Book Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Today, here is a review of Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. 

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?

~ ~ ~

I was sucked into the world of Fangirl through Cath almost straight away. The first sentence saying there was a boy in her room immediately made me curious. While these days I would say I am more of a fantasy/sci-fi reader I do enjoy reading a contemporary every now and then. This is one of the best contemporaries I've read. 

It's about Cath who really didn't want to move away and go to college learn to grow from being a child to being a more independent adult. She moves to College, but isn't really happy about being there. She meets a boy and think it's her roommates boyfriend. It's about getting hurt and being a writer, learning to grow out of childhood. But maybe not completely.

~ ~ ~

"It's college," Wren said, exasperated, covering her face with her hands. "It's supposed to be an adventure." 

~ ~ ~

I love this quote because I've often said to myself that life is adventure. You can't really go through life timidly. There will always be things that are thrown our that we don't expect. It's in learning that we seek adventure. This is something that Cath learnt through the course of the book. She learnt to be more confident in herself. I think in some ways this quote explains

~ 

"I still wish you'd get a dog," she said.
"I'd never remember to feed it."
"Maybe we could train it to feed you."

(Cath to her Dad)
~

I loved how much that Cath worried about her Dad. I think in any YA story there often seems to be a neglect of the parental figures. Here, as Cath and her twin sister Wren, were away at college their father didn't appear in the story much, but he still was very much involved.

I love this conversation between Cath and her Dad mostly because it's quite funny but also shows a little bit how much Cath and Wren looked out for their Dad when they used to live at home.

Cath was very relatable. She had anxiety but still tried even though that meant surviving off energy bars and peanut butter jars because she couldn't bring herself to actually try something new like say finding the dining room. "I feel sorry for you, and I'm going to be your friend." Is basically how not only Reagan and Cath's strange friendship began, but also how she first found the dining room.


Her anxiety was also visible in other areas of her life. Like when she did want to text her then boyfriend because she wasn't in a good mood and didn't want that to come through the text. 'You can't take back texts.' It's always a concern when texting someone because accidentally saying something different than it was meant to sound could very well mean embarrassment and no take backs.

A Few Things

There was a very touchy feely moment that made me feel uncomfortable. Also Cath's fan fiction that she wrote had a same sex couple which is something that I was also uncomfortable with as a Christian. I also really didn't understand Cath and Wren's mother. I feel like there's more that can happen in that part of the story.

I think the twins names were kind of cool too. Cather and Wren

Overall I loved Fangirl. It certainly was a story about growing up and figuring things out. It's very relatable too I think because I am around her age and entering the world as an adult whether it be University or into the workforce. It's definitely relatable. I rate it 4.5 stars out of 5.

Have you read Fangirl before? What do you think? Feel free to tell me your thoughts in the comments.