Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl

by Rainbow Rowell

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.

Reviewed by leahrosereads on

5 of 5 stars

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This is the first novel I've read by Rainbow Rowell, and I will definitely be reading more from her.

Fangirl follows and 18 year old Freshman college student, Cather (Cath), and her day to day life trying to navigate college and becoming an "adult". She's the introvert who's never had to put herself out there, because her twin sister Wren was always there so that Cath could tag along. But, when Wren doesn't want to be her roommate in college, Cath must learn to go at this scary new world of adulthood on her own, or so she believes.

Fangirl was so realistic and charming, I couldn't put it down. I'm trying to think of faults that I found in it, but the only small issue I had was all of the Simon Snow fanfic and blurbs throughout it. I understand that fanfiction is a huge part of Cath, I just thought a little less would have still worked in the novel.

Oh Cath, how I was you when I first went to college. That nervousness of not knowing where you belong, because you didn't belong in high school, was absolutely something that I related with very well.

I just really enjoyed reading the about her day to day life and even the Mama drama wasn't over the top. I think it just added a dimension to Cath (and Wren) and made them more real to me. No one has a perfect life, and Rainbow Rowell showed faults and issues in people in a very honest way. It was refreshing.

Onto Levi. Oh Levi. How adorable was he? The chivalrous good guy. A dying breed in society, and yet, even he had faults that made him human and real. Just a wonderful character.

Really all of the cast of characters were great. I loved Reagan and the dad. I disliked Nick in the end, but really liked him in the beginning. I was, however, nervous that there was going to be an awkward love triangle between Cath, Nick, and Levi (there isn't, and I'm very happy about that).

Just really a great novel. I would recommend this to anyone who loves a happy ending.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 31 March, 2014: Finished reading
  • 31 March, 2014: Reviewed