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alexxmichelle's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is one of my favorite books ever. I could write a 10 page essay on all the things i love about it but its 530am and I haven’t been to sleep yet so im gonna cut it down a little. The relationships really make this book for me. Caths relationship to wren, to her father, to regan, to levi, and to her professor are the reason I love this book so much. I love romance and of course watching the romance unfold in this book was incredible and I love love love the way her relationship with levi goes but i would read and love this book even without it. I cried about her father and sister and mother. As someone with a dysfunctional relationship with my dad seeing the love between them was so healing, even though they had a lot of problems. And wren, rowel can write a sister relationship like nobody’s business. If she doesn’t have siblings this is the greatest piece of fiction of written because she truly captures what its like to have a sister in such an incredible way. The way she weaves in simon and baz’s story and connects it subtly to what cath is going through is amazing (read carry on!!!). As someone who read this book for the first time in 8th grade and is now writing this review as a junior in college caths freshman experience was so well written. It was VASTLY different from my experience and actually made me feel really good about how im handling college but it felt real and it felt genuine and it felt accurate. College is hard. Despite the book having some more intense themes its really funny and I regularly laughed out loud reading it. I know this review is all over the place but of youre trying to decide if you should read it just do it. I know its long but its worth it. It is so worth every second you spend reading it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Vomit
Minor: Cursing, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Rape, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship
katialena's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A good fluffy read if you want to explore how the character experiences their first year of university and how they navigate the new and changing dynamics in their life.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Eating disorder, Infidelity, Vomit, Medical content, and Sexual harassment
basementdweller's review against another edition
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Infidelity, and Abandonment
Minor: Eating disorder
I was so disappointed with this book, but I dragged my way to the end in the hopes it would at least have a decent ending. It doesn’t. The MC never really learns how to fix her own problems or set boundaries. She starts off rather pathetic, and eventually become a little less pathetic…Plus half the book is filled with unnecessary Simon Snow passages.leonormsousa's review against another edition
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
TRIGGER WARNINGS
REPRESENTATION
QUOTE
“I’m not really a book person.” “That might be the most idiotic thing you’ve ever said to me”
“To really be a nerd, she'd decided, you had to prefer fictional worlds to the real one.”
“I miss you.""That's stupid," she said. "I saw you this morning.""It's not the time," Levi said, and she could hear that he was smiling." It's the distance.”
EXPECTATION VS REALITY
- will fall shortly of the expectations since YA books are not really my thing anymore
- ended up loving it even more than the first time (2013)!
WHAT I ENJOYED
- It’s just so funny and wholesome and cute → it made me feel so incredibly happy reading it
- Even though this is YA, I related to the MC much more this time around, maybe because she’s in uni (like me) and suffers from social anxiety (which I started having a couple of years ago)
- The fast pace just kept me completely glued to the pages
- As a bookworm, I felt a lot of myself in Cath and the nerdy vibes are immaculate
- Having read Carry On just made me more nostalgic (?) reading Fangirl again
- The characters are well-developed and feel very real (no one is perfect!) and it’s interesting seeing Cath navigate through her relationships
READ IF YOU ENJOY
- cute fun and lighthearted YA contemporary romances
- bookish and nerdish references
- the topics of writing and fanfiction
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Abandonment
anyname's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Minor: Infidelity
btg's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I devoured this book in, like, a day.
Cath just hits. It's easy to relate to her; to borrow Rowell's words, she "jumps off the page." But the even more astounding part of the book is that Rowell manages to put words to experiences that are rarely talked about and that rarely get representation -- fic authors moving into original fiction, anxious first year college students who don't party, children of adults with mental illness. I found Cath to be intensely relatable, and Rowell's depiction to be very truthful. Rowell's tone is free and easy; she writes as though she has lived experience in this world. While Rowell admits to being a fic author early, I don't know enough about her personal life to guess about the rest. What I can say is that I felt a lot of me reflected in Cath that I don't see in a lot of stories, and I didn't know I needed to hear.
I'll admit I didn't originally love Levi as a love interest at the beginning of the book; I found him too forceful. But as Cath gained her own confidence, he grew on me. They developed their banter and their language. I'm not sure the romance would have cemented if it wasn't a slow burn, if Cath didn't have time to grow before she and Levi got together. I think where Rowell succeeded here is in thinking ahead; she didn't give Cath a love interest appropriate for her beginning. She gave Cath a love interest appropriate for when she was ready, and I think that's super powerful. And Rowell's handling of the love triangle, normally a tired trope, was absolutely masterful.
Fic authors, put down the fic for a bit and read this book. You won't regret it.
Cath just hits. It's easy to relate to her; to borrow Rowell's words, she "jumps off the page." But the even more astounding part of the book is that Rowell manages to put words to experiences that are rarely talked about and that rarely get representation -- fic authors moving into original fiction, anxious first year college students who don't party, children of adults with mental illness. I found Cath to be intensely relatable, and Rowell's depiction to be very truthful. Rowell's tone is free and easy; she writes as though she has lived experience in this world. While Rowell admits to being a fic author early, I don't know enough about her personal life to guess about the rest. What I can say is that I felt a lot of me reflected in Cath that I don't see in a lot of stories, and I didn't know I needed to hear.
I'll admit I didn't originally love Levi as a love interest at the beginning of the book; I found him too forceful. But as Cath gained her own confidence, he grew on me. They developed their banter and their language. I'm not sure the romance would have cemented if it wasn't a slow burn, if Cath didn't have time to grow before she and Levi got together. I think where Rowell succeeded here is in thinking ahead; she didn't give Cath a love interest appropriate for her beginning. She gave Cath a love interest appropriate for when she was ready, and I think that's super powerful. And Rowell's handling of the love triangle, normally a tired trope, was absolutely masterful.
Fic authors, put down the fic for a bit and read this book. You won't regret it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Medical content
Minor: Infidelity
Minor: A secondary character admits to previous infidelity with the primary love interest. It is past tense, only mentioned a couple of times, and both characters have moved past it as of the beginning of the story. Moderate: A secondary character is committed to a mental health ward for a short period of time at the midpoint of the book. A secondary character is hospitalized with alcohol poisoning towards the end of the book. She is heavily implied to be alcoholic and a binge drinker, but it's never directly stated. Graphic: Multiple primary and secondary characters are heavily implied or directly stated to have a mental health disorder, and symptoms are described in detail. A main character is heavily implied to have social anxiety disorder and regularly engages in both avoidance behaviors and thought spirals. A secondary character is hospitalized for alcohol poisoning, implied to be an alcoholic and forced to both attend counseling and AA meetings (no counseling or AA meetings are shown). A different secondary character is explicitly bipolar; hypomanic states and discussions of medication/management are depicted. The character is hospitalized for a manic state towards the middle of the book. The main character is a child of someone with serious mental illness and regularly explores the caretaking and worry that involves. A primary character is implied to have a learning disorder, most likely dyslexia but potentially also ADHD, and references it several times. There's also some stuff that's not quite enough to tag, or a tag isn't available: Emetophobia: One line, "You smell like x." Abandonment: A major and secondary character were abandoned by a parent early in life, which factors heavily into the plot of the book.