Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Plot

18 year-old Cather Avery is going to college, she’s a twin and she’s a fan girl of the global sensation series that is Simon Snow (Fangirl’s equivalent of Harry Potter).  Cather (or ‘Cath’ as she prefers) suffers from social anxiety.  This makes it all the more harder for her when she leaves home, especially when her confident twin sister, Wren, can’t wait to start anew at uni, to meet new people and go out and have a good time, whereas Cath is quite content with staying in her dorm and feeding her thousands of fans with her popular Simon Snow fanfiction.

However, it’s never that simple as Cath finds herself making new friends and getting a boyfriend while also trying to juggle her studies and her complicated family relationships.

Good points

Fangirl. Oh Fangirl.

It isn’t very often that I get so excited about a book but, without a doubt, this is one of the best things I have ever read.

One word immediately springs to mind and that word is ‘simplicity.’  As my equally Fangirl-loving friend put it ‘it’s one of those books where nothing happens but everything happens.’  The characters were written BEATIFULLY.  Cath is an angel - which is a rare thing for me to say since protagonists usually get on my nerves.  She is so easy to relate to and I loved how she just broke the stereotype by being painfully shy but also the funniest person at the same time.

I thought that Rainbow Rowell also wrote the book’s relationships perfectly.  Cath’s relationship with Art, her Dad, is wonderful and not forgetting her relationship with Wren which just made me want to have a twin sister so badly!

And finally Levi.  Dear Levi.  I commend any author who is able to write ‘the boyfriend’ as the utterly cool guy but also the understanding and sweet guy at the same time without making it a cliché.  Their relationship is so adorable.  There’s no mushiness and no cheesiness (etc) which makes the more personal and intimate moments between them all the more perfect.  And, plus, the drama is kept quite low key which makes the whole thing so much more enjoyable.

Bad points

I’m struggling to find something wrong with it to be honest with you.  Perhaps, I could say that Cath is a little difficult to get the measure of to begin with.  At first, it may seem that she’s a little rude and selfish but if you just keep reading you come to realise that this is just a part of her anxiety and, as the story goes on, she learns to come to term with this as does the reader.

Summary

Honestly one of the best novels I have ever read.  It’s such a hard book to explain and it’s hard to put your finger on what is so good about it.  But, all I can say is that it is a beautiful read and that everyone should read it!

Therefore, (how could I not?) this book deserves...

Rating = 5 stars.

Additional points

There isn’t a sequel and I haven’t made my mind up as to whether or not I want there to be.  On the one hand, I want to know so much more about what happens to the characters, but on the other I wonder if it’s best left as the perfect, single novel!  Another book that Rainbow has written is Eleanor and Park which has been praised by John Green, so I shall definitely be adding that one to my Goodreads ‘to-read’ list!


Have you read this book? Feel free to leave your comments below!