Fangirl
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: September 10, 2013
Pages: 433
Source: Audiobook for review
Read By: Rebecca Lowman, Maxwell Caulfield
Audiobook Publisher: Listening Library
Length: 12 hours, 48 minutes
About the Book: From the author the New York Times bestseller Eleanor & Park
A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love.
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?
My Thoughts: I think I’m in love. Like head over heels crazy about this book. I loved the story, the characters, the audio narration. I want to draw hearts and flowers all over this review. I’m a total fangirl for Fangirl.
Actually, it’s kind of embarrassing to admit how obsessive I was about this story while listening to the audiobook. I typically listen to fantasy rather than contemporary. When not listening to a fantasy story I think about it, but the characters aren’t real to me outside the story. With Fangirl I felt like Cath, Wren, Levi and everyone else could be off living their lives when I wasn’t listening…. almost like I was missing out! Crazy, I know. But I know college life. I’m familiar with everything about the story and I’ve been there. I could picture them doing laundry or trying to do homework while their floormates are having a dance party in the hall or any number of college type things. And I loved that. When I was going through my day my mind kept wandering back to the story and I just wanted to be in my car listening to more.
The characters in Fangirl captured me from the start. I was invested in their lives, their triumphs and their failures. Cath and Wren are twins. Their life experiences up until this point have been nearly identical, yet they are so different from one another. It’s no surprise that they each approach college in totally different ways. Part of the reason I was so fascinated was that I could see 18 year old me in both girls. On the surface I don’t have much in common with either girl. But I could empathize with them. That’s part of what makes Rainbow Rowell one of my new favorite authors. She writes amazingly relatable characters.
And don’t even get me started on Levi. Speaking of being in love…. I so would have had a major crush on that boy in college. Like, major crush. And the excerpts from the Simon Snow books and Cath’s fanfic! And Cath and Wren’s dad! And Taco trucks! LOVE!!
As far as the audiobook goes, perfection. I loved the narration (which is usually what turns me off from contemporary books on audio!) Having a different narrator for the Simon Snow bit worked so well. It helped that he reminded me of Jim Dale reading Harry Potter. It really made the Simon Snow aspect of the book seem more real. That helped me understand Cath’s fanfic and love for Simon Snow.
Basically all of this rambling is me trying to tell you that Fangirl is on of the best books I’ve read this year. It’s one I already can’t wait to re-read!
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