From the shelf: Fangirl

Title: Fangirl
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Young Adult, Romance
Type of book: Paperback
Date read: September 3-5, 2014

Summary (cr: goodreads)

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?

My Review: (also in goodreads)

Other books: Eleanor and Park

The reason why I gave this an easy 5 stars is the fact that I can relate to Cath. A lot. A person who could live off at home in front of her laptop writing fanfiction. And the immense happiness she felt when one person would even dare to dedicate his time to read it. Like any other books, readers are demanding but equally very passionate about the story that one may feel pressured in writing the next chapter. But unlike books, fanfiction could only borrow the characters and plot. This is a book of finding oneself. Although at first I was irritated at what Wren when she left her sister alone when she was dependent on her, I could sympathize at her need to create something out of her relationship with her sister. But when she came back to what they had, she now knows that she should work to fit into Cath's world something she worked hard for with Levi and Raegan. So maybe being apart was the best decision after all. I was having goosebumps on the part where both Cath and Wren cried clutching the last book of their well-loved series. That is what I feel whenever a new book from a well-loved author comes out. So those fellow book nerds who got to the point in writing fanfiction read this, I would definitely say that Rainbow Rowell captured the general feeling a fanfic author has: the obsession, the need to finish and get the chapter worthwhile out there...also the slump, especially the slump.

"Fangirl" gets: ★★★★★ (5/5)

Till the next read...