The Reading Challenge Group discussion

Fangirl, by Rainbow Rowell has been selected as November's YA Group Read.

I personally am super excited that this has been picked!

Discussion commences on 1st November!

Since I finished this recently, I can moderate. :)

I just picked this up from the library today! Glad to see it on the list; I just joined today so its nice to have a good place to start.

Such a sweet story. You're gonna love it.

I will definitely try read this!

The romance is lovely. And the fanfic she writes is a hoot. I loved the blend.

Has anyone started reading Fangirl? What do you think of the fanfiction? Of the twins relationship as Rowell portrays it? Of the first days of freshman year at college? Is this part of the story realistic?

I've read Fangirl last month and I started to skip the fanfiction parts about half way through the book. At the beginning I liked it, but then I got bored and a bit annoyed. I wasn't interested in Baz and Simon at all. I don't know why, because I normally read (& sometimes write) fanfictions myself. This really disappointed me.
The twins relationship was weird. I know it's a normal thing that people change, but Wrens change in behavior just felt somewhat unrealistic... It felt like forced drama in my opinion. Maybe it's because my sister and I are extemely close (we're not twins, but people thought we were when we were young and she's only 13 months younger. We share a lot of interests etc.) and we never grew this much apart. Maybe that's the reason why it felt weird and forced to me.

I guess I'm the only one who thinks this way and I can understand that a lot of people loved it.

I finished it this weekend. Couldn't put it down. I think the romance was my favorite part. The fanfiction grew on me. At first It didn't grab me, but then I started seeing it as part of who Cath is and I was curious to see where she would take Baz and Simon.
As for the twins, I think anything is possible when young adults head off to college. I don't think it is unreasonable to expect that one sister would essentially hide in her room, and the other would party (and for that to be a major obstacle in a previously close relationship).
I expected to enjoy this after reading Eleanor and Park, but I didn't expect to love it the way I did. Curious to hear what others think.

I started reading yesterday (5 chapters) and so far I like it:) The fanfiction hasn't grabbed me yet, but I hope it will.
I recognize myself a lot in Cath, the insecurity in a new place, not knowing where to go or behave. I experience that a lot, the sad thing is that I've never met a Reagan that "takes care of me"...
When it comes to the relationship between Cath and Wren, I get so mad at Wren! My experience I just as @Alessandra mentioned, me and my sister are really close without being twins and we would NEVER leave each other that way! My sister is much more outgoing than me, still we would do our best to include each other and make sure that we both feel ok. But I don't think it's an unrealistic turn of event that Wren goes off on her own, that happens way too often.

Ok, I've finished Fangirl now and I loved it! The fanfiction didn't capture me but it didn't disturb the reading. I recognized myself a lot in Cath and Levi was so sweet:)

I read Fangirl in August or September (I borrowed Fangirl and Eleanor & Park from a friend) and loved it. I actually preferred it to E&P, unlike most people, because I related a lot to Cath.

I loved the fanfiction - I'm a bit of a Drarry fan, so I fell in love with Simon and Baz too! I shipped them more than I shipped Cath and Levi - wooooops.

I didn't like the twins relationship that much, and like others, I got mad at Wren quite a bit. I do kind of understand it though. They're two different people who deal with things in different ways.
(It also took me a loooong time to realise Cath Wren = Catherine)

Finished the book today. I really liked it and thought the fanfiction added a lot to the story.

Decided to read this on a whim. Really really liked it. It's worrying how similar me and Cath are though. Scary...

You can check out my review here.

Any lingering thoughts about Fangirl?

I've had such a slow reading month this month that I haven't gotten to this one yet. It may have to shift to my December pile.

I read this earlier this year and loved it! I'm in my 40's and I really identified with the characters in this. Once I started reading it, I just couldn't stop. Probably one of the best books I've read this year!

Am I the only person who wanted to give Cath a slap at the beginning haha?

I didn't want to give her a slap at the beginning. I wanted to give her a slap about half way through the book, to be honest. So, no, you aren't the only one, Lauren. :)

Duck, Holly!

No, no. We won't slap Holly. :)

I read Fangirl and I know what you mean about Cath,

Phew! I was getting worried then! :P

hehe, you don't have to. I know what you mean when you said you related to her. In the beginning I felt like I could relate to her too, but it changed along the way and at some point I felt annoyed and just wanted to slap her. Especially for being incredibly naïve when it came to that little "writing project". It was so obvious how it would end. :/ But I also have to admit that I never went to college. Switzerland doesn't really know that kind of education system and most people just do an apprenticeship instead of going to uni. :)

I tried to read Fangirl. It's not my type of book, but everyone is raving about it, so I thought it must be good. I couldn't get into and abandoned it pretty fast.

I found the character very annoying and clingy. I'm not a very sociable person so I was hoping I could relate to her. And like Alessandra, I never went to college. When I was at university, I was living at my parents'. So I couldn't relate to any of this - it feels typically American. Don't get me wrong, a lot of people enjoy everything American as it always sounds so much better than what we have! But in such a context, it makes it difficult to relate to the story.

And the Harry Potter style fanfiction/plagiarism annoyed me a lot!

Aww. Sorry to hear you didn't find something to enjoy in it. Thanks for being honest about your opinion, though. :) Luckily, there's lots of other great books out there!

Camille wrote: "And the Harry Potter style fanfiction/plagiarism annoyed me a lot! "

I haven't read the book. What's this about?

Therebis a very famous book in the world of Fangirl (the main character being a fan of it) which is basically HP with different names.

And the main love interest is between the two male leads. I actually found it to be quite a clever endeavor. Rowell created the main story, plus the backstory of the HP-like fiction they adored, plus the similar-to-HP-fanfiction fanfiction that Cath and Wren wrote together. She pulls off homage both to the HP series and to its fanfic. I can see that it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea, but I found it delightful.

At the beginning I actually liked the fanfic, but I got bored of it. I also have to admit that I'm used to another kind of fanfic by now. If you can call it that. I haven't read fanfiction about books/mangas etc. in years. :/

This probably sounds a bit... rude, but I'm glad I'm not the only one with a rather negative opinion about Fangirl. I don't think it's bad, but it wasn't as great as I wanted it to be.

JK Rowling protects her intellectual property fiercely (as well she should), so I would figure it's not actually plagiarism. Whether it's a homage or comes across as a lack of effort is in the eye of the beholder though.

It's too bad that the novel wasn't what you (Alessandra, Camille, etc) wanted it to be.

It'snot exactly plagiarism, but to me it felt too similar to Harry Potter.
The book gets a lot of hype, so it probably is good, it just didn't work for me. I find the more I read, the pickier I become!

Camille wrote: "It'snot exactly plagiarism, but to me it felt too similar to Harry Potter.
The book gets a lot of hype, so it probably is good, it just didn't work for me. I find the more I read, the pickier I bec..."

Aww. I appreciate when people feel really strongly about a book, either negatively or positively. To me, it says that a book has touched them for good or for bad. I certainly like that more than people reading books just because they're hyped, and not feeling much of anything about it. I think you're fine! :)

Ok you guys...some of you will love this, and some will hate: Rainbow Rowell just announced that her newest book due in October is "Carry On". As she said "yes, THAT Carry On". Simon and Baz :) I am personally looking forward to seeing what she does turning the segments of Fan-fic in the book into a full-fledged novel. Thoughts?

Fun! Looking forward to it. What a hoot!

I knew this would be going to happen. I personally won't be reading it. Still don't care much about Simon and Baz, but I'm happy for everyone who wanted this book to exist.

I'm slightly addicted to fanfiction (the amount of books I could have read if I hadn't wasted hours reading fanfiction.....) so I'm definitely going to check this out!