Young Adult Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Hardcover, 433 pages

Expected publication: Sept 10th, 2013 by St. Martin's Press

Source: Amazon Vine

From the author the New York Times bestseller Eleanor & Park

A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love.

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan . . .

But for Cath, being a fan is her life — and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

I didn't want this book to ever end.  I loved every single thing about it and when I wasn't reading it I was thinking about it, and wanting to read it.  Even after finishing it, I wanted to read it more.  This is a book that I will reread, there's no doubt about it- and I don't reread books, hardly ever.

Cath is an amazing character, I loved that she was shy and timid and loved to write.  I loved that she was terrified to meet new people and do new things.  I connected with her, so, so well.  I also love that when she's passionate about something, she's passionate, she really truly gives her all to that thing.  She writes fanfiction and I loved the writing theme.  I loved that we got to see/hear some it, I loved that it was important to her, but breaking out of writing fanfiction and writing something completely original was a challenge for her.  I loved her journey through her first year of college, through making new friends, finding a boyfriend, and going through a family crisis.  I just loved everything about Cath.

I didn't just love Cath though, I loved all the characters.  I loved Levi and his quirky happiness and how he can't help but bring a smile to everyone's face as it's his personal journey in life to make everyone happy.  I love that he loved when Cath read to him and I loved that he was so good to her.  From her roommate, to her dad, to her mom, to her sister, to her professor, I loved all the characters and how well we got to know them. 

The romance in this story is just so beautiful!  It's slow and in the beginning I wasn't sure if it was a romance, but the banter and the slight flirting finally gave way to something even though it was slow.  It was sweet and just so darn beautiful!  

This book would maybe be consider New Adult because of the age, but while the characters are in college, it's a pretty clean read.  There's profanity, but that's about it. 

I very highly recommend this book, I'm pretty certain this will be on my favorites of 2013 list!

Disclosure: I received this book for review purposes, all opinions expressed are my own and I was not paid or influenced in any way.