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!