Fangirl: A Novel

You guys, I've gone and done it again... I've fallen in love with Rainbow Rowell's characters and their stories. There's so much I love about this book (like, every. single. thing. about it) and I'm going to try not to gush. Too much. I don't feel like I can truly do this book justice with a review, but I'm going to try."To really be a nerd, she'd decided, you had to prefer fictional worlds to the real one."Cath is a nerd. She writes slash fan fiction about Simon Snow, boy magician, using the name Magicath. She's such a Simon Snow fan and writes such complex fan fic, she has a fan base of her own. She's a big deal in certain circles online. Real life is a little different. She's insecure and lives in the shadow of her twin sister, Wren. While Wren likes to party, chase boys and experience all life has to offer, for better or worse, Cath is more reserved. She'd much rather spend the night writing and fostering her online friendships than hanging out at parties or in bars. She's so introverted at times that it's almost painful. But, she's an easy character to identify with. She's as awkward as can be, but she's lovable, strong and smart. She's loyal to those she's closest to, even when they might not deserve it. She's completely adorkable. I loved her almost immediately, but "Emergency Kanye Party" solidified it for me."There are other people on the Internet. It's awesome. You get all the benefits of `other people' without the body odor and the eye contact."Cath and Wren head off to their new lives in college at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. For the first time in their lives, they won't be living together. It's time for each of them to experience life without being a crutch for the other. Cath's new roommate, Reagan, is pretty much her polar opposite. She's a partier. She's always out with a different guy, despite the fact that Levi is always hanging out in her room. Cath assumes they're dating, but the truth is more complicated than that. Somewhere along the way, Levi becomes more than "Reagan's friend." He's Cath's friend and confidant. He's there for her. Their chemistry is strong and sweet."Oh, put that away," Cath said with distaste. "I don't want you to get charm all over my sister - what if we can't get it out?""She didn't have words for what Levi was. He was a cave painting. He was The Red Balloon. She lifted her heels and pulled him forward until his face was so close, she could look at only one of his eyes at a time. "You're magic," she said.I adored Levi from the moment he appeared on the pages. He's an adorable farm boy. He's sweet and thoughtful. He always went out of his way to try to include Cath, despite being turned down again and again. There was more to him than met the eye, as Cath began to find out. When he began meeting her at the library to walk her home from study "dates" with her classmate, Nick, I started to hope there was a glimmer of something more there."Cath liked Levi. A lot. She liked looking at him. She liked listening to him - though sometimes she hated listening to him talk to other people. She hated the way he passed out smiles to everyone he met like it didn't cost him anything, like he'd never run out. He made everything look so easy... "As you might expect, Cath was completely out of her element at college. She was so uncomfortable in new situations that she was afraid to try to find the dining hall, so she was more or less living off energy bars. Reagan and Levi finally force her somewhat out of her comfort zone and get her out and about. For a girl with very little social life, Cath has the attention of several guys. Throughout the story there's Able, her quasi-boyfriend from home, her study-date/writing-partner Nick, and Levi. I'll let you find out for yourself how that all shakes out though. There's so many sweet, swoon-worthy scenes and good, old-fashioned teenage angst that you need to experience it all for yourself."Apparently, I'm good for something," Wren said. "You keep stealing all my best lines."Wren is a minor character in the majority of the book, at least in a physical sense. She's not around very often. She's off doing her own thing, leaving Cath to live her own life. To find herself. While they shared some of the same friends and interests pre-college, I'm not entirely sure Wren and Cath could be any different. They each went through a lot in this novel. I think they both wound up stronger and better because of the events that occurred though. I think their relationship with each other, while different than it was when they left for school, became more solid, too. It wasn't an easy road though."I feel like... what happened last night was just an aberration. Like it could only have happened in the middle of the night, when he and I were both really tired. Because if it had been daylight, we would have seen how inappropriate it was -""How do you feel when I smile at you?" he asked - and then he did smile at her, just a little."Like an idiot," she said softly. "And like I never want it to stop."The romance in this book was absolutely swoon-worthy in that way only young adult books can be. It was sweet and innocent. It just made me smile. I was absolutely charmed by nearly every character in this book. At the end, despite the fact that there wasn't a cliffhanger and really, everything was resolved, I was in no way ready to give these characters up. I've had such a book hangover from them it's been nearly impossible to think about writing this review."I feel sorry for you, and I'm going to be your friend.""But you're so helpless sometimes. It's like watching a kitten with its head trapped in a Kleenex box."Whether they're main or secondary, Rainbow Rowell writes amazing characters. They're real. I want to know them personally. By the end of the book, I feel like I do know them. This book was absolutely no exception. Reagan was just what Cath needed in a roommate. She was sassy and outgoing. She pushed Cath. She helped her grow. I want her to be my friend. Professor Piper also helped Cath come into her own. She was everything a professor should be. She was supportive, but she still pushed her. Cath became a better writer because of it. Cath's father was another favorite. He was complicated. He had issues. But, he was a great dad. I loved their banter."But it's just so good. Nobody writes Simon and Baz like Magicath. I'm in love with her Baz. Like, in love. And I used to be a major Simon/Agatha shipper.""Sometimes...," Cath said, "when I'm reading canon, I forget that Simon and Baz aren't in love."One of the things I loved most about this book was the way that Rowell integrated the fan fiction so well with Cath's real life story. This is something most authors couldn't pull off, but she does it absolutely flawlessly. First of all, I just loved reading the Simon Snow stories. It took me back to the days where I would read a TON of Harry Potter fan fiction to get through the excruciating wait between books. I read more Harry/Draco slash than I should probably admit. (Don't judge me.) I loved seeing what the fan fic writers did with J.K. Rowling's characters in an alternate universe. I enjoyed reading what Cath did with Simon and Baz in her stories. The world-building in the fan fic and the Simon Snow "book" chapters was wonderful. Complex. It made me wish Gemma T. Leslie and her books were real. I also loved that Cath's writing in the fan fic world closely mirrored what was happening in her real life. The details about Cath's on-campus life were incredible, too. I felt like I was with her. I actually have a good friend who went to school at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and he was in awe of the details I was describing from the boo"But there's nothing more profound than creating something out of nothing." Her lovely face turned fierce. "Think about it, Cath. That's what makes a god - or a mother. There's nothing more intoxicating than creating something from nothing. Creating something from yourself."This is a beautiful coming-of-age story. It's about growing up and finding yourself while trying not to lose all the things (and people) who have made you YOU so far. It's about learning how to accept new people into your life, while not isolating those who have been there for years. It's about family and friends, crushes and love. It made me feel like I was a college freshman again. The situations were *that* real. The characters were charming and believable. The dialogue ranged from witty to sweet to teasing to moving and it was sheer perfection. I went through the whole gamut of emotions while reading this book. I was in Cath's corner the entire time."When you break from behind the tree, it's because you want to. It's the first breath after a long dive. Branches snap under your feet, and the world is hotter and brighter. Ready or not, here I come. Here I come, ready or not."

There are some authors who write in such a way that I'm mentally swept off my feet, in love from the first words. Rainbow Rowell officially joins this short list, now that I've loved both of her books that I've read. Her books speak to me in a way that very few do, to a degree it's a rare to find. Rowell's books make me feel a little bit less alone, a little bit more understand, and point out truths I've often thought or even discussed with friends but not seen in fiction. I can tell you right now that I will be sitting on Attachments (not literally) for as long as I can hold out, because then I know that there won't be ANY MORE Rowell for who knows how long. That's how much I love her writing.Fangirl took me about half a month to read, which, if you know how much I read, is sort of insane, especially for a book I love so much. However, I was determined to read this sooner, but my review schedule is not forgiving of dalliances with books not on the schedule, so I read a chapter here and a chapter there as I was able. This can be a bit of an onus for a book to bear, though, because it gives me time to forget everything, and can make connection emotionally more difficult since you're not as thoroughly immersed. With Fangirl, though, the moment I started reading, even if it had been days since I got to read any, I was immediately back in Cath's world. Within a paragraph or two, the world around me dissipated and I was completely absorbed and dialed in.Because this is such a highly anticipated title, a lot of bloggers have been getting early starts. Thus, though I avoid actual reviews until I've read the book, I've seen some tweets and statuses. Though Fangirl is nigh perfection for me, personally, I know other sorts of readers (as in those that do not have a brain that functions like mine) have had trouble relating to Cath. Certainly, Cath is a very different sort of heroine from the norm. She's introverted to the point of being almost a hermit, preferring to live her life almost entirely in a fictional world. Social anxiety plague her to the degree that she actively avoids making friends and refuses to go to the dining hall because she's afraid of embarrassing her self by doing something wrong. When things get heavy, Cath will just shut down and make really bad choices, like not turning in a final project because she couldn't figure out what to do. Cath is also angry, at her mom, at Wren, and at herself. I can definitely see where her decisions wouldn't register with more socially competent readers.While I am not precisely like Cath, I'm close enough that I get her. I could have been very much like her, minus the fan fiction stardom. See, in some ways, Cath's downfall was her happy high school experience: built-in best friend in her twin sister Wren, popularity that comes with hanging out with Wren, and comfortable boyfriend Abel. On arriving at the University of Nebraska for her freshman year of college, Wren's safe, familiar little world falls apart. Wren, who refused to room with Cath, wants little to nothing to do with her twin sister, desperate to forge her own identity. Abel dumps her for a girl who a) actually likes him in a romantic way and b) got a higher score on the ACT. Her grumpy roommate Reagan, with omnipresent boyfriend Levi, stress her out further. Wren parties for all she's worth to make new friends; Cath avoids people more than ever. With Cath's personality, suddenly losing your safety net in a new experience like this would result in such a response in a lot of cases. For me, I was so unhappy and friendless for most of high school that I started college fired with determination to become an extrovert; it didn't work, but it did get me through the first weeks.What Cath fears more than anything is being bad at something, and here is where I understand this girl so much it hurts. She resists new experiences because she doesn't want to make a fool out of herself. This is behind her trepidation to go eat in the dining hall, where she could go the wrong way in line or sit at the wrong table. This is also why she just doesn't do her final fiction writing project: she fears she doesn't have the talent to write her own world, and prefers the safety of her fan fiction. With romance, too, she goes very slow on the physical side of the relationship for fear of doing the wrong thing. With all of these, the more time that passes, the more difficult that goal becomes to accomplish.The romance is important, and I'll talk about that later, but I love that falling in love isn't the only thing to help bring her out of her shell. Forging a relationship with her roommate, Reagan, is her first true step out of her comfort zone. Sick of watching Cath subsist on protein bars, Reagan forces her to go to the dining hall, and this becomes a routine. There, they bond by people-watching other students, making up ridiculous stories about them. Though Reagan and Cath have little in common, they're able to find ways to connect, and, if Cath can handle the intimidating Reagan, that's a big step. Plus, bonding through stories and jokes like this is exactly what Cath does with her family; the way to get through Cath's heart is through fiction of one kind or another.Family issues are key here, too, though they are not tied up in a tidy little bow. Cath and Wren have a loving father, who's raised them as a single parent since their mom walked out when they were kids. Though their father, Art, takes good care of them, he has manic depression, and needs a lot of looking after himself, as he will not take his meds, since they interfere with his creativity, necessary to his job in advertising. Art always gave them pretty free rein, trusting them to be responsible and to keep him in check. The twins going to college changes the family dynamics, which is painful, but ultimately better for everyone. On top of that, their mother wants to talk to them, but Cath wants no part of the woman who abandoned her.Then there's the romance, and, my goodness is it swoony. I won't tell you who the guy is, because it's better to let things evolve in front of your eyes. However, I will say that Rowell gets the speed of emotions just right in Fangirl, both friendship and relationships. Once something starts, it moves with the speed of a man-eating hare. Relationships of all sorts build so quickly in college. Since you're with everyone from morning until night, there's so much more time for feelings to build, because you're all crammed together in dorms. As a kid, you lack transportation or have a curfew in the summer, and other times half your day is school. As an adult, most of your time is spent at work, so there's less time for socialization. College is friendship in romance in hyperdrive.The romance in Fangirl is a slow burn that comes almost out of nowhere oh so perfectly. Rowell hurt my heart a few times along the way, but she made it all work so well. In a lot of ways, this guy is not my ideal love interest, and I wouldn't want him for myself (several of his qualities are dealbreakers for me personally), but I love him SO HARD for Cath. Who knows if they'll last forever, but he's just what she needs right now.Much as my heart wants to give Fangirl every single star in the heavens, there was one thing I didn't completely love. While I did love the fan fiction angle, I also found one element puzzling. Cath is writing an immensely popular slash fan fiction about Simon Snow, a wizard, and his nemesis, Baz. The Simon Snow series is an obvious stand-in for Harry Potter, which I'm totally cool with. What threw me for a real loop was a casual reference to HP within Fangirl. Why would both exist? This really does not make sense to me. If HP exists in this world, why draw up an imitation to reference? I suspect it has something to do with the amount of fan fiction included and copyright, but why not just leave HP out entirely? In this world, Simon Snow probably wouldn't be that popular if Harry already existed, because it had been done. If Simon came first, then what sort of commentary is that on Rowling? Logic fail aside, I also was not nearly engaged in Cath's fan fiction, so I was generally just waiting for those bits to be over. I do really like the role it played and her life, and the discussions of fan fiction versus original fiction, but the story itself was of somewhat limited interest.I will read absolutely anything Rainbow Rowell writes. Though I've only read two of her books, she's near the top of my favorite authors list. Fangirl has realistic characters and is jam-packed with feels. Also, if you've been searching for books authentically about what it feels like to be in college, you want this book. I recommend Fangirl as highly as I possibly can.

Era para regalo, y como era de importación Inicialmente me marcó fecha de entrega el 22 de diciembre, al día siguiente de que lo ordené me cambió la fecha de entrega al 30 de diciembre, pensé que no tendría regalo para navidad, al final me llegó el 20 de diciembre. Todo en buen estado y muy bien empacado. La pasta del libro se me hizo un poco delgada pero igual en perfecto estado. Después de todo, todo salió bien.

When I read the synopsis for this book, I knew I had to have it. Nerdy, loner girl who is obsessed with fanfiction? YES PLEASE. While I am no writer of fan-fiction, I do enjoy reading it, and I was especially obsessed with it back in my pre-teens and early teen years. I know how addicting it can be. Another thing that drew me to this book was the fact that Cather "Cath" has a freshman experience with many similarities to mine: no drinking, no parties, no sex...no wild anything. Some people think I'm "repressed," well to them I say that for some reason, I have just never had even a glimmer of desire to "go wild" or "let loose," etc. I'm boring, okay? Deal with it. Well, that made this book and Cath just all that more awesome for me.Cath is not your typical heroine: she is socially awkward, has social anxiety, is a complete nerd, has no desire to drink or go to parties or hook up with boys, she is romantically inexperienced...but she is also incredibly creative, fiercely loyal, good-hearted, and has a great sarcastic, dry humour. She is an avid writer of Simon Snow fan-fiction, and is completely dedicated to it. Sometimes she annoyed me but mostly I loved her because I understood her completely. Cath is not the only great character in this book: I also loved Reagan and Levi. Reagan takes a little while to warm up to but Levi is AWESOMENESS. He does unintentionally hurt Cath sometimes but he's such a total sweetie (and so obviously into her) that you end up forgiving him. Who wouldn't want a boyfriend like Levi? Not only is he such a sweet guy, but he absolutely NEVER pressures Cath into kissing him or having sex with him (where is my Levi?!!!!!!!!) They make a really great couple. They are so obviously made for each other. Wren, on the other hand, is near impossible to like. I hated the way she treated Cath and she did some really stupid things in her freshman year. But I don't think Rainbow Rowell intended for us to like her.Fangirl is hands down one of the best New Adult books I have ever read (actually one of the few I have ever read, but still.) I will definitely read it again and again and again. When I have a daughter and send her off the college, she is reading this book!!! I highly recommend Fangirl to Rainbow Rowell fans, fans of the New Adult genre, and even teenagers 16+ because aside from Wren's drinking (and she is a minor character,) this book does not stray into bad territory. I'm so glad that I gave Fangirl a chance. I wish all New Adult books were this great.

It was a very good book. I usually like Rainbow Rowell's books.

Este libro es una muy buena opción si lo que se desea es pasar una tarde de lectura muy amena, si eres fangirl de alguna saga o trilogía es muy probable que te sientas identificada con Cath, el personaje principal. La autora definitivamente incluyó elementos muy buenos que le dan al libro ese toque bastante original, si bien no es un libro que te va a cambiar la vida o con una temática muy intensa, abarca temas sobre todos familiares de una manera y en un contexto que definitivamente causa interés en el lector. Los personajes son muy diferentes, pero al mismo tiempo encajan a la perfección, desde el inicio del libro te puedes identificar con ellos por lo que al empezar a leer no sentirás pesada o aburrida la trama, por el contrario los personajes y la ambientación captarán por completo tu atención. El ambiente es bastante cotidiano, es probable que no tengas problema para entender a los personajes, sin embargo con Cath, quizá te cause un poco de desesperación por su falta de capacidad para seguir adelante, su obsesión con Simon Snow es comprensible, pero en algunos asuntos familiares en definitiva suele ser de mente muy cerrada. En conclusión puedo decir que Fangirl es un libro muy agradable, bonito en el sentido de que tiene momentos muy tiernos, divertido a ratos, la temática es variada y los personajes con completamente memorables.

The package arrived on time but there is some damage but it’s acceptable.