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A review by elliereadsthings
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
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
2.0
My first book of 2023 — check!
I was lucky enough to go into this book with a neutral opinion. Initially, the idea of a book based around fandom was extremely enticing as someone who does 95% of her reading on sites like AO3. However, reading a lot of the top reviews and seeing such a strong divide between readers, I lowered my expectations for Fangirl by quite a lot, and I’m glad I did.
The book wasn’t inherently bad, per se, and I can see why a lot of you liked it. The pacing was good overall and the characters were, for the most part, easy to empathize with. But, lowering my expectations allowed me to finish the book much easier than I otherwise would've.
————————————
Cath, the main character of the book, is by far my least favorite - and yet the most like me. (I wonder what that says about how I view myself…) A mentally ill father, mommy issues, and a sister who says none of it hurt her? Check, check, and check. I just find Cath to be a bit too… I’m not sure what the right word is… Sure, Cath is a very flawed individual, but she tends to be depicted as ‘unique’, both in thought and appearance, more so than not. Her eyes are depicted as being blue, brown, gray, and green — all in the same paragraph. On her first day in her college town she notes that it’s creepy that everyone there is all around her age. I wonder what she expected from a college town, honestly. Cath also suggests, a bit later in the book, that their mother is selfish and desecrated a national tragedy with her own issues, after she walked out on them on September 11th (“The September 11th”). Like I said, I have more than my fair share of mommy issues, but suggesting their mother intentionally left on 9/11 is a bit far.
Other than Cath, we have a bit of my least favorite trope: “pretty girl takes her glasses off and is deemed more pretty”. Levi, the love interest, asks Cath to warn him if she plans to take off her glasses after seeing her twin sister, Wren. Later, he asks her to take off her glasses, and, after she asks if he likes her glasses, goes on to say, “I love your glasses. I especially love the moment when you take them off.”
There are also quite a few references, anywhere from Soylent Green to Zack and Cody. Many of which I had to end up Googling to understand. Not necessarily a dealbreaker, but something to know before you go into it.
Oh, and CW: Kanye reference. Yeah… that didn’t age well…
To its defense, however, I don’t believe Fangirl was wrongly represented. (Though, I wasn’t in the book world when it was being advertised, so maybe I’m wrong!) Sure, we don’t get a lot of fandom in here, but we do get what the title suggests; a fangirl. A relatable one at that; one who almost fails a class, TWICE, because of her dedication to her fanfiction. Who gets snarky when someone’s only watched the movies. Who gets hurt when the series she loves is talked down upon.
Like I said, many of the characters are extremely likable (I’m joining the Reagan lovers, she’s the best), including Cath (after the first couple chapters that is). It is not hard to empathize with these characters at all. There are scenes where Wren and Cath disagree about their mom, and I easily flip back and forth between agreeing/empathizing with each.
(On the topic of which, I’m glad that Cath was allowed to never let her mom in. I’m glad that even though family is clearly very important to her, it doesn’t mean she had to cave.)
Overall, Fangirl does what it set out to do, and I don’t regret the read. I wish the book had a stronger start, but I liked following along on the ride!
OH!!! And don’t get me started on Cath… Wren…
★ ★ ✩ ✩ ✩
“I could hear you. In some of the best parts.”
I was lucky enough to go into this book with a neutral opinion. Initially, the idea of a book based around fandom was extremely enticing as someone who does 95% of her reading on sites like AO3. However, reading a lot of the top reviews and seeing such a strong divide between readers, I lowered my expectations for Fangirl by quite a lot, and I’m glad I did.
The book wasn’t inherently bad, per se, and I can see why a lot of you liked it. The pacing was good overall and the characters were, for the most part, easy to empathize with. But, lowering my expectations allowed me to finish the book much easier than I otherwise would've.
————————————
Cath, the main character of the book, is by far my least favorite - and yet the most like me. (I wonder what that says about how I view myself…) A mentally ill father, mommy issues, and a sister who says none of it hurt her? Check, check, and check. I just find Cath to be a bit too… I’m not sure what the right word is… Sure, Cath is a very flawed individual, but she tends to be depicted as ‘unique’, both in thought and appearance, more so than not. Her eyes are depicted as being blue, brown, gray, and green — all in the same paragraph. On her first day in her college town she notes that it’s creepy that everyone there is all around her age. I wonder what she expected from a college town, honestly. Cath also suggests, a bit later in the book, that their mother is selfish and desecrated a national tragedy with her own issues, after she walked out on them on September 11th (“The September 11th”). Like I said, I have more than my fair share of mommy issues, but suggesting their mother intentionally left on 9/11 is a bit far.
Other than Cath, we have a bit of my least favorite trope: “pretty girl takes her glasses off and is deemed more pretty”. Levi, the love interest, asks Cath to warn him if she plans to take off her glasses after seeing her twin sister, Wren. Later, he asks her to take off her glasses, and, after she asks if he likes her glasses, goes on to say, “I love your glasses. I especially love the moment when you take them off.”
There are also quite a few references, anywhere from Soylent Green to Zack and Cody. Many of which I had to end up Googling to understand. Not necessarily a dealbreaker, but something to know before you go into it.
Oh, and CW: Kanye reference. Yeah… that didn’t age well…
To its defense, however, I don’t believe Fangirl was wrongly represented. (Though, I wasn’t in the book world when it was being advertised, so maybe I’m wrong!) Sure, we don’t get a lot of fandom in here, but we do get what the title suggests; a fangirl. A relatable one at that; one who almost fails a class, TWICE, because of her dedication to her fanfiction. Who gets snarky when someone’s only watched the movies. Who gets hurt when the series she loves is talked down upon.
Like I said, many of the characters are extremely likable (I’m joining the Reagan lovers, she’s the best), including Cath (after the first couple chapters that is). It is not hard to empathize with these characters at all. There are scenes where Wren and Cath disagree about their mom, and I easily flip back and forth between agreeing/empathizing with each.
(On the topic of which, I’m glad that Cath was allowed to never let her mom in. I’m glad that even though family is clearly very important to her, it doesn’t mean she had to cave.)
Overall, Fangirl does what it set out to do, and I don’t regret the read. I wish the book had a stronger start, but I liked following along on the ride!
OH!!! And don’t get me started on Cath… Wren…
★ ★ ✩ ✩ ✩
“I could hear you. In some of the best parts.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, and Alcohol
Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Incest, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, and Abandonment