Book Review: Fangirl

Fangirl
Rainbow Rowell
Format: Hardback from the library
Good Reads

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:

I have heard great things about Fangirl and Rainbow Rowell for along time especially when Eleanor and Park was really popular. Then when I read the summary on good reads I knew I had to read it.

I love the basic premise of the story. As a girl who loves several fandoms especially Harry Potter. This book was right up my alley. Add to that the awkwardness that is the first year of college and I loved the book before I had even read it. That being said the book did not disappoint. I really enjoyed this book and all the characters in it. I especially enjoyed Cath and how she seemed genuine in all her emotions. I also loved Cath's roommate, Reagan. She was exactly the kind of roommate I would have wanted in college and was a great catalyst for the transition Cath goes though in the book. She has a great sense of humor without feeling like she was only there for comedic relief. I also loved Cath's Dad and the whole storyline between Cath and him. I thought it really helped explain Cath's past and what her life was like before college.

Besides the characters of the book, I also loved how the book portrayed internet fandoms. I think their are a lot of active fandoms on the internet and that they are generally a really awesome place where people from all over the world can connect and talk about their love for a specific thing. I think in pop culture they are often portrayed as only for socially inept nerds and generally pretty lame. It was refreshing to see a book really bring out the positive light and true nature of fandoms.

The one thing I didn't enjoy about the book were the excerpts of Simon Snow books and Cath and her sisters fanfics at the beginning of each chapter. I thought they were unnecessary and didn't really add much to the story since there was no context for the scenes and they were from all over the books. They didn't really add anything and the book would have been the same without them.

Overall, I absolutely loved this book and can't wait to read more books by Rainbow Rowell. I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in fandoms or books about college life and coming of age stories.