A review by exhaleartist
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
4.0
I will admit I had my doubts about Fangirl. I read Eleanor & Park a while back, and I was not wildly impressed. At the start of Fangirl, I was worried that it would disappoint as it started a little slow for me. However, I am happy to report that this book lived up to the hype. Fangirl was not only an adorable romance and a quirky coming-of-age story but it was also the best representation of fandom I’ve seen yet.
So the characters in Fangirl are brilliant. Cath is completely me when I was a freshman in college. I was definitely that anxiety-ridden, timid girl who was afraid to leave her dorm and found great comfort in fandom. Cath messes up and makes mistakes and frustrates you, but she just feels utterly real. However, my heart was definitely stolen by Levi. I am in love. If you read this and do not fall for Levi’s smiles, his humor, and his mistakes, I will worry about you. Also, the relationship between Levi and Cath develops fantastically. It felt very organic, and I loved the banter between them. Other standout characters for me were Reagan and Cath’s dad. Not even sure what it was about those two, but I absolutely adored them. The complicated relationship Cath and Wren had was also a big highlight.
As I mentioned above, I felt that Fangirl started off a bit slow, but once I got into it I had trouble putting it down. I found myself totally swept up in Cath’s struggles and in not only her world but that of Simon and Baz (yes, there were definitely echoes of Harry Potter which did pull me out of the story initially). I was also ecstatically happy with the way Rainbow Rowell addresses fandom. She never makes it out to be a joke or something childish as so many other people do. I would definitely recommend Fangirl especially if you’ve ever been involved in fandom, but also if you love a great coming-of-age story with an adorable romance full of complex characters.
So the characters in Fangirl are brilliant. Cath is completely me when I was a freshman in college. I was definitely that anxiety-ridden, timid girl who was afraid to leave her dorm and found great comfort in fandom. Cath messes up and makes mistakes and frustrates you, but she just feels utterly real. However, my heart was definitely stolen by Levi. I am in love. If you read this and do not fall for Levi’s smiles, his humor, and his mistakes, I will worry about you. Also, the relationship between Levi and Cath develops fantastically. It felt very organic, and I loved the banter between them. Other standout characters for me were Reagan and Cath’s dad. Not even sure what it was about those two, but I absolutely adored them. The complicated relationship Cath and Wren had was also a big highlight.
As I mentioned above, I felt that Fangirl started off a bit slow, but once I got into it I had trouble putting it down. I found myself totally swept up in Cath’s struggles and in not only her world but that of Simon and Baz (yes, there were definitely echoes of Harry Potter which did pull me out of the story initially). I was also ecstatically happy with the way Rainbow Rowell addresses fandom. She never makes it out to be a joke or something childish as so many other people do. I would definitely recommend Fangirl especially if you’ve ever been involved in fandom, but also if you love a great coming-of-age story with an adorable romance full of complex characters.