Book Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Goodreads:

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?

Let’s just start off by saying that I really hated the fanfiction in this book, I skipped all the fanfiction parts and I know that I shouldn’t have, but I did. It really annoyed me more than anything else. I can’t tolerate the idea of fanfiction and it’s totally not my thing. I haven’t read HP yet (I’m ashamed, yes.) and some reviewers mentioned that the fanfiction in the book [Simon and Baz] represents HP in real life, and I tried to read it but I honestly don’t get it. I guess that the fanfiction part can either make or break the book and for me it totally downgraded it to 4 stars instead of 5.

It was a slow-paced book; it took me around 200 pages to really get into it. Dear Levi, thank you for being the main factor that made me fall in love with Fangirl. Another factor was Rainbow Rowell’s writing, it’s so easy and light. 

On a personal note, I related to the characters and the situations, I felt like this is a real story, and not fiction. Wren and Cath remind me of my sister and I, we fight A Lot and she’s out of control most of the times and I’m the one who gets to talk some sense into her. 

This book branches into many things; relationships, friendships and family relationships. Rainbow Rowell  conveys the beauty of loving someone and loving what they love and trying to better yourself for them. I loved it so much and I recommend it to anyone!

Did the fanfiction make or break the book for you? Comment down below your thoughts, I’d love to discuss this with you all and if you HAVE READ the book, continue reading the post for spoilers.

Have a great day guys. x

-J 

SPOILERS START HERE. Continue ONLY if you've read the book. Highlight the paragraph below to read spoilers.

Cath’s character developed from the start of the novel till the end, she was the shy one, the antisocial, the one who had a guy-friend boyfriend and also the one who never liked partying. With Levi, she stepped out of her comfort zone; she went to a party for his sake. She liked him and he changed her, he made her a more courageous character and their love story blossomed into something beautiful... with their love for fanfiction, something he never thought he’d like.  

I loved that Levi always smiled “like it cost him nothing”, I’m an always smiling person and it annoys people sometimes, but I’d rather be happy and spread positivity than become a grumpy source of negativity. It made me smile just by thinking of Levi’s smile.

I disliked Wren throughout the book, I thought she was a total bitch.  I understand that she’s trying to be someone different and experiment with new things, but her past and not what she is right now is what she’ll always be. That is proof that one can’t change even if they wanted to. Rainbow Rowell juxtaposes Cath and Wren, fraternal twins but completely opposite mentalities.  I loved that in the end, they both came to terms that they’ll never act like frenemies again. I loved that Wren still read Carry On and kept that part of her intact and untouched even when she thought she was changing.

I loved loved loved Cath and Levi.  Their relationship just clicks, they remind me of a lock and a key. They both were made for each other, he accepts her and loves her even though people think she’s weird.. He saw the beauty in her weirdness.

Another thing I’ve loved is when the book started with Cath sitting in her dorm room and said “there’s a guy in my room.”  which was Levi.. Later on in the book, Cath also said “there’s a guy in my room”. When she and Levi were a couple. I LOVED THAT DETAIL, it made me nostalgic and it linked everything together beautifully.