Fangirl

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Yes, another Rainbow Rowell masterpiece! I just ordered a copy of Attachments, and I cannot wait to sink my teeth into it. I've heard it's every bit as good as the rest of her work.

Fangirl is a story about Cath. She is a twin, a Simon Snow fan, and an incoming college freshman. Cath has never been apart from her sister Wren, but when Wren decides to room with someone other than Cath, her whole view on the upcoming semester begins to tailspin. Cath has always been safely ensconced between the world of Simon Snow, the world she's made with her fanfiction, and her twin. How is she going to navigate becoming an "adult" when she can't even converse with her roommate, her roommate's possible boyfriend (Cath hasn't worked up the guts to ask who he really is), or even find the dining hall?

There was so much perfect to this novel, that it feels almost impossible to write a coherent review. I guess I'll go by sections:

Cath: I had the best love hate relationship with this girl. Love, because she was funny and a geek and very much like me, with her insecurities as well as her good qualities. However, I thought at times she went too far. I despised going to the dining hall my freshman year, but Cath borders on literally starving herself to avoid the situation. She also goes in circles with her reasoning sometimes; however, these problems don't decline from the character. In fact, it made her more real to me.

College: Dear. God. Rainbow Rowell hit college on its head and drove it into the ground! The opening chapter made me get anxious and stressed out and literally have a flashback to how I felt on move-in day (hint: It wasn't fun. Seriously, I love being in college, but you couldn't pay me to relive my orientation or my move-in week). That's what first solidified my sympathy to Cath, because she felt exactly as I did.

There were a bunch of little things that someone who hasn't been in college gets, like when Levi introduces the concept of "freshman time." I constantly think back on certain sections of time from my freshman year, and the amount of memories I have from one month of that year are the equivalent of six months at any other time.

Fangirling: The very heart of this book is the fact that Cath is a die-hard fangirl, writing fanfiction for the Simon Snow saga. When I read the piece on midnight premieres and the fear of getting the last story, I started bawling like a child, because I remembered feeling that way with Harry Potter. What's more is that, though she may not bring it up with strangers, Cath is absolutely unashamed in her love for her stories, something I loved and identified with. College is terrifying on its own, not to mention the biggest period of change you'll experience in your life (or at least, that I've experienced so far), and Cath was meant to evolve over the year, but she also grew and strengthened herself by holding onto what she knew was such a large part of her, even when the whole world seemed to oppose it.

Other parts of the book I loved: the way the story ends with Cath and her mother's relationship. The fact that nobody in this story is perfect. The way Cath takes care of Nick. And Levi. LeviLeviLevi. Dear God, I want to have his pseudo-fictional babies.

READ THIS BOOK NOW.

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