Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Publication Date: September 10, 2013
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ARC: 433 pages
Source: for review from publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!) Rating: ★★★★★ Buy: B&N/Amazon
Add to Wishlist
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? (Goodreads)
Why I Read This
I randomly discovered Attachments last summer and immediately requested an e-book copy from my local library. I had been in such a reading slump thanks to starting grad school and I was *gasp* getting a little bored of all the young adult on my shelves. Attachments was the perfect escape for a few days. Told through emails, the story was fresh, exciting, and romantic. When I heard about Fangirl being published I added it to my wishlist and couldn't wait to experience more of Rainbow Rowell's writing. This summer, I was unable to make myself read anything and was completely worn out from finishing graduate school. I picked up Fangirl one afternoon and discovered the perfect mix of a strong young adult voice and the excitement of starting college, aka the New Adult genre I'd heard so much about.
Thoughts
I am becoming the queen of reading slumps this year, and I'm not proud of it. But, I am happy when I find those books that allow me to clear my head of all the stress and what ifs going through my brain and just focus on how much I genuinely enjoy reading. Fangirl is exactly that kind of book. I loved reading Fanfiction.net and FictionPress.com when I was in middle and high school. It was amazing to read about my favorite TV and book characters and there was always the rush of checking to see if certain stories had been updated. So I completed understood Cat's character and how much she enjoyed writing fanfiction and how she was bombarded by comments. I posted a few things of my own back in the day and it was the best feeling to see that someone was actually taking the time to read what I had written. Reading fanfiction and raising kittens on the CATZ computer game was basically middle school Kate's life. I'm sure I'm not the only person out there that did this...I hope. The college life that was portrayed was pretty spot on in my opinion. I had a roommate freshman year who I didn't know and although I'm an only child, I had a best friend at the same school who chose not to room with me and it hurt. We drifted apart and all that jazz but it wasn't the end of the world. College is all about finding yourself and I think Rowell completely captured those feelings.
Future Plans
I love that I was able to discover Attachments before all the hype and I'm happy to see that she's becoming very popular. I have Eleanor & Park on my Nook still to read but I'm trying to savor it since it will be awhile before her next book is published. Definitely excited to see what Landline will be all about next year.
Other Books by Rainbow Rowell
Attachments Eleanor & Park Landline (2014)
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ARC: 433 pages
Source: for review from publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!) Rating: ★★★★★ Buy: B&N/Amazon
Add to Wishlist
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? (Goodreads)
Why I Read This
I randomly discovered Attachments last summer and immediately requested an e-book copy from my local library. I had been in such a reading slump thanks to starting grad school and I was *gasp* getting a little bored of all the young adult on my shelves. Attachments was the perfect escape for a few days. Told through emails, the story was fresh, exciting, and romantic. When I heard about Fangirl being published I added it to my wishlist and couldn't wait to experience more of Rainbow Rowell's writing. This summer, I was unable to make myself read anything and was completely worn out from finishing graduate school. I picked up Fangirl one afternoon and discovered the perfect mix of a strong young adult voice and the excitement of starting college, aka the New Adult genre I'd heard so much about.
Thoughts
I am becoming the queen of reading slumps this year, and I'm not proud of it. But, I am happy when I find those books that allow me to clear my head of all the stress and what ifs going through my brain and just focus on how much I genuinely enjoy reading. Fangirl is exactly that kind of book. I loved reading Fanfiction.net and FictionPress.com when I was in middle and high school. It was amazing to read about my favorite TV and book characters and there was always the rush of checking to see if certain stories had been updated. So I completed understood Cat's character and how much she enjoyed writing fanfiction and how she was bombarded by comments. I posted a few things of my own back in the day and it was the best feeling to see that someone was actually taking the time to read what I had written. Reading fanfiction and raising kittens on the CATZ computer game was basically middle school Kate's life. I'm sure I'm not the only person out there that did this...I hope. The college life that was portrayed was pretty spot on in my opinion. I had a roommate freshman year who I didn't know and although I'm an only child, I had a best friend at the same school who chose not to room with me and it hurt. We drifted apart and all that jazz but it wasn't the end of the world. College is all about finding yourself and I think Rowell completely captured those feelings.
Future Plans
I love that I was able to discover Attachments before all the hype and I'm happy to see that she's becoming very popular. I have Eleanor & Park on my Nook still to read but I'm trying to savor it since it will be awhile before her next book is published. Definitely excited to see what Landline will be all about next year.
Other Books by Rainbow Rowell
Attachments Eleanor & Park Landline (2014)
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