Fangirl – Rainbow Rowell

Format: Paperback
Publisher: Macmillan Children’s Books
Published: 10th September 2013
Pages: 445 Pages

The Blurb
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? Writing her own stories? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

Rating: 5/5

The Review
I did buy ‘Fangirl’ a while ago, but in preparation for the Rainbow Rowell book signing that I attended last week, I decided that I needed to give it a go.

I hadn’t read any of Rainbow’s novel prior to Fangirl so I wasn’t sure what I would expect, especially from a YA novel, but I definitely fell in love.

Cath and Wren are twins moving to college and they are leaving the comforts of home life behind. Wren is excited and Cath is dreading it. Their first year brings them boys, lots of alcohol and family issues, but how do you think each twin deals with such situations?

I always find that reading about University or College makes me feel very nostalgic and that I always want to go back to my University days and party (and study too, of course). Like Cath, I too struggled with moving away from home and missed seeing my parents on a regular basis and just having all the home comforts. The home-sick feeling does go away, but personally, I always felt like it never left. (Sorry, I’m just pouring my heart out here haha.).

You all know I’m not a fan of ‘I love him straight away’ romance so to read a YA novel that doesn’t contain lots of overly soppy romance was refreshing. Rainbow creates a world where you don’t have to be model pretty and that having a brain is never a bad thing, plus also having a different hobby doesn’t make you weird. Cath loves to write Simon Snow FanFiction in her spare time and sometimes gets a little embarrased with letting people know. However, those that care about her don’t mind and actually want to hear what she has written.

Personally I feel like some YA novels are unrealistic to teenage life and maybe some people take it the wrong way. I know books are supposed to be read with imagination and such, but sometimes a little realism helps. What reinforced all the ideas to me was hearing Rainbow talk about the concepts and her reasoning behind certain characters at the signing.

I would happily let my daughter or son read this book and to tell them that life can be difficult, but you have to step over the hurdles and enjoy it!

You can purchase Fangirl on Amazon UK, Amazon US and Paperback.

Find out more about Rainbow at her website at www.rainbowrowell.com and on Twitter at @rainbowrowell.