Fangirl

by Rainbow Rowell

You may be thinking to yourself, didn't we just talk about Rainbow Rowell?

Yes, gentle reader, yes we did.

Rainbow Rowell is fast becoming one of my favorite authors.

Rainbow Rowell gets it, gentle reader. She really captures what it is like to be young, or younger, or perhaps just a human at all. I'm trying very hard here to distance myself from the fact that I identified very personally and strongly with Cath, the the heroine, and focus on how realistic the dialogue and situations were. There was a scene in particular where Cath meets a girl in the library, and it turns out that the girl is reading her fanfiction online, and they have a geeky little laugh over fanfiction and how much they enjoy it. There is nothing particularly deep or plot-moving in the scene, but it so perfectly captured the quiet, honest, geeky moments of joy and instant camaraderie that form when two nerds meet.

The cover art is by Noelle Stevenson, who is a prolific artist on tumblr, often posting fan doodles of geeky fandoms such as Lord of the Rings and The Avengers. Her art is, I feel, a perfect choice. Additionally, the layout of the "Encyclowikia" page, and the online fanfiction pages within the novel leant a sort of credibility and realness to the experience of reading Cath's story. Although the novel was not written in a diary format, I felt as though I was reading someone's blog, with links to fanfiction pages as they were relevant to the blog entries. It's a style that is really appealing and easy to digest.

Cath is absolutely one of my favorite characters so far, battling for position number one with Siobhan from The Story of Owen. Both of these characters are strong and focused on their passions, dedicating themselves to their crafts while cultivating relationships with people around them. They stay absolutely true to themselves. In fact, the one criticism I have of Fangirl is that the romance was absolutely unnecessary. It was executed well, but it didn't add anything to Cath. Cath was just as interesting on her own. She was just as successful on her own. It did, however, make me smile to see her beau, Levi, taking such an interest in her passions. I loved how he would tell her to go write, how he would leave her time to write, how much he valued her happiness and her spirit.

Fangirl reminded me of being young and in college, of feeling optimistic and in love and ready to write and create. I think for a younger reader, they might have those feelings too, even if they are still in college or high school. That youthful passion doesn't have to be a memory at that point.



On a personal, reflective note, these are two places I marked in the book, where I had to set it down for a bit.

1. "I don't just kiss people. Kisses aren't.... just with me. That's why I've been avoiding you. That's why I'd like to avoid you now." (p 223)

2. "I don't trust anybody. Not anybody. And the more I care about someone, the more sure I am they're going to get tired of me and take off."
Levi's face clouded over. Not grimly, she thought -- thoughtfully. In thoughtful clouds.
"That's crazy," he said.
"I know," Cath agreed, feeling almost relieved. "Exactly. I'm crazy." (p 281)

Fangirl  is definitely on my list of books to buy in September!