Book Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

WHERE TO BUY: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Books-A-Million

GOODREADS SYNOPSIS: 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, 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 fanfiction, 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 fanfiction 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? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

MY REVIEW: This was such a FUN read! And a fast one at that! By far my favorite Rainbow Rowell book! Cath is definitely me in college. I wrote fanfiction, I was socially awkward, I was (and still am) weird around boys. It was fun to read about the experience from an outside perspective! I really enjoyed how passionate she was about fanfiction and Simon Snow. She didn't let anyone try to talk her out of what she was passionate about, not even her professor. She was witty, funny, and all around fun to learn and read about.

Reagan, Cath's roommate, was a huge star of this book. She was SO funny and sarcastic. Her dry humor and her interactions with Cath made the book for me a lot of the times. She was so brash in her approach to life, but it was so endearing to me.

Wren, Cath's twin sister, took a long while for me to warm up to. I did not like this girl for a majority of the book. Mainly because of how she treated Cath, but then it turned into because she was stupid. The way that she was living her life made me cringe. As I was reading about Wren, I thought that her lifestyle was going to get her into trouble sooner or later. She had no buffer and was constantly taking jabs at Cath for various things. While I understand the need for independence, especially as freshmen in college -- Cath was her twin sister and she shouldn't have been treating her like some stranger. It wasn't cool.

Levi, oh my sweet adorable Levi, what on earth to say about this guy? Other than he was absolute flawed perfection on paper. Levi was so fun! He was energetic, friendly, supportive, vulnerable, honest -- everything you could want in a first boyfriend. Sure, he made his fair mistakes but overall, he was a really great character. Developed well and fun to follow. I really loved his interactions with Cath. He really was enamored with her. And it was fun to witness her become just as enamored and not know how to handle it.

Rowell did a fantastic job on painting an accurate picture of the fangirl transition -- from high school to college -- where people most likely wouldn't understand why fanfiction, midnight book releases, etc. are so important. Witnessing Cath come into herself was one of the most rewarding things about this book. She grows so much throughout the book, but by the end of the story, you really sit back and think of how far she has come. WIth the help of Reagan, Levi, Wren and even her professor. There's a character, Nick, that teaches the not-so-fun college lesson to Cath. And I was so proud of her for how she handles him at the end. She's just a different, though the same, girl at the end of this book.

I loved it. Fantastically written, fun, friendly, adorable -- all of the words!  

MY RATING: 4.5 out of 5 stars!

Cover Reveal: 'The Bane Chronicles' Print Edition

What better why to celebrate the release of the final installment of The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare then by revealing the cover for the print edition of said chronicles?! Cassie knows wassup, so that’s exactly what happened.

I will not be buying/reading anymore of the individual TBC installments because I’ve been waiting to get my hands on the physical copy. Good news — print copy is coming. Bad news — we have to wait until November. Oh well. One step at a time.

Without further ado, here is the cover for the print edition of Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, and Maureen Johnson’s The Bane Chronicles.

Isn’t it beautiful? I mean we’ve always had an idea of what it would look like because of the installment covers, but this just looks magical.

And yes, that DOES say exclusive BONUS story there. How cool!

I’m honestly SO excited about this release, I don’t care if I have to wait until November. It’ll probably take me until then to get over my feels (or at least semi-contain them) from CoHF in May.

What do you think of the cover? Are you excited about the print edition?

Book Review: 'The Raven Boys' by Maggie Stiefvater

**This is the first book in 'The Raven Cycle' series.

Where To Buy: Barnes & Noble, Amazon

Goodreads summary: It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

What I Thought: I did NOT like this book for about the first 100-150 pages. I was lost, confused, disconnected, and just plain bored! I didn't understand the point of ANY of the story. And to be honest, I still don't. 

What kept me reading were the characters. I care about each of them SO much. Stiefvater did a really good job with Blue, Gansey, Adam, Ronan and Noah. I really loved the boys, more than I did Blue (and I really enjoyed her). Gansey appears to be the glue that holds those boys together as a family. And it shows. 

I am constantly in admiration of Gansey's endeavors to not be the snotty little rich kid that he really could be (his frickin' broad vocab!), I like Ronan's spunk and bravery (I can't remember if the situation with Declan - his brother - was resolved, though); Noah is the most adorable thing, and Adam was a lovely ray of sunshine for me. They're a family. And they look after each other. 

Can I just say... I knew something was up with Noah when Ashley, Declan's "girlfriend" mentioned how cold his hands were. That's not really a HUGE tell, but it was enough for me to be suspicious.

Blue's family and house of psychics were a whole 'nother plot point in itself. Maura (her mother) wasn't my favorite person. She was WAY too secretive for me. It felt like she kept SO much important information from Blue. Calla was fun. Neeve was creepy and I'm still confused as to why she was there. Yes, I know she was "helping Maura search for someone", but I don't buy it. Especially now that she's "gone".

The whole supernatural world is SO big and so complex that I honestly had a hard time following everything. But I got enough out of it to know that something is up with these ley lines. And I feel that Adam and Ronan are about to be in for some crazy stuff with the continuation of this story.

I'm also excited to see some development with Blue & Gansey (we KNOW it's going to happen), despite Blue's knowledge of "kissing is death", at least according to her mother and other psychics. I don't think Gansey's going to die from kissing her, but... we shall see. I really love how they first met in Nino's. It was quite entertaining.

Onto Book Two!

Rating: 3.5/5 stars!