Fangirl
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4.3 • 133 Ratings
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- £4.99
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
A love story about opening your heart, by Rainbow Rowell, the New York Times bestselling author of Eleanor & Park.
Cath and Wren are identical twins, and until recently they did absolutely everything together. Now they're off to university and Wren's decided she doesn't want to be one half of a pair any more – she wants to dance, meet boys, go to parties and let loose. It's not so easy for Cath. She's horribly shy and has always buried herself in the fan fiction she writes, where she always knows exactly what to say and can write a romance far more intense than anything she's experienced in real life.
Without Wren, Cath is completely on her own and totally outside 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.
Now Cath has to decide whether she's ready to open her heart to new people and new experiences, and she's realizing that there's more to learn about love than she ever thought possible . . .
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell comes with special bonus material; the first chapter from Rainbow's irresistible novel Carry On.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Cath Avery's life has two polestars: Wren, her identical twin, and the Simon Snow series, a Harry Potter like publishing phenomenon that Cath has been reading and rewriting, as a hugely popular fanfiction author for years. While Cath is an expert on Simon's life, she finds her own difficult, especially now that she's starting college and Wren doesn't want them to room together. Since Cath would rather stay in her room and write than do anything involving other people, that first year is terrifying, which she expected, but also heartbreaking and romantic, which she did not. Rowell (Eleanor & Park) blends Cath's first year of college with excerpts of both the "canon" Simon Snow books and Cath's distinctly non-canonical fanfic, to create a funny and tender coming-of-age story that's also the story of a writer finding her voice. Rowell makes all of Cath's relationships with her father; Wren; her acerbic roommate, Reagan; and, especially, Reagan's ex Levi (who practically takes up residence in their room to woo the skeptical and extremely nervous Cath) touching and utterly real. Ages 13 up.
Customer Reviews
Fangirl left me feeling like a fanboy...
I loved Eleanor and Park, so was super excited to read Fangirl. I didn't love it as much as Eleanor and Park, but the relationship between Cath and Levi left me fangirlin'. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Liked but didn’t love.
✨✨BOOK REVIEW✨✨
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
I’ll start off by saying that I enjoyed reading this book. I absolutely LOVED Eleanor & Park and so I was keen to read more from Rainbow Rowell.
There’s no doubt that Rainbow Rowell is a beautiful writer. I easily became lost within the chapters and interesting relationships.
The story follows Cather and Wren, identical twins who are beginning their respective college (university🇬🇧) journeys. It’s clear from the outset that despite having an extremely strong bond that Cather and Wren are very different. Wren is keen to embrace a new change whilst Cather is a bit of a hermit, happy with the status quo.
The book follows Cather and her attempt (of lack of) to adapt into college life. She begins new relationship with various individuals and I really enjoyed watching her character develop. Cather was so likeable, even at times when it was hard to relate to her. I just couldn’t help but appreciate her quirks and unreasonable rationale. It was refreshing to embrace such a unique character.
I’ve never really delved into the world of fan fiction so perhaps that’s the reason why I didn’t quite understand (or appreciate) the Simon Snow chapters. Personally I just wanted to get back to Cather and I found that I wasn’t invested in these sections of the book. I do however appreciate the context of Simon Snow given the books title and Cather’s hobby.
I loved the dynamic between Cather and Levi and my only criticism is that there weren’t enough chapters about them🤣. There are some hard hitting themes in the book such as mental health, abandonment, intimacy and sibling dynamics. I felt that the author addressed these issues subtly but honestly.
I felt like the book ended quite abruptly which is something that never sits well with me. My brain needs closure and I was a bit gutted with Fangirls ending in all honesty.
I liked Fangirl but I didn’t love it.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Disappointing :(
After reading Eleanor and Park I had high hopes for this book but in all honesty I was disappointed. I didn't like the characters and a lot of things were left without conclusions. :(