Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

16 September, 2013 Reviews 32 comments

This book, you guys, my god. I want to marry this book. I want to have children with it, I want to grow old and die with it wrapped lovingly in my arms knowing that we’ve had a long and happy life together. After reading Eleanor & Park, I pre-ordered this book knowing that there was pretty much no way I wouldn’t like it. I thought I was prepared. Much like Jon Snow, I knew nothing.

If you don’t wish to read a lengthy testament to the glories of Fangirl, allow me to sum up my feelings on this book in a gif:

totally freaking out

I basically did that exact thing over and over again while reading.

Rainbow Rowell is clearly some wondrous sort of word wizard. She writes with exquisite precision, every word feels exactly right and placed just so for maximum impact. She captures life and people with such pinpoint accuracy, from the mundane everyday concerns we all deal with, to the delightfully bizarre thoughts that float through all of our heads. Even if you haven’t experienced the specific situation she’s describing you still find something to relate to. Maybe it’s just me but she makes the reader feel like she is writing specifically to them, like this is their story as much as Cath’s. It’s comforting and beautiful and shows incredible insight into humanity.

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

When Cath’s professor says this, it’s as though she was describing Rowell’s own writing. I love every person in this book, the good, the bad, even the extras (books have extras, right?) They all feel so unbelievably real. They are perfect and flawed and each one feels like an actual person that is out there. I want to find all of them and make them my friends. Even the peripheral characters are unique in their own small ways.

Cath is every awkward girl’s spirit animal. Her anxiety and uncertainty are familiar and heartwarming. She is not a perfect character, she freaks out, she makes bad decisions sometimes, but if any of you think you haven’t done that over the course of your life, I don’t believe you. Watching her come into her own as the story unfolds is a thing of beauty. She learns to be more independent, to navigate adult relationships, to stand up for herself and most importantly, to embrace who she is. I think that might be my favorite thing, she doesn’t undergo some transformation that makes her a perfectly well-adjusted adult. Though she undeniably grows as a character, she is still Cath at the end of the book just Cath with a better idea of herself. That’s such an important message to teach young adults, you don’t have to be anyone but who you are. You are your own unique, special snowflake, love yourself for it.

The people in Cath’s life are equally well-rounded. Reagan, her roommate, is a force of nature. The way she deals with Cath’s eccentricities are laugh-out-loud hilarious. I love everything about her to pieces. The Avery family dynamic is brilliant. Wren, Cath’s twin sister, is such a sister, that’s the only way I can put it. My sister has been both Wren and Cath to me, and vice versa at different points in our lives. During their shared moments my fingers were itching to call her. I settled for ordering her a copy of the book and telling her to text me as she reads. Cath’s dad, the poor mad bastard, is at times brilliant and at others tragic.  Their family definitely has issues, and much like life those issues are not wrapped up in a tidy package by the end of the book, but that’s ok because that’s reality.

 

Then there is the romance. OH. MY. GOD.

It is incredibly difficult, but I’m not going to tell you guys about it. It’s too good. I don’t want to spoil a moment. I want you all to be able to read it for yourselves with no expectations or spoilers. Just know that it is possibly the most swoonworthy love story I have ever read. It is pure delight, even when it’s not. I take notes when I read, and most of my notes having to do with Cath and her love interest are all-caps and involve the words I’M DYING and OMGOMGOMGOMG. One reads “I think I may have actually ruptured an internal organ, I don’t think the human nervous system is meant to ship this hard.” I have to stop now or I am going to tell you guys about it despite my resolve.

Another thing that I loved about this book was the fanfiction aspect, which I recognize it won’t resonate with everyone. Confession time, I love fanfiction, I’ve been reading it since I was 13. It started with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer fandom and has just gone on from there. I completely empathize with Cath’s stance on fanfic. I read it for the same reasons she writes it; to continue the story, to right wrongs done to characters or ships left unshipped. In the acknowledgments, Rainbow Rowell says she wrote this book after reading a lot of fanfiction and it shows. Fanfiction can be a hard thing to talk to people about, I have only recently been able to own up to reading it. Unless they are also into fanfic, 95% of the world seems to think you are a weird, obsessive type with a loose grip on reality (whether this is true or not is neither here nor there.) Rowell understands and does a remarkable job explaining how wonderful and cathartic fanfiction communities can be. Fangirl is in some small part a love letter to the hardcore citizens of fandoms and as one, I love that so much.

The worst part of this book is that it ended. It’s not that anything was unresolved, it was perfect to the last word. It’s the worst because there is no more. (But hey, that’s what fanfic is for! Please tell me someone is on this.)  Do yourself a service and please go out and read this book right now, you will not regret it, that’s all I can say.

32 Responses to “Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell”

  1. MeliRobles

    Oohh, I want it, I want it now!!! I’ve been seeing authors recommend Fangirl endlessly thru twitter (Stephanie Perkins, eeep!) and now with your review, gosh I need it like I need cookies and ice cream on a very lonely day without books. I might need to beg for money to order it, or possibly become a lifetime slave for my sister, but you know what? It will be worth it. (I seriously hope so) Thanks for the awesome review and not spoiling anything!

  2. meg.

    MeliRobles YAY! It’s soooo good! I actually read it twice back to back because I didn’t want to be done with it. I hope you love it as much as I did!

  3. Kate C.

    You’ve intrigued me!  (Great review, btw)  I think I will have to seek it out.  I’m totally in the mood for a rockin’ love story right now and the one I’m currently reading is nothing LIKE rockin’.

  4. ReadingInWinter

    This one looks so good! I’m glad that my library has it … everyone is saying such great things about it. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your review!

  5. ReviewsAbound

    AHHH YES! I basically agree with all of this!
    And welcome to the Cuddlebuggery, Meg!

  6. meg.

    Kate C. This will not disappoint! I’m not kidding with that first gif, I happy spazzed my way through the whole thing.

  10. shellyzev

    I haven’t read Fangirl yet but I am dying to. Rainbow Rowell is doing a book signing the day after my birthday (October 7th) and I definitely can’t resist the wait.  Great review and I hope I can share all your feels with you. Welcome to Cuddlebugger 🙂

  11. HowBooknotic

    I just ordered this book from Barnes & Noble last night and I’m hoping it will be here soon (thank you 1-3 day membership shipping, I heart you). I’ve heard so many good things about this book and I feel like I NEED to read it for myself and find out if it’s as wonderful as everyone says (which I’m feeling it will be). Awesome review, it had me laughing.

  13. ThoughtsandPens

    Wow! I just bought this book yesterday! Glad to know that this is awesome. And…ahm… hello, there. This is the first time I saw you here in Cuddlebuggery.  I’m Charlotte by the way.  I’m looking forward to reading your future review posts.

  14. Mona6014

    You’ve totally convince me to read this. I was having debating thoughts after reading reviews on goodreads. And I’d love to read the fanfiction that comes after this! What a treat it’d be.

  15. AnimeGirlAlex

    I just started this book and I’m really excited, I hope I get to the fanfiction part soon. I love fanfic  – I used to write it too! – so I’m glad she does it justice. 
    I hope I love this book as much as you 😀

  16. MeliRobles

    meg. Awesome! I love having a book worth rereading. I mean, there are those books that are amazing but just for the one read, and there are THOSE books that you can read them again and again and still feel everything like if it were a first time read. Btw, welcome to Cuddlebuggery!! 😀

  17. meg.

    shellyzev Egads! If I send you my copy will you get it signed for me? She isn’t coming anywhere near me 🙁 Thanks for the welcome and glad you liked the review!

  19. meg.

    ThoughtsandPens Hi Charlotte! Nice to meet you! I am indeed a Cuddlebuggery noob, super excited to be on the team.

  22. cynicalsapphire

    “She captures life and people with such pinpoint accuracy, from the
    mundane everyday concerns we all deal with, to the delightfully bizarre
    thoughts that float through all of our heads.” <- Love this. That’s so very true. Everything just feels so real, which is why I got so caught up in it, like my reading will actually affect the outcome for Cath, even though it won’t.
    Also,  either Cath or Rainbow Rowell is my spirit animal, but I’m not sure which.

  23. meg.

    cynicalsapphire I know exactly what you mean! I’m sitting there yelling I’M ROOTING FOR YOU TOO CATH FOR WHATEVER IT’S WORTH!!

  25. lily

    I loved this book like crazy! I’m a Rainbow Rowell fan after reading Eleanor and Park so getting this one was an absolute must! I like the connection with fandoms and how even though i don’t consider myself to be part of one or read fanficion the book highlights just how much of a culture it’s sort of become. People live and breathe fandoms so i liked how a book was written about them from a positive prespective than a negative one too. Cath was also just the perfect character and her relationship with her family was so realistic and done so beautifully i loved it. I like how she took her time with her romantic interest too, nothing was rushed and it really seemed like how a first time relationship would work to a newbie. Great review 🙂 xx