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A review by peachpunch
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
4.0
Oh Fangirl! A story that reminds me once again I have a soft spot for teen romances. The kind of romances I say I only read in the summer, when you need ‘something light and cheesy’. In truth romances are my drug and I am addicted regardless of the season.
But Fangirl appealed to me in other ways. I was an avid writer and reader of Harry Potter fan fiction in my early teen years. Embarrassing but true. I believe I wrote 40,000 plus words about a very badly planned out universe in which Fred Weasley doesn’t die. I cringe when I read it bow, embarrassed by weak characters, sloppy dialogue and overall bland prose.
These three things also came up in Rainbow Rowell’s book.
I’m going to start with weak characters. Cath was cold and awkward. Now, I can understand that, coming from a girl whose Mother abandoned her. But the mother plot didn’t feel like it had been fleshed out enough. We were given tidbits throughout the book that left me half-bored, half-annoyed. They lacked an emotional connection or gravitas. If the events in Cath’s life that made her into the social awkward, scared to love, scared to live girl, had been fleshed out a little more, maybe I would have some empathy. Instead I was left feeling irked that Cath’s character was so weak.
Next is sloppy dialogue. One of the hardest things to get right in writing is dialogue. In Fangirl we have such unbelievably clunky dialogue. Every character’s words sounded as if they were in sitcom. They always had something witty or quirky to say. Something to say that sounded like a round-table of over-worked television writers came up with after an hour of deliberation. The people I’ve met in my life who talk like that are often quite off-putting. I liken their character to the unnerving confidence of a cult-leader. Don’t compare some to a cult-leader out loud, guys. I don’t think they’ll like that.
Lastly in my list of problems is bland writing. Sometimes in the larger chunks of text I found myself drowning. Bored with Cath’s description of her day to day life, I would fight the urge to skip ahead a few pages. Day to day life can be very interesting in a novel. It’s hard, but possible. Unfortunately Fangirl was unable to capture that and left me wishing we’d get back to the main plot lines.
Now for the good things!
I was enthralled in Levi and Cath’s relationship. Something sweet between those two blossomed and I found myself enjoying this more personable Cath and a Levi who relaxed into his true form. The joking, laid-back Cath we see with her Dad suddenly appeared in her conversations with Levi. It was at this point I realized, oh, Cath loves this guy. That’s an exciting moment in any romance.
Second was the overall plot. It flowed really well and was quite realistic. As a high school student I often find YA books leave out academic struggles or really any plot that isn’t related to romance. Cath’s life outside of her interest in Levi was intriguing. From her Father’s breakdown, her struggle to become independent and trouble in creative writing class, everything was interesting.
Overall I found Fangirl quite enjoyable when we stuck to the plot. It was in the quiet moments between characters that were unconnected to the plot, but failed to advance the character, where Fangirl lost me.
Off to read Elanor & Park now.
But Fangirl appealed to me in other ways. I was an avid writer and reader of Harry Potter fan fiction in my early teen years. Embarrassing but true. I believe I wrote 40,000 plus words about a very badly planned out universe in which Fred Weasley doesn’t die. I cringe when I read it bow, embarrassed by weak characters, sloppy dialogue and overall bland prose.
These three things also came up in Rainbow Rowell’s book.
I’m going to start with weak characters. Cath was cold and awkward. Now, I can understand that, coming from a girl whose Mother abandoned her. But the mother plot didn’t feel like it had been fleshed out enough. We were given tidbits throughout the book that left me half-bored, half-annoyed. They lacked an emotional connection or gravitas. If the events in Cath’s life that made her into the social awkward, scared to love, scared to live girl, had been fleshed out a little more, maybe I would have some empathy. Instead I was left feeling irked that Cath’s character was so weak.
Next is sloppy dialogue. One of the hardest things to get right in writing is dialogue. In Fangirl we have such unbelievably clunky dialogue. Every character’s words sounded as if they were in sitcom. They always had something witty or quirky to say. Something to say that sounded like a round-table of over-worked television writers came up with after an hour of deliberation. The people I’ve met in my life who talk like that are often quite off-putting. I liken their character to the unnerving confidence of a cult-leader. Don’t compare some to a cult-leader out loud, guys. I don’t think they’ll like that.
Lastly in my list of problems is bland writing. Sometimes in the larger chunks of text I found myself drowning. Bored with Cath’s description of her day to day life, I would fight the urge to skip ahead a few pages. Day to day life can be very interesting in a novel. It’s hard, but possible. Unfortunately Fangirl was unable to capture that and left me wishing we’d get back to the main plot lines.
Now for the good things!
I was enthralled in Levi and Cath’s relationship. Something sweet between those two blossomed and I found myself enjoying this more personable Cath and a Levi who relaxed into his true form. The joking, laid-back Cath we see with her Dad suddenly appeared in her conversations with Levi. It was at this point I realized, oh, Cath loves this guy. That’s an exciting moment in any romance.
Second was the overall plot. It flowed really well and was quite realistic. As a high school student I often find YA books leave out academic struggles or really any plot that isn’t related to romance. Cath’s life outside of her interest in Levi was intriguing. From her Father’s breakdown, her struggle to become independent and trouble in creative writing class, everything was interesting.
Overall I found Fangirl quite enjoyable when we stuck to the plot. It was in the quiet moments between characters that were unconnected to the plot, but failed to advance the character, where Fangirl lost me.
Off to read Elanor & Park now.