Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

RATING: 4/5

SYNOPSIS: Cath is starting her freshman year of college and for the first time in her life she doesn’t have her twin sister attached by her side. As she navigates her new world, she increasingly clings to fanfiction, especially the slash-fic that she has been writing for the past two years, but sooner or later she has to learn that life exists outside of fiction.

 

I feel a tad bit let down because I struggled with connecting with Cath during the first half of the book. Although there were moments when our social anxieties aligned, I did feel that she was acting a bit ridiculous at some moments. For example I don’t understand how she doesn’t understand that submitting fanfiction as a creative writing assignment is considered plagiarism. While it isn’t as serious as taking something word for word she is still using someone else’s world and characters and I was a little shocked how she could be in college and not have ever run across that. I also didn’t understand how she could want to be a creative writing major and not have stories of her own that she is desperate to tell, but that might just be because I’ve always been better at creating my own stories than I am at writing fanfiction. I’m also not sure how I feel about the excerpts from the Simon Snow series and Cath’s own fanfiction that appear between the chapters. They were interesting to read, but I’m not sure if they really added anything. It also bothers me a little that Simon Snow and Harry Potter coexist because Simon Snow is a Harry Potter rip-off. All that aside as the story progresses, the roots of her anxieties are revealed, and she starts putting herself out there more it gets better. I love her relationship with her twin, Wren, and their relationship with their father. I liked that they all how to learn the right way to live without each other and they all made mistakes. I also loved that Cath and her roommate, Reagan, ended up being really good friends especially since they are complete opposites personality-wise. The one thing that was consistently good about this book was Levi. I loved how he noticed things about Cath and tried to help her live more. He always did nice things because he should and because he can and not because he wanted something in return. He was so considerate to everyone and I couldn’t believe that Cath didn’t like him immediately because I sure did. Like if it was me we’d spend the first half of the book being BFFs and having so much fun. I also loved that although Levi is a kind person and always friendly to everyone, he does know when its time to stop and doesn’t let himself be pushed around. I loved a moment towards the end when he got mad at Cath for being ridiculous and practically throwing away a second chance that almost never happens in college. I did like that fanfiction was Cath’s coping device because I do feel like that is something plenty of people latch onto when things get too real or too hard and her reasoning felt realistic to me. I do think that there is an honesty to this story, but it doesn’t start emerging until after Cath gets over herself and Reagan and Levi force the issue. Overall I thought this was a sweet book and Levi is the number one reason why you should read it too.