e-ARC, 448 pages
Release Date: September 10, 2013
Published by: St. Martin’s Griffin
Stand-alone
Source: NetGalley (A huge thanks to St. Martin’s Griffin and NetGalley. They provided this e-galley to me in exchange for a just and honest review.)
For fans of: Contemporary, Romance, Realistic Fiction, Young Adult, Sparkly Covers, Coming of Age
In Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl, Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan, but for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.
Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.
Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.
Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.
For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?
*MY THOUGHTS*
“There are other people on the Internet. Its awesome. You get all the benefits of ‘other people’ without the body odor and the eye contact.”
33% (e-ARC)
“Do you hate it? Or are you just afraid?”
60% (e-ARC)
“Read to me sweetheart.”
86% (e-ARC)
What I didn’t like was the fanfiction parts. At the beginning I felt that it was pretty cool that Rowell had written fiction inside fiction, but towards the end I felt like it was just there. Like it didn’t have a real reason to be in the story. After a while I found myself skimming it t see if it helped out the story in any way.
Overall, I didn’t just head over heels love it like I loved Eleanor and Park, (and yes I know I’ll be the black sheep), but I just couldn’t fall in love with it.
I really liked this one but I see what you are saying. I thought Cath's character went a little overboard sometimes with her anti-social ways. She felt younger to me. I got a lot of it, but at times it did feel like overkill. But I loved her father too! I remember bookmarking a lot of his quotes. lol
I've read some mixed reviews on this, and it seems that it's mostly Cath's character that is the problem. From your review I'm not sure I'd like her either. Might give the book a chance anyway. Great review 🙂