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A review by audacityspork
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
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
3.0
This book is light like cotton candy, with some poignant parts in the middle. It bounces about between “reality” where the MC is a college student writing fanfic & trying to figure out who she is in the constellation of her family; her fanfic which is a veiled homage to Harry Potter; and the “source text” which is a fake version of Harry Potter.
The good: this book made me cry in a light and cathartic way. It ends pretty happily. Anyone who’s a writer will love the main plot, wherein the MC struggles to know how to be a writer, especially since her favorite way to write is through appropriating another writer’s creation. The romance is cute enough and has some emotional moments. Levi sometimes reads like a "trad guy," so if you like chivalry, you might find it swoon-worthy instead of patronizing. I remain ambivalent about him.
The meh: something about the end feels unresolved. We don’t know what will happen withthe MC’s mom —I wish we’d seen the MC and her sister discuss this more. I wish we’d gotten to read more of the MC’s story she wrote about her family and her mom, which she struggled to write for a lot of the story, and then she wins an award for it . I was disappointed that we didn’t end up having access to that story. I never quite felt like we had total intimate access to the MC’s experience with her mom & sister —for whatever reason, I had an arms-distance sense from the book about this. The MC was often avoidant, which is annoying but I get that some people are avoidant. Still, the text itself seemed to avoid delving into the juicier parts.
All in all, perhaps this book reads differently to someone in college. Levi certainly feels like a college boyfriend (the good and the bad). The general lack of resolution in relationships can be a college experience. I was eager to know how it would end, but I felt like it didn’t quite pull off tying up all the loose ends. I still enjoyed it and got a lot out of it. The audiobook was pretty good – the MC sometimes came across as dislikable and antagonistic for the sake of antagonizing people, but I think the voice actor helped bring dimensionality to that prickliness.
Also, it’s so nice to read a book about Nebraska! And the fanfic community. I might have given it more than 3.25 stars, but it wasn’t a book that grabbed me and felt like it totally got me. Arms distance to the end.
The good: this book made me cry in a light and cathartic way. It ends pretty happily. Anyone who’s a writer will love the main plot, wherein the MC struggles to know how to be a writer, especially since her favorite way to write is through appropriating another writer’s creation. The romance is cute enough and has some emotional moments. Levi sometimes reads like a "trad guy," so if you like chivalry, you might find it swoon-worthy instead of patronizing. I remain ambivalent about him.
The meh: something about the end feels unresolved. We don’t know what will happen with
All in all, perhaps this book reads differently to someone in college. Levi certainly feels like a college boyfriend (the good and the bad). The general lack of resolution in relationships can be a college experience. I was eager to know how it would end, but I felt like it didn’t quite pull off tying up all the loose ends. I still enjoyed it and got a lot out of it. The audiobook was pretty good – the MC sometimes came across as dislikable and antagonistic for the sake of antagonizing people, but I think the voice actor helped bring dimensionality to that prickliness.
Also, it’s so nice to read a book about Nebraska! And the fanfic community. I might have given it more than 3.25 stars, but it wasn’t a book that grabbed me and felt like it totally got me. Arms distance to the end.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment