Title: Fangirl
Author:
Rainbow Rowell
Summary: "Fangirl is a coming of age story about fanfiction and first love. It focuses on Cath, who has been a fan of Simon Snow books her entire life. When both Cath and her twin sister go to college, her sister begins to drift away from the fandom and from Cath, and Cath has to learn to exist outside her comfort zone." (Wikipedia)
Rating:
4.5/5
Review:
(Edit: this turned up being a lot longer than I intended but I had a
lot of thoughts, sorry not sorry)
First
off, I would like to say that I have spent a lot of time not wanting
to read this book. I heard about it not long after it was released
and, to be quite honest, I was a bit hesitant. It was the title, I'll
admit. Perhaps I should've given the book more of a chance (or even,
y'know, read the blurb) but the title made me wary of what role
fandom was going to play. I
assumed it was going to be really good or terribly cringe-worthing. I
favoured the later and decided to not pick it up.
But
boy, was I wrong in doing so. After it
seemed to explode earlier this year and I heard lors of good things,
I decided to give the book a second chance (or probably a first if
you considering how lame my 'first' one was). And you know what? I
absolutely adored it. This book is one of those books where you pick
it up intending to read a few chapters before bed, and the next thing
you know you're turning the last page and the sun is peaking up over
the horizon. And you're left sitting in your bed, trying to remember
who you are and not
quite wanting to let the characters go just yet. And I didn't. I
really wanted to know more about Cath's story and
everyone else but alas,
it had to come to an ending. And
now it's time for me to word vomit about my thoughts.
Okay,
so here's where I'm going to get into spoiler talk, so spare yourself
if you haven't read the book yet! Go read it
and then come back and
join the discussion :)
Now,
let's talk about Cath. I don't think I've found many main characters
which I relate to more than Cath. Being only in my second year at
university (or college), my memory of being a freshmen is still so
fresh (heh) in my mind
and Cath was so
close to how I was last
year. The social anxiety is something that just stuck out to me so
much. So often throughout the book, I was reading scenes that felt
like there were based off instances that had actually happened to me
in first year. I've not read many books which have captured the
feeling of social anxiety so well. Granted,
I also got frustrated with her a lot, particularly in the first half
of the book. I felt like she never /tried/ to get out of her comfort
zone (I really wanted
her to just once say yes to joining Raegan for lunch).
While I understand there was a point to seeing that, I never felt her
transition out of this and noticeably take more chances. I would've
like to see her more open to things at the end of the book than she
was.
Moving
on, I also loved seeing
how fandom and the Simon
Snow fanfiction
was integrated into the
story and
her life. Going back to one of my previous comments, the reason I
didn't want to read this book, was I thought it would be very fandom
heavy. And not in a good way. It's difficult to explain, but I feel
as if Rowell really captured what it's like to be a “fangirl”
without it making it overly quirky or poking fun at it. It felt real.
It felt right. And
also I love that there was a respect for fanfiction as a work of
literature. As someone, who has read a lot of fic, it was nice to see
this. And the parallels to Harry Potter were lovely. Cath's love for
the Simon Snow books reminded me so much of how much Harry Potter was
to me growing up, and the emotions I felt at the release of the last
book. Admittedly, I cried a little when Wren and Cath get their copes
of the last Simon Snow book.
Okay,
so now onto the romance. Levi, Levi, Levi. I thought their romance
was adorable. I loved how patient he was with her. And that he liked
her fanfiction. Those scenes where she reads to him were just oh, so
lovely. I think a lot of what I liked about their relationship also
has
to do again with how much I understood where Cath was coming from.
The disbelief and the insecurity about his feelings was something I
could really get. And I really felt that pain when he was making out
with that girl at the party and she has that moment where it isn't
like 'How could he do this?' but more like 'I knew it couldn't be
true'. But despite their little mishap, I really enjoyed reading
their relationship blossom. It was so cute.
Now
to probably my favourite part about this book was the focus on the
familial relationships. I
love Cath and Wren's
relationship so,
so much.
I'm a huge fan of 'quiet'
scenes in a book. I can't think of another way to describe it but I
like scenes where it's just two character being completely
comfortable in each other's presence, sitting
in silence
and not feeling the need to impress the other. I just adored the
scenes with Cath writing on her laptop and Wren just laying there in
silence reading over her shoulder. It was really nice. And Cath's
relationship with her Dad was nice as well. I really related to
Cath's constant worry for her Dad. I have a similar situation with my
own father and I think a lot of those scenes really got to me. Also,
Laura. There was a bit of a hit and miss feel to this subplot but I
found it interesting all the same. I really felt it could've been
explored a bit more, but I still appreciated that it wasn't overdone
in the same stroke. It felt more real having Laura remain out of
Cath's life and I also appreciated that Cath came to not judge Wren
for including Laura in hers. I
feel like I'm rambling on this subject so as a whole, I really liked
the importance the family relationships were given in the book but
wish they'd also gotten a bit more time.
Okay,
now to the not so nice things. I've
already mentioned them a bit but anyway. The
reason I can't quite give this book a 5/5 (despite what my Goodreads
says.
Damn your lack of half stars, Goodreads!) is that there are some
things which left a little to be desired about the book. One thing
was,
as
I mentioned before,
how closed off to the world Cath was and seemingly
remained
throughout the story. I understand what she was feeling. I really do.
But I would've liked more for her to try and get out of her comfort
zone more often than she was shown to do. It
didn't feel like she'd grown much at the end of the novel.
Another
thing is that I feel
there were
a fair few
scenes of the book
that
felt
very anti-climatic. I think the resolve between Cath and Levi after
the party seemed a bit...unsatisfying. It was too short and there
wasn't a lot to it. But
more importantly, I felt the conclusion to the book was left quite
unresolved. I felt like it focused primarily on the romantic side of
the story and left the other points of the book not quite so tied up.
I wanted to see her finish her fanfic, finish the final Simon Snow
book...I just wanted a bit more. Some of this probably has to do with
me not wanting to let the story go (and
believe, I really didn't) but
I also genuinely feel like the
story needed
something a bit more
at the end to tie it all together.
But
all
in all, Fangirl is a super fun read. I don't read a lot of
contemporary novels but I would definitely recommend this one if you
want a light read and
the
plot sounds like something you'd be into. Also, well done, Rainbow
Rowell. This is an excellent book and I will be sure to check out
your others in the future.
Until
next time!
Jess,
xxx
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