BOOK REVIEW: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl

by Rainbow Rowell

ISBN13: 9781250030955

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin

Publication date: September 10, 2013

Pages: 433

Genres: Contemporary

Buy from: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Book Depository

A coming-of-age tale of fanfiction, 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 fanfiction, 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 that 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 fanfiction 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?

WAY BETTER THAN I IMAGINED. I thought it was over-hyped but it honestly deserves endless praises! I could relate so much to Cath, every element in this book were just very cute. I enjoyed reading it and it also made me smile a lot.

“Cath felt like she was swimming in words. Drowning in them, sometimes.”

It starts with Cath…

Cath is an 18-year-old who is starting college with her twin sister, Wren. She’s a big fan of Simon Snow series (the equivalent to our Harry Potter) and writes Simon related fanfictions to post it on the Internet. She’s stuck her roommate, Reagan, who thinks spending life on The Internet is just ridiculous (that’s why she thinks Cath is weird), and Reagan’s friendly ex-boyfriend, Levi. Cath thinks she doesn’t need to worry about being alone for the rest of her college life because she has Simon, but things don’t turn out as well as she wants it to be. Life forces her to get out of her comfort zone and she tries to discover who she really is.

Realistic and relatable characters

Cath is awkward, a book-lover, a writer, and an introvert. At times, she could be so kind, but sometimes she became rude and egocentric. I was angry at her when she rejected her second chance from Professor for the final project just because she didn’t want to let go of Simon. Can you forget Simon Snow for a moment and try to do your potential project? God, Cath, you have talent.

My favorite one was Levi, I already liked him since he welcomed Cath (love at first sight is real, guys). He was sweet and a caring person. There was a moment when Levi got caught doing something he shouldn’t have been doing but I understood he didn’t mean that seriously (even though I was still kind of bitter), and things worked out fine after that so I didn’t mind.

The romance part was pretty awkward, I saw a lot of people complained about this one. But you can’t expect too much when Cath herself is socially awkward, right?

The ending could be better

When I reached the last page I was like “so that’s just it?” because it didn’t seem like an actual ending. It could give me more vibrant feels if only the ending was different. This is a type of book to read when you have a reading slump and I enjoyed it a lot that I couldn’t stop thinking about it for days. Everybody should read this one!

Do you think Cath is a relatable character? Did you enjoy the book?