Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Woah…. First thoughts, loved it and now that I have finished I feel like I have said goodbye to a friend who I may not ever see again.
I absolutely loved Eleanor & Park and had heard so many good things about Fangirl that I had no doubt that I would love it, and I did! As soon as I started reading I was instantly transported into the world, the first year at college, the nerves and awkwardness. I know it is a good book when I read for a few hours and have not even notice the time slipping by.
There were so many things that I enjoyed about the story, I loved Reagan and Levi, I think they were my two favourite characters and listening to them talk throughout the story was a definite highlight.
And the fan fiction element – I loved this as well! I loved reading the snippets from the Simon Snow books written by Gemma T Leslie but I loved reading the fan fiction written by Cather so much more. I am not the first to say – Simon and Baz…. I want more!
Reading this book brought back all the memories of the various book obsessions I have had and it really reminded me of the feeling when you are in love with a book or a series and it ends and you will grasp onto anything that you can find to keep you in that world for a while longer.
I also realised that i didn’t really like Cather, or Wren, very much at all until the end of the book. I understood Cather and what she was going through with being away from home for the first time, her social anxiety, worrying about her father, the anger at her mother but I didn’t think she was a very nice person.
She grew on me by the end and I am pretty sure this was all to do with Levi, who helped to knock down some of the blocks she had put up.
A great story about friendship and family – both the good and the bad, and of course also about falling in love with people and falling in love with books.
bookswooning 