There was a boy in her room.
What if you would read about someone writing a book? It gives me a weird feeling, especially if the story mostly describes the live of a normal 18 year old girl in University. And even parts of the stories she writes are in there, if not to speak of the fragments of the fictional Simon Snow novels. By now I am even curious to read these Simon Snow novels my self. Read Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell yourself to find out.
Book Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Rating:
Title & Author: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: September 10th 2013
Series: Standalone
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Synopsis
A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, 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 fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie première.
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?
Oh where to begin, my dear readers. I am amazed by Fangirl. It is fast, funny, lovely, charming, whatever you want to call it more.
I started to read three evenings ago, hoping I would finish it before Monday, so I could return it to its owner. I had a hard time putting it down that evening, after only three chapters. And usually it takes me a bit more to get into a book, especially if it has romance in it. But I have finished it, three days early. Which, by the way, feels great! And makes me want to rand only more.
Rainbow Rowell has a way of making simple things look mysterious and to make even emotional parts feel light. Sometimes I had to wipe a way a tear – usually I am more cold-blooded in that sense, I do not even cry about deaths in books – or laugh, but mostly I was just reading with a grin on my face. I liked the character of Cath, I recognised a lot of myself in her. I was always the one that stayed at home, writing or doing something by myself, while my sisters were going out – or they dragged me with them, way worse – So bonding with her was not hard. There are so many other – different – characters in Fangirl, that anyone could – most likely – find someone to relate to in this story. Because these characters could be real people, I feel. There feelings and reactions towards situations are how I see people and myself respond to the same things.
In a way I don’t think I like these kinds of books anymore, I don’t like – I think – the normality of the situations the main character finds herself in. But it also intrigues me how she handles them – even though I think she handles them in the same way I would have handled them – I just don’t know how to feel about this kind of book. But enough about that.
I did like Cath’s inability to see when someone was flirting with her – I cannot either, but I at least saw it in this book – it made her adorable and sweet. But it also shows that there are people who are just that socially awkward, because there still are people like that – And I think even more, now in the age of computers and internet, to be honest –
I really feel like the writer touches just enough of the other characters background stories to not make them shallow or not well thought through – But she could have done a bit more – I would have liked to see a scene where Cath would meet her boyfriends parents, it would be interesting to see his mothers behavior towards his second girlfriend – since his first girlfriend already worked her in for her – But that is just me! Also I think it would have been interesting to investigate Cath’s feelings towards her own mother – and maybe even towards Levi’s mother – because I feel there is a lot to talk about there and could be a good story too. Overall I loved the characters and their developments.
I felt a bit sad that, in the end, the story kinda just flew away? It feels like the writer just attached the end on it, to have the book finished, not to round the story off. It leaves me with a few questions that keep their hold on me, even after finishing the book. But that is sort of the only negative side to Fangirl for me. I did like it however that – even though you technically don’t read about it – Cath finished her Fiction-Writing project and even won a prize with it – DÛH, what did you expect, she got a D for it? –
When I was researching this book, I already saw Rainbow Rowell is working on Carry On, the story Cath is working on in Fangirl. I am very curious what comes of this, because the Simon Snow stories made me think of what Harry Potter did in the 20th century – confession I have a bunch of HP fanfiction lying around somewhere – But I am already looking forward to October 6th, when Carry On will be released – Isn’t it strange to read a fanfiction about something that doesn’t even exists? –
Let me know what you thought of this book!
If you have any requests for which book I should talk about next, please let me know in the comments down below.
For now, let books enrich your life!