Fangirl
– Rainbow Rowell.
Published - September 2013.
Blurb On the back.
From
the author the New
York Times best-seller 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 première.
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 room-mates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her
comfort zone. She’s got a surly room-mate 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?
Review.
Welcome
to the obsessive world of fan fiction, College and Family.
Rainbow
Rowell takes us into the life of Cath, her twin sister Wren and her
awkward obsession with writing slash fan fiction on Simon Snow. (Note
for the uninformed Simon Snow is a blatant if often loving rip-off of
the Harry potter series, and Slash fan fiction refers to the rather
murky world of same sex pairings. To relate it back to Harry Potter
it would be Harry getting it on with Draco.)
It
follows Cath as she starts her freshman year at college without her
twin who has dumped her to branch out on her own. Throughout the book
she has to deal with her classes, her wild twins problems, her
unstable dad who is unravelling without anyone at home, her runaway
mother trying to get back into her life and her room-mates overly
cheerful boyfriend.
This
book is written for the young adult market. For the nerdy 13-16 year old girl who loves fan fiction. As a 30 year old male I probably should
not have enjoyed the book, however, the writing is solid and the
story so enthralling I couldn't put it down until I finished it.
Don't get me wrong its not Crime and punishment and I had it done in
3 hours, but they where a thoroughly enjoyable 3 hours, filled with
fluff and quite an interesting family dynamic.
The
only thing that detracts is the Simon Snow extracts. You can see the
similarities to Harry Potter however it hasn't replaced Harry in the
universe as he is mentioned in the book, which detracts slightly.
8
out of 10 for an enjoyable bit of rainbows and teenage angst.
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