As a fangirl myself, I was really excited to read a book about someone like me and I wasn’t disappointed. There was so much I enjoyed about this book. Here’s my thoughts on the book, Fangirl.

Fangirl Summary and Book Cover

  In this coming-of-age story, Cath is a Simon Snow fan. For Cath, being a fan is what helped her and her twin sister, Wren, get through difficult moments growing up.

 

  Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath doesn’t want to let go.

 

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own and completely outside of her comfort zone.

 

  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?

Fangirl Characters:

Cath

  My favorite part of reading books was having characters I could relate to deeply and that was Cath for sure. There were so many things she did and thought that I would totally do. I would definitely prefer to stay in a dorm room and read or write than go out partying.

  I definitely have thought many of the same thoughts as her. There were so many times when reading that I would almost exclaim “Yes! That’s exactly what I thought!” out loud.

  Even though I never went to a college/Uni with student housing, I totally can feel her pain about not wanting to be pushed out of her comfort zone. Feeling pushed out of your comfort zone can be extremely scary especially when you are going through lots of change in your life.

  Her struggles with Anxiety were well written and I think anyone who has anxiety can relate (if not a lot than at least in some ways) with her. Her slowly opening up and making friends was fun to read about. Especially since those friends were totally different from her (extroverted and outgoing). Which made the dynamics between them both funny and interesting.

  I totally related to moments when she tried to explain her fangirl self yet everything came out weird. As an introvert, I also struggle with vocalizing my thoughts and feelings well so those moments felt very realistic.

  I loved watching her grow and change over the course of the novel, but in a way that still stayed true to herself as a fangirl. I think that the point of that was to show how there isn’t anything wrong with being yourself, and I really think that was a good point to make in a coming of age novel.

Levi

  Levi was literally a golden retriever in human form! He was such a sweet guy, always smiling and super nice. Plus he works at Starbucks so he can make your favorite drinks and bring them for you!

He was super nice to Cath even when she was being less than friendly. He was always ready to be there for her when she needed it. I loved how he was interested in Cath’s fan fiction and didn’t try to change her but liked her just the way she was… swoon!

  I also love how he didn’t pressure her to be physical in their relationship but instead was patient with her until she was comfortable which is something I would really appreciate in real life. Because of Levi, I now hope that whoever I end up with is down for some book reading dates because as a book lover that is the ULTIMATE DATE NIGHT!!!

Reagan

  To be honest, at the beginning I didn’t like Reagan that much. I thought she was a bit rude to Cath at first since she kept calling her weird and pathetic. Maybe it was more of me just being personally offended because I relate to Cath so much, but it took me some time to warm up to her.

  I started to like her once I got to know her more and realized that she really was a good friend for Cath. She helped push Cath to come out of her comfort zone and was kind of like a big sister figure for Cath which was good for her to have.

  I liked how Reagan knocked some sense into Cath when she was letting her worse case scenario anxiety-triggered thoughts make her second guess her relationship with Levi. As Cath and Reagan got closer I really loved the banter between them since they had such different personalities.

  What I loved most about Reagan was how cool and tough she was but at the same time she was very loyal to her friendships. She’s the type of person you go to if you want a real honest answer with no sugarcoating, cause she’s definitely not afraid to say what’s on her mind which is very helpful to have at least one person in your life who is like that.

Wren

  Wren is Cath’s twin sister and is definitely a complex character.

  At the beginning of the book, Wren wants to distance herself from Cath because she wants to widen out and be her own person. I totally understand why she would want that because being an individual instead of part of a group is really important for us to be able to grow and mature.

  But since this story is told from Cath’s perspective, I couldn’t help but dislike Wren for abandoning and ignoring her sister. But, she definitely was dealing with childhood trauma by self medicating herself. And disguised it as just doing what everyone else does for fun in college.

  I like how this story called out these unhealthy aspects of college culture that could be dangerous especially for young girls. 

  Later on in the story, she started to learn from her mistakes and make good changes which was very satisfying. I think Wren’s character was very important to the story, because she showed some of the unhealthy aspects of college culture.

  The family themes in this book were well done and it accurately showed how sibling relationships are. Siblings may be complicated, they may annoy the crap out of each other, mess up or even drift apart. But at the end of the day they will always love each other unconditionally, and be there for each other when they really need it.

  It was nice to see her dynamic with Cath as twin sisters. Those scenes with them together working on Cath’s fan fiction were very fun and made me wish I had a sister to be close like that with. Overall I liked her as a character because she was very complicated just like real people are.

Nick

  Oh Nick… He was an interesting character. He was in Cath’s Fiction Writing class so they both had similar interests and he was handsome according to Cath.

  He technically was the first friend Cath made in college and was Cath’s writing partner for their Fiction Writing class assignments. At first, I liked that he took interest in Cath when she had no other friends and wasn’t adjusting well to college life.

  But as soon as the fact that he was just using Cath came into light he definitely was not my favorite! How Cath finally stood her ground and didn’t let him get credit for the story she helped him with. I was so proud of her at that moment!

Professor Piper

  I REALLY like Professor Piper! So much so that, even though she’s a minor character, I dedicated a section of this post just for her!

  I loved how she really challenged Cath to write her own short story and not just fan fiction even when Cath was super resistant. I loved the way she talked about the beauty of writing.

  I’ m a writer too and lot’s of what she said resonated with me deeply. Sometimes I felt almost as if she was speaking directly to ME to encourage ME not to give up writing and that was a very special moment for me. I think Professor Piper was very important to Cath’s personal development and that’s why she’s one of my personal favorites.

Everyone else

  What I love so much about Rowell’s writing is that all the characters, even the minor ones, are very real.

  I loved how Cath and Wren’s dad was written. His own battle with being bipolar and being unstable yet wanting his daughters to go out and live their life, was very well portrayed. It makes me feel for all the parents out there who have grown children yet deal with mental illnesses. And how complex they must feel about wanting their kids to be happy, yet struggling when alone.

  Every character was well thought out and felt real, and I really enjoyed that since getting to know characters are my favorite part of the reading experience.

Fangirl Plot

  This was a VERY character driven story, but at times it got to the point that plot was less important. It was a bit slow at the beginning for me but when things started speeding up I really got into it.

  I liked the flashbacks to when Cath and Wren were younger as it provided backstory to help get to know the characters better. I also like how the Simon Snow series that Cath was a fangirl about was woven throughout the story.

  Some parts were from her fan fiction Carry on and others parts were from the fictional book series her fan fiction was based on. Which got confusing at times but overall was a nice touch to add to the fangirl aspect of the story.

Final Thoughts…

  I wouldn’t recommend this book to people who are less into character driven books because this book wouldn’t be their cup of tea.

  But if you love character driven stories with cute romance and strong themes like mental illness and family, then you will enjoy this book. Even though it’s not a perfect book, I think it’s well worth the hype that surrounds it.

  So that’s my book review on Rainbow Rowell’s book Fangirl. Hope you enjoyed it! If you’re an author and want me to review your book, please check out my book review policy page and contact me.

About the Author of Fangirl…

  Rainbow Rowell writes all kinds of stuff. 

  Sometimes she writes about adults (Attachments and Landline). Sometimes she writes about teenagers (Eleanor and Park, Fangirl.) Sometimes — actually, a lot of the time — she writes about lovesick vampires and boys with dragon wings. (The Simon Snow series.)

  Rainbow wrote her first graphic novel, Pumpkinheads, last fall. And she’s thrilled to be writing Marvel’s monthly Runaways comic, now in its third year.

  She lives in Omaha, Nebraska.

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