Book Review: Fangirl

Twin sisters Cath and Wren both loved Simon Snow. Like, they were obsessed. They related to Simon Snow, and this fan fiction got them through some major moments in their life including one with their mom. They weren’t  like any other old fan. When they were kids, their life was Simon Snow. But that was soon to change….

Cath is an obsessed Simon Smith fan. It’s still her life. Cath doesn’t want to let it go. Wren, not so much. Both sisters are going to the same college now and Wren believes that the whole Simon Snow thing was just a phase. Wren is over it. She is now in college, over the whole Simon Snow thing, and she thinks her sister should be too. Wren wants to be independent and in this well written story, she distances herself from her sister (Cath). She doesn't want to dorm with Cath, she wants to do things on her own and be independent.

When Cath and Wren don’t share a room, Cath is completely lost and isn’t in her own comfort zone. She doesn’t like it. Her new roommate isn’t what she is used to. She was pretty, had a hot boyfriend, and so many other things Cath didn’t have. Her new professor was different too. She didn’t really reside with him well because he HATED fan fiction, which is what she loved (Simon Snow). Then she met one of her peers in class. He was gorgeous to Cath. A God. This was hard. Meeting all these new people, who did things way differently than she had. She didn’t party, drink, or do well with boys.  It was all different for her, especially because she wasn’t experiencing any of it with her sister.

There were new people, new environments, new opportunities, and Cath didn’t care for any of it. She missed her life back at home where she did everything with her sister. Where she was with her loving father. Where it was okay to love Simon Snow. Where she didn’t have to be alone.

The main person/thing Cath thought about while she was miserable at her college in Nebraska was her father, and his well being. Her father hated to be alone, and he felt lonely because both of his daughters had to leave him for college. Though he was distraught, he didn’t want his kids to worry about him, so he tried to cover up his feelings, but Cath sensed them. No matter how many times her dad told her he was okay, Cath insisted that she would go back home and take care of him, leave her college and find somewhere else to go that was closer to him. Despite all the setbacks and emotions, she got into a groove. College got easier for Cath. She had a very loyal “friend”, got used to the environment, and learned a lot about herself as Cath, not as the twin or as Wren’s sister.

Rainbow Rowell, the amazing and talented author of Fangirl is a Nebraska girl herself, and chose to set this story in Nebraska as well. She lives in Omaha with her husband and two sons. Rainbow Rowell is a New York Times: Bestselling author, and this is only her second book! Her  first novel was Eleanor & Park and Attachments. Rowell writes this story beautifully, despite the swears and curses she wrote with! It is romantic and a bit sexual, full of adventure, and filled with life lessons throughout the whole novel.

I related to this book a lot. Though i’m not in college, I still went through and I am still going through many of the problems Cath (and Wren) encountered in this novel. Especially with the whole “fangirl” thing, because I myself am a fangirl. I was told a lot of the same things Cath was told about growing out of her fangirling and that she needed to get out of that “phase”. I understood Cath’s opinion on it, and also agreed. If you like something, you don’t just have to give it up. Yes, put your priorities first, but you don’t just have to give up on something you enjoy because others look down on it.

People who would enjoy this novel would be mature young adults, definitely above the age 14. People who love fiction, especially fiction set in the modern day. Fangirl is a fun, and  sexy (but not too sexy) relatable book for people who are “fangirls” and “fanboys” themselves. Even if you aren’t a “fangirl/boy”, you’ll still pick up this book and love it! It took me a little while to finish this novel because I am a slower reader, but it definitely isn’t a very easy/light read.

Fangirl

Rainbow Rowell

433 pages

September 10th, 2013