Title: Fangirl
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Pages: 459
Format: paperback
Genre: young adult, contemporary
Publication Date: September 10, 2013
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
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?
- Social Anxiety Representation- I thought Eliza and Her Monsters might be the only book that really brought out a good representation of social anxiety to the table but man, was I wrong. I loved this aspect so much. It made me closer to Cath and definitely enchanced the reading experience.
- Setting/Location– Finally, a setting other than New York or California. Nebraska. Enjoyed every bit of the new location.
- Resemblance of Harry Potter– Carry On was an extreme resemblance to the fandom that Harry Potter has. Very cool to see it played out with gay characters though.
- Cath & Levi’s Relationship
- First Half of the Book
- Wren– Didn’t care for Wren. I thought she was a lousy sister and shouldn’t get enough praise that she did.
- Twin Trope– Okay, so I hate this trope. It is one of my most hated tropes. Where one twin is clearly stronger than the other, and the other twin can’t function in society because she’s so attached. Yeah, that trope. I hate it lol.
- No real conflict between her and Mother
- Second half was boring
