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A review by robotnik
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
My previous bouts with Rainbow Rowell have not been good. The first one I tried was Landline, and I got so bored so quickly into it that I had to drop it like a hot potato because it was far too long for me to waste time on it. I decided it was a fluke and picked up Eleanor & Park because, hey, I'm half-asian living in the west, maybe I could relate. Nope. It was some awful racist spew disguised as a romance where the female lead was super gross with her fetishizing of the male lead.
But, I thought just once I'd give Rowell another shot. I'm glad I did because Fangirl isn't bad at all. I actually enjoyed it. Sure, there were some parts I didn't like and/or found boring.
Cath was a good protagonist. She had parts that, as an adult, I might have found stupid, but at her age and her life experience and generally everything we know about her, they were reasonable reactions. As a kid who liked writing a lot of fanfiction growing up (and sometimes still do) Cath was relateable to me. The rest of the cast was well done and realistic as well. Sometimes, I go into these sorts of novels and the supporting casts just doesn't feel right, no matter how good the protagonist is. This time, they were good and fit well into Cath's story.
I loath to admit it, but I kind of ship Cath and Levi. They were actually really cute. Damn them.
I wasn't a fan of the Carry On excerpts at all. I actually found them kind of annoying. I think they're meant to be part of Rowell's other novel, Carry On, or related to it somehow, and I have that on my to read list so I hope that I don't find it annoying whenever I go to read them. Either way, I just sort of skimmed them rather fully read them as I didn't really care.
Overall, Fangirl is good. Not perfect and not great, but good
But, I thought just once I'd give Rowell another shot. I'm glad I did because Fangirl isn't bad at all. I actually enjoyed it. Sure, there were some parts I didn't like and/or found boring.
Cath was a good protagonist. She had parts that, as an adult, I might have found stupid, but at her age and her life experience and generally everything we know about her, they were reasonable reactions. As a kid who liked writing a lot of fanfiction growing up (and sometimes still do) Cath was relateable to me. The rest of the cast was well done and realistic as well. Sometimes, I go into these sorts of novels and the supporting casts just doesn't feel right, no matter how good the protagonist is. This time, they were good and fit well into Cath's story.
I loath to admit it, but I kind of ship Cath and Levi. They were actually really cute. Damn them.
I wasn't a fan of the Carry On excerpts at all. I actually found them kind of annoying. I think they're meant to be part of Rowell's other novel, Carry On, or related to it somehow, and I have that on my to read list so I hope that I don't find it annoying whenever I go to read them. Either way, I just sort of skimmed them rather fully read them as I didn't really care.
Overall, Fangirl is good. Not perfect and not great, but good