated would be a bit too much, but yeah... she was anxious of living with someone who she barely don't know.

There were times that you'll see Cath weak and vulnerable, but she wasn't like the rest of them whimpy female lead... no she wasn't. I feel that despite everything that happened to Cath on this book ( her row with her sister, the thing that was going on with his dad, her bitch of a mom coming to the picture, her relationship with Levi) she handled them all pretty well. And I liked that. I saw her grow before my very eyes and it was beautiful.

Levi

"I can't believe I said that," he said. "I can't even go nine hours without seeing you.

What can I say? Levi definitely swooned me over.

What I liked about him was he wasn't like the rest of the male protagonist. He was swoonworthy, yes, but not in a model kind of way like the rest of the YA books portray their male lead. You will fall in love with Levi because of who he is, not because the author made you fall in love with how he looked like. He has charm. That's what he was. He wasn't hot physically, I guess, but he was for me... That attitude of him, always smiling, always cheerful, is contagious really. Reading about him being like that, made me smile shit loads... Oh Levi.

But... there was a moment of weakness from his side too. He had said something that he really didn't mean, but it was so acceptable once he was able to explain why.

But yeah... Levi. definitely a book boyfriend.

The Minor Characters

I'll start with Wren. I liked her. I liked how she contrasted her sister's introvertedness with her extrovertedness. They were both extremes in that sense, which I understood because my sisters, who were twins, were exactly the same. How they interacted with each other, was pretty accurate. I love her relationship with Cath, how they sort of had a falling out, but worked on rekindling it again.

Raegan is another character I love. She was very mature and understanding with the entire situation. And she had that mouth. The way she talks makes me smile. Not because she said something nice though. Mostly because of her snide/sarcastic remarks, that are obviously jokes.

The twins' dad. I loved him too. His craziness was well good in a good way. You'll see how much he loves his kids and how much they love him back. One of the greatest dad ever.

THE ROMANCE

One of the best couples ever. I liked how there was not a lot of drama with their romance. I LIKE THAT A LOT. They communicate. Of course, Cath was new to the whole relationship thing, because she's only been with one guy, who dumped her because he found someone else. And it wasn't even like a real relationship.

Honestly, these two are the cutest.

IDEA... if you're bored and you miss me you should write some dirty fan fiction about us. you can read it to me later. great idea right?

Also, their banters were such a joy to read about. And the way Cath thinks about Levi was funny too.

Levi's eyebrows were pornographic. If Cath were making this decision just on eyebrows, she wold have been "up to his room" a long time ago.

That line really cracked me up.

Fucking eyebrow porn.

It wasn't just about the laughs and the cute moments really. I liked how they support each other in any way possible. Like when Cath helped Levi study. Then when Levi helped Cath to the hospital. I loved how their relationship flourished. THANK GOODNESS THAT THIS BOOK WAS INSTA-LOVE FREE!

FINAL RAMBLINGS

I have so much love for this book, it's insane.

I know I already said this before, but I couldn't understand how the author who wrote this, also wrote Eleanor and Park. I found it really hard to connect with E&P, but was easily engrossed by this cutesy book right here. The thing is, this book also dealt with some issues outside of the romance. The romance part for me was, just a tiny part of what this book which I liked. I liked that the book focused on Cath's other more important issues: like family and school.

I guess that's why I liked this book better. This book had substance to it, without being too heavy and dramatic with the content. Oh boy. I could go on and on about how much I love this book.

Highlights

- the relationships between the characters, not just of Cath and Levi, but with Wren, her dad, Raegan, her teacher, and that stupid Nick.

- the development of the plot was pretty impressive. everything wrapped up slowly, but surely.

- slow burn romance. oh yeah baby!

- the characters were all solid and three dimensional. they all had their own special thing that it was easy to distinguish who was who and remember them for that.

- the ending. it was a cool way to end this book. i liked how open it was, becuase really, it was only the beginning for Cath and Levi's relationship, and Cath's newly found self.

Lowlights

- I honestly could not think of anything at the moment. there were probably, but too easily ignored.

“I choose you over everyone.”

If you have not read this book yet, please, pick it up. It is really worth the read. If you're just looking for a contemporary read that deals with self and family issues, with a bit of romance on the side, then I highly recommend this.

PS: If you have read this... LET'S FANGIRL TOGETHER OVER FANGIRL!

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