Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Published by St. Martin’s Press on September 10, 2013
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Fiction, Romance
Pages: 445
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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?
Fangirl just didn’t do it for me. Was it a good book? Yes. Was it entertaining? Yes. Were there moments when I got emotional? Umm, kind of. But when the book was over I didn’t want to dive back into Cath’s world. I wasn’t left wanting more.
Fangirl didn’t really have a clear plot line. There was no ultimate goal or something that the characters were working towards. Instead it just felt like I was reading about a year in Cath’s life, the first year she went to college. But it didn’t feel like anything special. It just felt like I was reading about a girl who was trying to make her way in a new situation, and wasn’t ready to let go of the past.
One thing that bugged me about Fangirl was there were no surprises. There were no twists that I couldn’t see coming from a mile away. The book just fell flat for me, no matter how much I adore Regan (who by the way is my favorite character in the book… and an awesome roomie).
I feel like this book could have been so much better. There was so much potential in Fangirl that when the end came I was more disappointed than anything else.
I am going to give Fangirl three out of five hearts.
Sorry this book came up short! I’m actually getting ready to start it today. It probably isn’t my type of book, however I’m reading it with one of my beats friends who is the epitome of a “Fangirl”. I’m hoping it will give me some insight into her fangirlish ways.
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I can’t wait to read your review of he book! I hope you enjoy it more than I did!
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I just finished Eleanor & Park and found something very similar. It was a good break for me but I kept wanting more from the main characters. Fangirl is on my list as well though, and so is attachments.
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I guess that’s just Rainbow Rowell’s type of writing! It’s not bad, just not for me
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Yea I am not sure I plan on rushing out to buy all her books but I did enjoy it. It’s fluffy and a nice break from some of the dystopians and mysteries I read.
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I literally just finished reading Fangirl right before I read this post and couldn’t agree more! I love the writing style, and I really like how the book portrays what a “normal” girl, rather than a fictional character, might go through when transitioning to college, but the plot had no surprises and the ending definitely fell flat. I do really like the character arcs though! It seems like both the twins realized a lot about themselves even though I think the ending could have shown that a little better.
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