JJ Reads

Coming off a long reading hiatus, this book was the perfect one to bring me back to my bookish happy place. Not only did the descriptive title and fun cover scream out my name, but also the promising reviews and intriguing summary. “Fangirl” is a coming of age story that those of us who have a little geek in us can relate to.

Cath (Cather) and Wren are twin sisters embarking on that journey called College, only Wren is the only twin sister that is excited about it. Having always been together and sharing everything since their birth, Cath is a little distressed about the fact that her sister Wren wants to explore beyond twin-hood and doesn’t want to room with her. Wren being the outgoing twin and Cath being the total opposite, made for some lonely and depressing days (and nights) for Cath. She no longer had her sister by her side to tell everything to or to be the one to depend on, and meanwhile Wren was having the time of her life with a social calendar that put any socialite to shame.

I felt especially connected to Cath in this story because she personified the geek in me who loves books and fangirls over things that others may find trivial. Cath is a fan fiction writer that enjoys a lot of popularity online, but unfortunately, her social skills lack when it comes to making connections outside of the web. Her obsession with “Simon Snow”, the hero in the fictional books Cath writes fan fiction about, and “Baz”, Simon Snow’s archenemy and love interest, has taken over her life in such a way that she would rather live in this fictional world that the books’ author created and that Cath so passionately has transformed via her fan fiction.

Cath is put in many situations where she has to decide between making her fan fiction fans happy, taking care of her mentally unstable father, talking sense into her borderline alcoholic sister, or snap her laptop shut and look at what’s been waiting in front of her all along. I’d have to say that my second favorite character would have to be Levi, the boy who can’t seem to stop being overly nice to everyone, because that’s just his nature, and he’s perfectly happy being that way.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves contemporary literature or just wants to plain indulge their inner geek. Rainbow Rowell’s writing is amazing and has a way of making you fall in love with her characters. I will definitely be reading more from this author. In a rating scale of 1-5, I give this book 4 stars.

Review also posted at Young Adult Hollywood