Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell Review

 Hey ForeverBookers,

How are you all today? I hope you’re well!

I’ve just finished reading “Fangirl” by Rainbow Rowell and I surprisingly loved it. I thought it would be a boring YA story but it had lots of things that I wasn’t expecting it to. 

“Fangirl” tells the story of Cath, who at the start of the story is off to her first year at college with her twin sister Wren. Cath wants to be a fan fiction author, which she already is unbeknownst to her friends and teachers at college. Her sister and dad are the only one who knows. Cath and Wren’s dad plays a role in “Fangirl” in that he let’s the girls know when they’ve messed up as all parents should. He doesn’t let them get away with making mistakes. He makes sure they own them. He’s an inventor. He makes up ads for “Gravioli,” a jam. Anyway, back to the main plot. Cath isn’t sure where to go when she first gets to college. Her and Wren aren’t very close now, when in their childhood they were very close. Why? It’s to do with their mother, who wants to be in their lives after years of absence. Wren wants her there, Cath, however, does not! How do they negotiate this? I’ll let you read for yourself. There’s boy drama too, of course as there always is with these sorts of novels, although not in the way I’d have thought. Levi, who becomes Cath’s other half, used to date her roommate, Reagan. This is awkward to begin with but not come the end. 

The main point to “Fangirl” is that Cath is a fangirl for one of her favourite stories. She creates fanfiction for Simon Snow and Basil. In her version of their story, Simon and Bas fall in love, but they’re enemies in the original work. There are Simon Snow excerpts throughout “Fangirl” at the beginning of each chapter. Simon Snow is written by Gemma T Leslie, who never makes an appearance in “Fangirl” but I feel if she did, Cath would have been very happy! She’s her warrior. Anything Gemma T. Leslie writes Cath eats up, basically. While this is happening on paper, Cath has to deal with life’s problems too. Her sister has addiction problems, for example. Is Cath to blame for this or are there other concerning parts of their lives? I’ll let you read for yourself but it’s very good and poignant to a young girl, I feel. There’s also talk of plagiarism in Fangirl. Nick, one of Cath’s friends to begin with works with her to better her work, but wants to steal her ideas for himself. Does Cath let him? I’ll let you read for yourself but it’s addictive! At least, I found it addictive! 

Readathons!

Spoilers Below…

“Our mom didn’t know she was having twins,” Wren said. “And she didn’t feel like coming up with another name.”

“Cather, Wren . . .” Levi looked like he’d just now discovered sliced bread. “Catherine.”

Cath rolled her eyes. Wren just smiled. “Clever, right?” - 79/80.

This is how Wren introduces herself to Levi, Cath’s boyfriend. Wren is very to the point, unlike Cath. Where Cath is very much a go with the flow kind of girl, Wren is the opposite, I feel. Wren is the one who gets drunk out of nowhere. She’s the one with the addiction issues as I highlighted above. 

There isn’t much plot wise going on in “Fangirl.” It’s mainly a character study, I feel. Cath and Wren are completely different characters but they’re twins. How do they get on at college? I’ll let you read for yourself, but there are definitely highs and lows. Wren doesn’t feature half as much as Cath but it’s still necessary to see her character growth. Most of the plot centres around Cath and Levi and their romance, rather than Wren and hers. We don’t meet her boyfriend. He’s just mentioned here and there. 

“You’re characters quiver, Cath, like they’re trying to evolve right off the page.”

Cath rolled her eyes and wiped her nose on her shoulder. 

“Can I ask you something?” the professor asked.

“I’m pretty sure you will anyway.”

The older woman smiled. “Did you help Nick Manter on his final project?”

Cath looked up at the corner of the ceiling and quickly licked her bottom lip. She felt a new wave of tears rushing through her head. She’d had a solid month now of no crying. 

She nodded.

“I thought so,” the professor said gently. “I could hear you. In some of the best parts.” 

Cath held every muscle still.”

The other part of the plot is the plagiarism aspect. This happens when Nick, a student in Cath’s writing class steals some of her ideas. How does this pan out? I’ll let you read for yourself but I enjoyed this. I enjoyed seeing Cath finally stick up for herself. 

Overall then, “Fangirl” is an easy read for its length. I really enjoyed seeing the ins and outs of Cath’s life and how she coped with the struggles of college and new friendships/relationships.