"Fangirl" by Rainbow Rowell follows the story of Cath, a college freshman who is struggling to find her place as she navigates new friendships, anxieties, and young love while also dealing with her family dynamics. Cath is a popular fanfiction writer in the Simon Snow fandom, and the book delves into her journey of self-discovery, growth, and relationships. The novel beautifully portrays the conflicts and resolutions in Cath's life, showcasing her creativity and struggles with writing, as well as her evolving identity and relationships.
The book combines elements of humor, heartwarming moments, and relatable characters, providing insights into the life of a young adult facing challenges such as family issues, mental health struggles, and the pursuit of personal growth. Through Cath's experiences, readers witness themes of friendship, independence, and the complexities of transitioning into adulthood, all woven together with a touch of nostalgia for fandom culture and the power of storytelling.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings include themes of mental illness, anxiety, parental abandonment, and substance abuse.
Has Romance?
Fangirl features a medium to high level of romance, primarily focused on Cath's relationship with Levi.
From The Publisher:
In Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl, 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? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?
A New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of 2013
A New York Times Best Seller!
Ratings (113)
Incredible (23) | |
Loved It (35) | |
Liked It (28) | |
It Was OK (18) | |
Did Not Like (6) | |
Hated It (3) |
Reader Stats (197):
Read It (116) | |
Want To Read (50) | |
Did Not Finish (2) | |
Not Interested (29) |
12 comment(s)
This book will forever be my comfort book !! i love it so much
As stated in an update I've tried to read this before but couldn't get into it. This is by far the most hyped book I've read as it sometimes have felt like every single booktuber I've seen have read and loved it (an overextend ofc). This did unfortunately not hit me like it have others. I did love fanfiction in you teenage years but still wasn't able to fully get invested and fall in love with the story. Wasn't a terrible book by any means but not something I'll want to hang onto for long
Fangirl tells the story of twin sisters Cath and Wren from the start of their freshman year in college. Even though they are going to attend the same school, Wren unexpectedly decides not to room with Cath, throwing her sister for a loop. Wren, it seems, wants to break out and make a life of her own without her sister.
Wren is the outgoing one, easily fitting in at college and making new friends. Cath is painfully introverted, crippled with social anxiety that, among other things, drives her to eat protein bars in her room instead of going to the cafeteria because there are too many people and too many social pitfalls waiting for her there. Cath is too much in her own head, worrying about potential disasters and clinging to her only comfort zone - the world of Simon Snow fandom.
Cath, it seems, spends most of her free time writing Simon Snow fan fiction, but she's not just any fan writer. In fact, she's one of the most popular writers in the entire fandom, and she's best known for her slash depicting a romantic relationship between Snow and his roommate/nemesis, Baz. Cath and Wren started out writing together, but as they got older, Wren stopped collaborating with her sister even as Cath's star rose in the fan writer community. As the book opens, Cath is deep in the middle of writing her own alternate version of the upcoming eighth and final Simon Snow book.
Cath loves writing about Simon and Baz, loves writing so much that she signs up for a fiction writing class normally reserved for upperclassmen. Anyone who has ever attended a college fiction course can guess what kind of disaster is heading Cath's way, so deep is she embedded in the world of fan fiction. That said, Fangirl is a thoroughly even-handed depiction of the world of fan fiction; Cath clearly uses her fan writing as an escape from the real world, but it's also clear that her prolificacy and storytelling skills only improve thanks to her constant remixing of the Simon Snow universe. Fangirl doesn't condemn fan fiction, but does point to it as a stepping stone towards learning how to tell your own stories.
At its heart, though, Fangirl is a character study of a girl who I'm sure many socially awkward readers can recognize and identify with. As we slowly learn more about Cath's relationship with her family members - her bipolar dad, her absentee mother, and her suddenly distant twin - she becomes a fuller and even more powerful character. At first her fears seemed outrageous even as I could imagine myself inside the same kind of toxic mindset; once I came to understand where Cath was coming from, however, the book packed a palpable emotional punch. Her coming of age over the course of her freshman year is both realistic and stirring.
I also loved Fangirl's depiction of Cath's burgeoning romantic relationship. The love scenes are tentative and believable, and felt so true to life. Cath's growth as a person depends on her learning to open up and trust others after experiencing so much heartbreak at a young age. Where so many young adult novels seem to include romance by default, Fangirl makes the romantic storyline crucial to Cath's development, and the difference is incredibly refreshing.
The highest compliment I can pay this book is that once I sat down and truly devoted myself to reading it, I didn't stop until I had thoroughly blown past my bedtime by several hours. My sleep schedule is still recovering, but I don't regret a minute. Rowell is definitely an author to watch.
I would love to give this book five stars, but I can't. For all that Rowell has portrayed the fandom world with fanfiction, it is incomplete. Cath has friends on the internet? Where are they? And don't tell me internet friends aren't real. I attended my best friend's wedding, whom I met online through one of my fanfictions, and was one of her maids of honor. That's not real now?
Rowell fails to delve into the depths of fandom, instead skimming the surface. She misses the Tumblr communities, the LiveJournal groups, and everything that connects people through fanfiction besides the actual writing.
Overlooking that, though, the book is superb. It is more a coming of age story than an accurate depiction of fandom. I enjoyed the Harry Potter references, although I'm not sure how Harry Potter can co-exist with Simon Snow. (That's part of my chucking off one star on this review).
It was good to see everything tie together and for everything to work in tandem, for Cath to bloom and become the person she's meant to be.
A slower burn than
Eleanor and Park, but just as powerful. There is a traditional love story here, but this book is about all kinds of love: familial, romantic, friendly, and fan-based. In real life our protagonist is Cath, but online she is Magicath, a fanfic slash writer who has tens of thousands of hits on every chapter she posts. Her fanfic is based on the Simon Snow books, which are an obvious parallel to the Harry Potter books. Cath buries herself in the Snow fandom as a way of hiding from the world, especially in her first year of college. The fanfic highlights the importance of words in this universe; Cath's inability to create her own worlds for her Fiction Writing class highlights her inability to face reality. She would rather live with Simon and Baz, pouring out ten thousand words at a clip and not thinking about her drunky-drunk twin sister or her bipolar father or, worst of all, the mother that abandoned her at 8.
Fangirl is a touching look at how one person processes the world around her through words. Once again, Rowell has done an amazing job bringing different voices to life and making the reader remember what it's like to be a college freshman. So recommended.
2021 Re-read/listen. I really adore this book. I have no idea why I only gave it 3 stars originally. Upping to 5 and will reread again in the future.
Fangirl isn't for everyone, but it's a great coming-of-age story for a nerdy girl. Our heroine Cath is damaged and doing the best she can to stay afloat. She and her twin, Wren, had a rough childhood, and as they were dealing with loss, they and the rest of the world read a new book about a young boy wizard set in a world of magic, akin to HP. Like HP, the book and its subsequent sequels are beloved worldwide. Cath and Wren grow up with the books, and they are starting college when the eighth and final book of the series is set to release.
Cath and her sister fall in love with the series. When in middle school, Cath and Wren read and then begin writing fanfiction set in the series' magical world. Cath is a great writer and gains lots of readers of her stories over the years. However, pretty much all other aspects of her life are falling apart by the end of high school. Cath is introverted and lacks confidence, and she uses fanfiction to escape life. Cath's twin is outgrowing the series and Cath in a lot of ways. When Wren announces she won't be sharing a dorm room with Cath, Cath has to figure life out. Cath can either keep living in the fantasy world or she can be brave and live her own life. Overall, it's a very sweet story with well-developed characters. At the end, I always want more.
The audiobook narrators are great too. 5 stars.
acho que esse livro não é meu tipo de leitura. achei ele legal, mas nada "uau, esse livro mudou minha vida". foi só tipo errrr... achei as partes das fanfic no final de cada capítulo entediantes e apesar de um ponto ou outro não me conectei com a cath. apesar disso, o romance é legal.
I really wish I read this book back when I was a freshman in campus
It would have helped me with all the things i was going through but now I can't really connect to Cath or the fanfiction but I enjoyed reading it
I really wish I read this book back when I was a freshman in campus
It would have helped me with all the things i was going through but now I can't really connect to Cath or the fanfiction but I enjoyed reading it
Fangirl is the best book I have read in a while. The characters are interesting and diverse, and the plot never feels slow or forced. Highly recommend this book! Definitely reread worthy.
What can you read after
Fangirl?
About the Author:
RAINBOW ROWELL lives in Omaha, Nebraska, with her husband and two sons. She's also the author of Landline, Eleanor & Park and Attachments.
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