Steph L
Written on Aug 3, 2016
A love story about opening your heart, by Rainbow Rowell, the New York Times bestselling author of Eleanor & Park.
Cath and Wren are identical twins, and until recently they did absolutely everything together. Now they're off to university and Wren's decided she doesn't want to be one half of a pair any more – she wants to dance, meet boys, go to parties and let loose. It's not so easy for Cath. She's horribly shy and has always buried herself in the fan fiction she writes, where she always knows exactly what to say and can write a romance far more intense than anything she's experienced in real life.
Without Wren, Cath is completely on her own and totally outside her comfort zone. She's got a surly room-mate 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.
Now Cath has to decide whether she's ready to open her heart to new people and new experiences, and she's realizing that there's more to learn about love than she ever thought possible . . .
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell comes with special bonus material; the first chapter from Rainbow's irresistible novel Carry On.
- ISBN10 1447263227
- ISBN13 9781447263227
- Publish Date 30 January 2014 (first published 10 September 2013)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Pan Macmillan
- Imprint Macmillan Children's Books
- Edition Unabridged edition
- Format Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
- Pages 480
- Language English
Reviews
tylerrosereads
Written on Jun 16, 2016
Rinn
Written on Apr 20, 2016
Whilst not my usual type of book, I thought I’d give Fangirl a chance as I’d seen it EVERYWHERE, with such glowing reviews and praise – and who could resist a title like that? I have fangirled over many a book, TV series, video game, film, you name it, and quite honestly reading about someone else doing that was quite appealing.
I won Lianne’s blogoversary giveaway, and chose this as my prize (thank you, Lianne!). It came in the post on Friday morning, and by Saturday night I had started reading. I was absolutely shattered, but I kept telling myself ‘just one more chapter… they’re only short… just one more’.
I think it’s safe to say that I was already a bit of a fangirl by that point.
It was so fantastic to read about this character and completely and utterly relate to her. I’ve met many people in my life who don’t understand why I enjoy the things I do, or think I’m childish for liking them. Sometimes I actually feel kind of embarrassed for liking those things, which is really rubbish because they’re an important part of my life, and I shouldn’t let what others think dictate what I enjoy. Rainbow Rowell really hits the nail on the head with the way that she shows Cath being completely and utterly in love with the Simon Snow series, and really passionate about writing fanfiction for it – but also reluctant to tell anyone in the ‘real world’. Even though she’s a talented writer, chances are people will look down on her for writing fanfiction of ‘children’s stories’. Like me, Cath was often caught between wanting to express her love for something, and hide it deep down so as not to embarrass herself. It’s a painful feeling.
Cath also frustrated me at times. She was a bit of a hermit, hiding away in her room all the time, then wondering why she was lonely. And then I realised that was me at the beginning of uni, in a way – I think I made most of my friends through chance, and I only ever had a small group of friends – I certainly didn’t go out with the aim of meeting lots and lots of new people. So once again, the story felt very relatable, and has also urged me to make sure I don’t do that when I go off to university again after this summer.
As for the other characters – Levi was ADORABLE. Wren partly irritated me, but I also understood why she acted like she did. Unlike Cath, she desperately wanted to shed the fangirl image so as to blend in, whereas Cath hung onto it because of everything it meant to her. Reagan complemented Cath nicely, and Nick… well Nick felt a bit pointless to be honest. He just kind of disappeared for the last third and there was no mention of him until the very end. Art, Wren and Cath’s father, had an important role to play that kept Cath grounded, and also helped to show the reader perhaps just why Cath was so obsessed with the Simon Snow series.
Fangirl was an utter delight to read. I loved how Simon Snow was pretty much Harry Potter – it made the story even easier to relate to. Rainbow Rowell has perfectly captured that feeling of loving something, but also perhaps being a little bit (unnecessarily) ashamed of that love for it. The relationships in the book were some of the best I’ve read in contemporary Young Adult fiction, and felt very natural. The ending felt a bit open, and left me wanting more, but I’m not sure if there will be a sequel. Perhaps I’ll have to turn to fanfiction instead.
verkaskodova
Written on Dec 12, 2015
Bože, to bylo tak cute a real a... Číst Fangirl a Eliza and Her Monsters v jednom roce byla pocta. Potřebuju víc introvertů se závislostí na vlastní tvorbě. No... U Cath to byly fan fikce, ale stejně trvám na tom, že s Elizou by si alespoň v některých ohledech dost rozuměly.
ammaarah
Written on Sep 1, 2015
"To really be a nerd, she'd decided, you had to prefer fictional worlds to the real one." (Cather Avery)
I'm a Fangirl! Rainbow Rowell, you have converted me into a out-and-proud-of-it Fangirl. This book is written to nerds all over the world, telling them that they don't have to change for anything or anyone and that they will go to college and reign supreme, people will understand them and that they will find a guy who loves them make friends.This isn't just a book written for nerds, it's written for fangirls too i.e. those whose brain becomes more consumed with the fictional world than real life, that scream, shout and cry the moment that they hear something about their fandom and will do anything and everything to protect it. I'm a nerd. I'm a fangirl. This book was written for me! (and for many other readers too...)
Fangirl is about Cather Avery. She is a socially incapable, anxious person who is obsessed with the Simon Snow book series and writes fanfiction about it. I'm an awkward potato who doesn't know the first thing about striking up a conversation. I'm one of those people who over analyses every mannerism in a social setting. I love to write stuff (okay, maybe this one is stretching the comparison way to far). Cath is all of these things too. I could relate to Cath as a character and I could see myself in some of the things that she did. Cath is also a fangirl and a bookworm loving nerd who made my heart soar with geek pride!
Wren is Cath's twin sister and she annoyed me. Reagan is one cool friend. Levi wasn't a conventional love interest. He isn't the flawless, tall, dark and handsome, douchebag. I thought that Levi and Cath's relationship was cute. To use Levi's words, I was "rooting" for them.
I was also amazed by the way that Rowell wrote her characters and their relationships with each other. The main characters in Fangirl were not one-dimensional cereal box cut outs. None of the characters could be labelled and put into certain boxes based on their personality. I freaking love it when characters in books seem like human beings in the real world!
As much as I liked this book, there was a few things that stopped me from giving a five star-rating.
The first being the whole Simon Snow idea. In the beginning, I didn't mind the Simon Snow idea. I thought that it was an amazing addition to the story. The issues started when I heard the word Harry Potter and realised that Harry Potter existed in the Fangirl world. It was then that my brain started thinking, how can a Harry-Potter rip-off (the Simon Snow series) overtake the original Harry Potter? I also felt that the excerpts after each chapter was jumpy and confusing to read about. The excerpts jump from the first book, to the sixth, to the third and the fanfiction that Cath writes is also woven in between. I was getting excerpts of the Simon Snow series and some fanfiction, in a random order and without being able to enjoy it because I don't have a big picture as to what this story is all about.
The second thing that bugged me was that not everything was resolved in the end. I don't mind when book have an open-ending, to a certain extent, but I do prefer for the end of a book to be complete. In Fangirl, I felt as though most of the storylines in this book faded into a black hole and wasn't dealt with at all.
All in all: Fangirl was a great read that left me feeling happy, made me want to write something and told me that I can be a proud geek for as long as the world exists!
jesstheaudiobookworm
Written on Aug 19, 2015
Mackenzie
Written on Jul 28, 2015
Let me preface this by saying I am NOT a contemporary fan. It's just not my cup of tea. But everyone (literally) was talking about how awesome this book was and I decided that if I was ever going to give contemporary a chance then this would be the book. Sadly, this just confirmed my dislike for it. I can't say that I hated it because I didn't. In fact, this book was perfectly pleasant. But, quite frankly, I just didn't care.
A lot of people liked this because they could relate (aren't we all fangirls here?). And I liked Cath. We could easily be friends. And Reagan. She's awesomely bad-tempered. But there was just.....nothing to keep me going. No mystery, no magic, no cake dangling in front of my face making me want to continue reading. Honestly, the more interesting parts were the little parts about Simon and Baz from the fantasy books she wrote fanfic for (I love me some fantasy!). Now, if Rowell wrote a book about that, I'd read it (even if it's so obviously HP).
But I tried! A for effort, right?
Terri M. LeBlanc
Written on Jun 27, 2015
I fell right in between Cath’s and Wren’s college experiences. I moved away (but no too far) to go to college. I wasn’t as fearful of new things as Cath, but I wasn’t Wren’s party girl either. I had a high school sweetheart who broke up with me over the phone a couple of months after I started college (we had been dating for 3+ years). There were a lot of emotional ups and downs with boys and classes. Somehow, Rowell took me back to those days for at least one day. That’s right, I started reading Fangirl at 11 AM on a Saturday morning and didn’t stop reading until about 5 PM.
What I loved most about Fangirl was that each character was real and unique. They had their own voices and personalities. None of them seemed cookie cutter or two dimensional. I felt like I could sit down and have a wonderful conversation with any of them. I especially loved Cath and Wren’s dad. His quirky sense of humor and mental health issues reminded me of several people close to me. I wanted to know more about how he raise two twin girls! And I kind of what to know what Gravioli looks and tastes like. Well, maybe not taste.
I laughed. I teared up. Fangirl was an emotional journey for me from start to finish. I don’t know how Rowell does it, but consider me a "fangirl" for life.
This review was originally posted on Second Run Reviews
puchunga
Written on Feb 11, 2015
Joséphine
Written on Dec 29, 2014
Book review is up on Word Revel.
Dec 29, 2014
Initial thoughts: Fangirl was funny and sweet and wonderful. I've hardly come across books set in college that weren't heavy on the romance. This book was about Cath who tried to find herself, even though she felt she was losing everything dear to her—her high school boyfriend, her father and most painfully, her twin sister Wren. It was about pursuing one's passion; in Cath's case, writing fanfiction. It was also about gaining trust in other people like her roommate Reagan and Reagan's friend, Levi. The only parts that I didn't much care for were the stories of Simon Snow, be it the fanfiction or canon. I liked reading about Cath's feelings and thoughts about Simon Snow but not so much the actual written pieces.