BOOK REVIEW: FANGIRL BY RAINBOW ROWELL

Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell

Genre: YA Contemporary

My Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads

Goodreads Summary: In Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl, 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? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

Caution: Spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk.

I went into this book with such high expectations that it fell flat a tiny bit for me in terms of the storyline and the main character. The premise was so exciting to me that I just knew I was going to love it, and don’t get me wrong, I definitely really liked it, but it just wasn’t a 5 star book for me. Here’s why:

Because everyone has been raving about this book like there’s no tomorrow, I was expecting more from the storyline. I was expecting something big to happen or a massive problem or a shocking revelation but I almost felt like nothing really happened. It was so promising for me up until the end, and I mean, sure, Cath’s sister ended up in hospital but then everything quickly turned fine and dandy. I was just expecting a huge plot twist or a massive emotional ending. Unfortunately, I did not get either of these things.

The other thing that made me take off a star was the main character, Cath. Yes, most of the time I could really relate to her but sometimes I just wanted to shake her and ask her, “What the hell are you doing? Pull yourself together!” If you’re in college or university, you don’t just not do your assignments. That shit has to get done or you’re wasting a hell of a lot of money for nothing just because you don’t feellike doing it. That annoyed me. I just didn’t get why she was being a whiny, selfish, annoying character sometimes, but most of the time, I really did like her character.

Okay, moving on to the good things:

I LOVED the fandom aspect to this and the fact that it was extremely similar to Harry Potter. I also don’t know if I’m looking to much into it, but I felt like Simon and the Humdrum, being two parts of one person (one good and one evil) could relate to Cath and Wren and how different they are, and that one doesn’t exist without the other, you know? I don’t know if that makes any sense.

Anyway, I loved Regan and Levi, they were just the best characters and I just loved Regan’s attitude and Levi’s happy vibe that just made you giggle a little (okay, a lot!) They were really well done.

I love how deeply the family aspects ran through this story. You know how you read a book and sometimes the characters parents just kind of disappear? Yeah, I love how that didn’t happen in this story. Family was very prominent and I really appreciated that. In fact, almost all of the characters had families that were mentioned now that I think about it.

Overall, I really did enjoy this book but there were just a few things that ticked me off a bit. But I definitely still recommend it if you’re in the mood for a good contemporary about fandoms!!