Cath isn't having a swell time at college. Her twin sister Wren doesn't want to be roommates (this is her twin. Her best friend.), her writing professor believes that fanfiction is the end to everything literature, she's stuck with a roommate who might just hate her, this handsome boy in class is filled to the brim with writing, and to make it worse, her roommate's boyfriend is just around the corner.
She's a Simon Snow fan at heart. So is her twin. But the thing is, Wren has grown up from Simon Snow. Cath, on the other hand, refuses to.
When the time comes, though, can she leave the imaginative world and face the real one?
Hello and good afternoon, dear readers! (I seriously have to come up with a nickname for you guys. I have no idea why.) Christmas break has just started for me, and for today, I'm going to review the book Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell.
Okay, first impressions first.
So the craze lately at my school (or within my group of friends) are those books that were originally Wattpad stories. To tell the truth, I'm not a big fan of them. They're the ones with the manga-like covers, and when read, have crazy Taglish (Tagalog + English) that would overwhelm a Filipino reader. More often than not, they revolve around some crazy, sometimes cliched love story that would make me bang my head on the wall and scream to the high heavens in anguish.
I first thought that Fangirl was one of those books.
But upon cracking open my own personal copy and taking a peek, I decided, nope. This isn't one of those.
The read more is right there if you want to go on! Spoilers may be in there, so take caution.
Fangirl is undeniably sweet. It's a refreshing coming-of-age story concerning college this time, and instead of the fumbling and adorkably anxious high school freshman, we get the fumbling and adorkably anxious college freshman instead. What I personally liked about this book was how it wasn't centered on just the romance. We got scenes with Cath dealing with her twin Wren, we got scenes with Cath endlessly worrying about her dad, we got scenes with Cath and Levi, Cath and Reagan...the list goes on.
Another thing I really liked was how Rainbow Rowell displayed the tirings of a FanFiction author. Admittedly, it does seem like writing was a chore - to please the readers instead of one's self, the author's self. Cath's conflicting feelings reached me as a writer, and that was one of the aspects where I was able to relate by a lot.
Aside from the plot, I also liked how fleshed out the characters were. Wren wasn't just a reckless young adult, nor was Reagan someone full of snark. Levi wasn't a character all goofy smiles and lazy hips and loose shoulders. And Cath wasn't some socially awkward new girl who avoided going out because she was new.
The book featured characters I was able to relate to. Cath's duties as a FanFiction author, Wren growing up and moving on, Levi's struggles under those smiles - these characters, while different, still made an obvious impact on me as I read the story. Yes, there were times where Wren made me ugh girl why and Cath's unwillingness to go out and socialize made me want to yell at her through the book. But while these struggles and problems might have irritated me, I now realize that it helps the characters grow, develop, etc.
For once, it ended quite happily. I was terribly nervous when my main ship got together with 100+ pages to spare, and I was thinking, oh my God. What if something bad happens and my ship breaks up.
But lo and behold, the ship made it through! Finally! Another book where the ship doesn't split because of minor differences that the couple can get through! Although it was clear that Levi and Cath would get together in the end, it wasn't enough to stop me from thinking, she might get with the other guy please God let's not make that happen.
The ending was satisfyingly sweet. But it seems to me that there were quite a couple of questions that weren't quite answered, such as the topic on Cath and Wren's mom and what happened in the eighth book of the Simon Snow series. (Okay, Cath. You got me interested. WHAT HAPPENED.)
Overall, Fangirl was a refreshing and definitely worth-it read. It was a nice break from the sad books I've been reading and crying over, and I'm looking forward to receiving Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor and Park for Christmas! I may be reviewing it next - although David Levithan's The Realm of Possibility is waiting to be cracked open. ;)
Advanced Merry Christmas, dear readers! <3
Another thing I really liked was how Rainbow Rowell displayed the tirings of a FanFiction author. Admittedly, it does seem like writing was a chore - to please the readers instead of one's self, the author's self. Cath's conflicting feelings reached me as a writer, and that was one of the aspects where I was able to relate by a lot.
Aside from the plot, I also liked how fleshed out the characters were. Wren wasn't just a reckless young adult, nor was Reagan someone full of snark. Levi wasn't a character all goofy smiles and lazy hips and loose shoulders. And Cath wasn't some socially awkward new girl who avoided going out because she was new.
The book featured characters I was able to relate to. Cath's duties as a FanFiction author, Wren growing up and moving on, Levi's struggles under those smiles - these characters, while different, still made an obvious impact on me as I read the story. Yes, there were times where Wren made me ugh girl why and Cath's unwillingness to go out and socialize made me want to yell at her through the book. But while these struggles and problems might have irritated me, I now realize that it helps the characters grow, develop, etc.
For once, it ended quite happily. I was terribly nervous when my main ship got together with 100+ pages to spare, and I was thinking, oh my God. What if something bad happens and my ship breaks up.
But lo and behold, the ship made it through! Finally! Another book where the ship doesn't split because of minor differences that the couple can get through! Although it was clear that Levi and Cath would get together in the end, it wasn't enough to stop me from thinking, she might get with the other guy please God let's not make that happen.
The ending was satisfyingly sweet. But it seems to me that there were quite a couple of questions that weren't quite answered, such as the topic on Cath and Wren's mom and what happened in the eighth book of the Simon Snow series. (Okay, Cath. You got me interested. WHAT HAPPENED.)
Overall, Fangirl was a refreshing and definitely worth-it read. It was a nice break from the sad books I've been reading and crying over, and I'm looking forward to receiving Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor and Park for Christmas! I may be reviewing it next - although David Levithan's The Realm of Possibility is waiting to be cracked open. ;)
Advanced Merry Christmas, dear readers! <3
No comments:
Post a Comment