Nice easy read. ( )

Actual Rating: 4.50
(my current review is a bit ramble-y. I just wanted to get my thoughts out, but I will refine it later)

This
was
super
ADORABLE.

UGH. My little fangirl hear is so happy. I FLEW through this book in less than a day, and read over 3/4 of it in one night. It's a very readable book!

One of the aspects I think "Fangirl" has that works really well are the multiple layers within the main story- there's a plethora of character interactions, settings, scenarios, and nothing ever felt stale. From Cath and Reagan sitting in the dining hall and commenting on students, to Cath and her dad talking about school, and everything in between, I really felt immersed in Cath's world.
There are times I've read YA books or books where the main character is a college student, and I've finshed them feeling like it wasn't real, and the character's never struggled with "normal" college stuff or never seemed to go to classes. We get to see that here, though! Cath goes to classes, and stuggles with some assignments; she doesn't get perfect grades all the time; she has family drama and fights with her sister; she feels awkward and anxious- all these things felt very real!
The scene where Cath walks through the English building three times trying to work up the nerve to see her professor was so relatable- I've had meetings with profs before and shown up an hour early, and then ended up walking laps from stress. I just really related to Cath a lot, and that made her much more likable to me.

I also like how Cath had passions, and wasn't afraid to follow them. She knew what she liked, and although she knew people might judge her for it, she continued writing about Simon and Baz. I also loved how Levi encouraged her passion and talked to her about it.
UGH LEVI.
The only thing I think didn't mesh well in "Fangirl" was the lack of closure at the end. Yes, we know what happens with some of the major themes (primarliy the relationship status of main characters) but there are too many unanswered threads.
Cath's fiction project? Laura, their mother? The upcoming summer? I just think the ending was too fast and didn't give quite enough. "Fangirl" is practically begging for a sequel!

I will definitley be rereading this book (and maybe write some Cath/Levi fanfiction while I'm at it? )

( )

Very disappointing. The Simon Snow stuff was excruciating to get through and the romance was lame compared to Eleanor and Park.

It was an easy read and might work for younger readers more than it did for me. ( )

Solidly delightful, with amusing interesting characters. I like the way Cath had anxiety disorder, talked about it, dealt with it, and was ok. ( )

Cath and her twin, Wren, are off to their first year of college, and it seems to Cath that her sister is already pulling away from her, leaving Cath on her own to adjust to a new roommate who seems to hate her and whose maybe-boyfriend, Levi, is absolutely always around, making Cath even more uncomfortable than her normal anxiety-induced level of discomfort. She also worries about being away from her father, who suffers from manic episodes, and just the thought of trying to figure out the dining hall is too much for her. Thank goodness for fanfic, her safe space, and which she’s really very good at writing. She finds comfort in her fic stories – and so do her thousands of online followers. But when her creative writing professor gives her a failing grade on a fanfic story she turns in, her writing partner betrays her, and her maybe-friendship-maybe-something-else with Levi seems to go south, Cath nearly gives up and moves home. She’ll need to find some self-confidence in her very real abilities to get back on track.

I’m very, very late to the Rowell fan bus (I read my first of her novels – Eleanor & Park – last year and thought it was okay but that it didn’t really live up to the hype), but I’m definitely on board after this one. An excellent range of characters, all believable and well drawn, an interesting story and good atmosphere (I felt like I was right back on campus), and I loved the fanfic angle, especially that Rowell included bits both of Cath’s writing and excerpts from the ‘real’ books. I also love that she’s gone on to write (or so it seems – clearly I haven’t read them yet but I absolutely want to) the story that is Cath’s fanfic. Very cool. ( )