Fangirl in Audiobook Junkies

Mar 20, 2019 Vanessa Gayle ⚔️ Fangirl Faction rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: new-adult, reviewed, cover-love, romance, favorites, own-physical-read, contemporary, uno-challenge

Disclaimer: This review MAY contain spoilers.

This book is bloody brilliant! Truly magnificent! I was so hooked on reading this that I took a sick day at work just so that I could finish reading it in one sitting.

I really connected with the main character more than most I read about. There were so many parallels between the main character, Cath, and myself that it felt like this book was about me or written specifically for me. I am from Omaha, Nebraska just like the main character and the autho Disclaimer: This review MAY contain spoilers.

This book is bloody brilliant! Truly magnificent! I was so hooked on reading this that I took a sick day at work just so that I could finish reading it in one sitting.

I really connected with the main character more than most I read about. There were so many parallels between the main character, Cath, and myself that it felt like this book was about me or written specifically for me. I am from Omaha, Nebraska just like the main character and the author so I got every single Omaha, Lincoln, or Nebraska reference. Every single place mentioned is one that I have been to. Cath even lived in South Omaha, a predominantly Mexican part of Omaha, which is where I have lived most of my life as well. The taco trucks, the blizzard/weather, the stores and gas stations, and restaurants mentioned, and even the bookstore that they all went to at the end of the book when the last Simon Snow book was released are all places that are real for me and that have meaning for me so I felt extra connected to the story and to Cath's character. Even the parts of Cath that had nothing to do with geography were significant for me. Cath's anxiety, her love for a book fandom, the fanfiction, her father's bipolar disorder, the way that Cath deals with her mother issues, just all of her is so like me that it's scary. I truly loved her character and her story.

The cast of supporting characters was so delightful. I loved each and every character in this story. Each character had a purpose and brought so much to the story. I love how flawed these characters were. Rowell had no qualms about making these characters as real as possible with imperfections, weaknesses, and bad habits. These are, of course, balanced out with very positive character attributes, but the inclusion of the not so good ones makes me appreciate the characters, the story, and the author even more. Most authors like to have what I refer to as shiny characters. Essentially, characters that are blindingly beautiful and can do no wrong. Perfect. And no one is perfect. This is one thing in literature that I think authors can struggle with because authors love their characters like their own children and can't bring themselves to portray them in a negative way. Rowell's characters felt extremely real.

A lot of contemporary YA stories have the same plots rehashed in different ways, but the plot of this story is utterly unique. And the story is truly captivating. It caters to nerds like myself. The story has a very beautiful and realistic portrayal of nerd culture. At least the facet of nerd culture concerning fanfiction. As a book nerd and a reader and writer of fanfiction myself, I felt the story very accurately illustrated this part of nerd culture. And it was so very exciting to read about it since it isn't something that I've seen done before. It is always empowering and invigorating to feel represented. And this book definitely represents me. Apart from the subject matter of the story, I also very much loved the sequence of events and the main character's journey. The story is told so beautifully and honestly.

Overall, I was really blown away by this book. It captivated me from the first page. Everything about it is magical. I have never reread a contemporary story before, but this is one that I know I will revisit in the future. I can now certify that I am a Rainbow Rowell fan for life. She has written a story that has truly left a mark upon my soul and has spoken to me unlike any book has before. This book is special and I urge everyone to experience its glory.

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Sep 10, 2013 Wendy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, romance, lcbn

I initially thought this book was about, well, fangirls--those super geeky people who get utterly lost in fictional worlds and write fanfic and cry over the relationships of the fictional characters of those worlds. People like me. And it totally is about that, but it's also so much more. It's also about loneliness and family and mental health and first days of college and sisters and twins and relationships and integrity and perseverance and friendship and writing and empathy and anxiety. It's I initially thought this book was about, well, fangirls--those super geeky people who get utterly lost in fictional worlds and write fanfic and cry over the relationships of the fictional characters of those worlds. People like me. And it totally is about that, but it's also so much more. It's also about loneliness and family and mental health and first days of college and sisters and twins and relationships and integrity and perseverance and friendship and writing and empathy and anxiety. It's the perfect book for anyone who understands any or all of those things or lives with any or all of those things, while still being easily relatable to someone on the outside looking in. In fact, for the latter, this book serves almost as a quirky little guide book on how to deal with all of this, without ever shedding a disdainful light on these issues.

The story is told through Cath, half of a pair of 18-year-old twins who are attending college, and are away from their single father for the first time. Issues with their mother who abandoned them at a young age have made them a close knit little family, but this separation and all the pressures of college threaten to tear them apart. Cath is an introvert and suffers from anxiety. She has that whole '90s movie shy, geeky girl with ponytail and glasses vibe going on, but Rowell gives her so much more agency. While she does find support in her gruff roommate Reagan and Reagan's cheerful bestfriend Levi, Cath maintains control on her life, and can and will say "no" when she needs to. More importantly, her friends might not understand her, but they don't pressure her or put her down.

Cath also writes fanfiction, which is a major element of this story. She is working on the conclusion of an epic story called Carry On, Simon, which is based on the fictional World of Mages--which in itself is a bit of fanfiction, as the similarities between it and the Harry Potter series are evident. Yet, the World of Mages is fully unique, and fleshed out. Excerpts from it and Cath's fanfiction begin each chapter, and, as her relationship with Levi develops, Cath also reads much of Carry On, Simon to him. Initially, I thought the excerpts a bit of a distraction, but by the end of the book, I was clamouring for Rowell's recently announced Carry On to be a thing immediately.

I walked into this book expecting one thing, and discovered it to be so much more. I found a new favourite author and something new to fangirl over.

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Dec 22, 2013 Kathy Martin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Wow! I get it! Rainbow Rowell is a rock star! I had heard many good things about Rainbow Rowell and her writing and was just a little skeptical. I am not her target audience. I left young adulthood behind many years ago. But FANGIRL swept me back to the days when I was an avid Star Trek fan who couldn't get enough of the books and fanfiction.

Cath Avery is a freshman, away from home for the first time, and living in a dorm with an older roommate. Her twin is at college too but decided it was tim ...more

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Oct 30, 2015 Megan (ReadingRover) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: x-goodreads-challenge-16, all-buddy-reads-now-until-forever

Review to come

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Sep 15, 2014 Tonyalee rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, i-dont-even-know, audio, 2014-read, super-cute

more like 2.5 stars

You know what I first thought after finishing Fangirl?!

WHY THE HYPE?

Was it awful? No. Was is great? Ehhh, no. Honestly, for parts of the book I was rather bored, but morning talks shows on the radio are boring too.. So, pick your poison.

Maybe it's because I am not a huge Fan Fiction.. er, fan? You would think that this wouldn't be a huge issue, but I could not connect to Cath's love and dedication to these fictional characters/world that she was writing about. Yes, I have bee ...more

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Oct 01, 2013 Nichole ~Bookaholic~ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, romance, wispersync-for-voice, z-2014, z-2014-audio-challenge-my-precious

I'm not sure what I expected when I started this and initially I was not sure I was going to finish, but I was slowly sucked in and before I knew it, the story was over...I really enjoyed this one, the narration was great the characters very likable....except for maybe Wren....still on the fence about her.... ...more

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