Fangirl

Book Title: Fangirl

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Date Started: June 11th 2014

Date Completed: June 18th 2014

Genres: Contemporary, Romance

Rating: Four stars

Review:

Fangirl is a heartwarming, light and fluffy read with that relatable side for teenagers, but specifically writers. Unfortunately I'm not a huge fan of light and fluffy, which became evident when I read this book, but I still think Fangirl is a nice new contemporary worth reading.

Cath has always had her twin sister Wren with her. But when they move into college, it seems that Wren wants her own space to become her own person, leaving Cath, and her stacks of fanfiction, to fend for themselves in this new situation. But with a seemingly moody roommate and her quirky boyfriend, Cath will find her feet again and possibly even fall in love.

The writing was good, though I can't say anything jumped out at me as amazing. The sentences had a nice flow and the dialogue fitted it well. The narrative also communicated the atmospheres of the scenes very well.

Like I've said, I wasn't thrilled by Fangirl, just because it's wasn't my type of story or genre. So, for me I was pretty neutral the whole way through. However, the one parts that did get me interested were the short excerpts from the Simon Snow books or fanfiction (probably because it was fantasy). I thought they tied in really well with the story and helped tell it, even though the two weren't directly related. It was also nice see in the very subtle style differences between Cath and the actual author's writing.

Another thing I feel Rowell did very well was the balance between the fanfiction culture and the day-to-day life of a teenage college student. Though I can't say I know in detail what either of these are like, I felt they were portrayed in a way people could relate to. I also think it was really important to keep the two balanced in order to make sure the story remained realistic. However, I did think this started to crumble towards the end of the book, and things started to get a little fantastical.

The characters in Fangirl all fitted into their places in the story, so I feel some developed more than others.

Cath is a very nice person, and she has a way of making the reader want things to work out for her, even if she can get a little irritating at times.

I didn't like Wren very much from the start, and I felt her behaviour wasn't really explained as well as it could have been, but she still turned out okay.

Again, Levi seems like a really nice guy, and he definitely fitted into the adorable, geeky but cool boyfriend. I did have a bit of trouble feeling a different chemistry between him and Cath to the chemistry that everyone had around him, but the story allowed other things to be more important than this.

Reagan is probably the best character since she does the typical comic relief, but in a quirky, funny yet kind of scary way.

Finally, I really liked Nick, and I thought his change of heart was a little out of character if I'm honest.

I can't say there were any pace issues because the novel itself didn't have a pace as such. Like in a lot of contemporary novels, it's more a string of consciousness than of events.

Even though I wasn't too thrilled with Fangirl, that's just because it wasn't really my thing. It's a nice, enjoyable read that is extremely relatable for the teenage generation right now, and it incorporates a variety of issues into the story, as well as making sure there's plenty of funny and adorable bits.

Image Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19174917-fangirl