Fangirl
RECOMMENDED: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell is $2.99! I believe this is a Kindle Daily Deal that’s being price matched elsewhere. Sarah reviewed this book and gave it an A-:
The TL;DR: this book is wonderful. It’s so much empathy and understanding and emotion layered into narrative form I can’t even tell you.
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 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?
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Love love love Fangirl. My only complaint was that at times it seemed like there were a lot of different issues going on with family and friends (mental health, alcohol, etc.), but I think that’s just the way of YA fiction these days. And even with that, it wasn’t so much drama/angst that it overwhelmed the central romance. All in all a very satisfying read that I could not put down to save my life.
Adored this book and I don’t read much YA. Somehow this author just manages to almost always get there for me. This book was one of my forever favorites.
I think I am the only person who loathed Fangirl. Among the many things that annoyed me about it was how weird/unrealistic Cathy’s fannish life came across. I also hated the ending. #Ohwell
Ariadna, you are not the only one. I too loathed it and I loathed Carry On even more.
I just don’t get the appeal….I like the idea, but the writing and the story just annoyed me. I know people love Rainbow Rowell, but I just can’t seem to get into her even though I keep trying.
@Christine THANK YOU! Fangirl was my first attempt at any of Rowell’s novels. Have also read Attachments and Eleanor & Park. NGL, I was ~slightly tempted~ to read Carry On, bit, after three deeply unsatisfying reads, I’m waving the flag and going home
It’s one of those things where an author’s works aren’t for me not matter how highly recced. And, normally, I’d be OK with that. Fangirl, however, elicits a lot of 😐 from me.
I love Rainbow Rowell! I’ve enjoyed all of her books so much. Fangirl is is right up there with Eleanor and Park for me.
This was my first Rowell book and I was mostly left wondering what the fuss was about. Then I read Eleanor and Park and was utterly devastated by it. When Carry On came out I gave it a try and OMG I LOVED IT. Having that different context might mean I should give Fangirl another go?
I ❤️❤️❤️ Carry On! Fan girl was good, and had some great points to make regarding fan fiction, (however too angst riddenas reported above) but I only re-read for Carry On background.
@Ariandna
Yeah, do not bother with Carry On if you didn’t like Fangirl. I have never been so bored in my life. Not one single character in that book ever felt more than just a paper cutout to me. I know others love it, but her style is clearly not for us!