To me, this book was perfect. Between Rowell’s flawless turns of phrase, her on-point descriptions of adapting to college, and her loving nods to fandom, I tore through this novel and loved every moment. The premise is this: Cath and her identical twin sister Wren had been, for most of their lives, mega-fans of the Simon Snow series (a Harry Potter analog.) Both were avid fanfiction writers and consumers, and they were also involved with cosplay, creating and sharing fanart, the works. Upon entering college, though, Wren seems to be taking a step back from fandom and from Cath herself, leaving Cath feeling abandoned and confused. Initially, she dives deeper into completing her massive, ongoing Simon Snow fanfiction — a piece which has tens of thousands of adoring fans who know her pseudonym by name and has even spawned fanart of its own — but she finds it harder and harder to balance her updates online with various obligations at school. The other key players in Cath’s life become Reagan, her roommate; Levi, Reagan’s boyfriend; and Nick, a classmate from her advanced literature writing class.
I’ve seen criticism that Fangirl perpetuates the worst stereotypes about fangirls and fandom and gives lit-nerds “The Big Bang Theory” treatment (readers laugh at them, not with them,) but I just didn’t interpret the book this way at all. It’s true that Cath is painfully socially inept at times and she is also naive in a way that one wouldn’t necessarily expect from someone who writes “slash” fanfiction, especially when contrasted with her sophisticated, outgoing sister Wren. But even as someone who would rarely be described by anyone as introverted, I identified with Cath throughout the book, demonstrating that personality quirks aside, many human emotions and experiences are universal. Who hasn’t ever felt defensive about something they love in the fact of ridicule or even gentle teasing? Who hasn’t, at any point, ever misunderstood the intentions — platonic or romantic — of someone close to them? Hasn’t everyone had a time of feeling stressed and confused by someone in their life who they thought they knew acting wildly out of character? I didn’t see any of Cath’s personality elements as stereotypical flaws, but as genuine and understandable reactions to unfamiliar and jarring situations.
I could go on at length about so many other aspects of this book that I loved, but really I just recommend that everyone experience it for themselves. It’s really that good, and I can’t believe it took me so long to read Rainbow Rowell. I’m remedy-ing that as we speak!
Congratulations on your half Cannonball! I have trouble deciding which is my favourite Rowell novel depending on what time of day it is or how I’m feeling, but this is certainly the one of her novels that felt the closest to my own experience with going to college. It took me nearly a decade after graduating to realise, accept and adapt to how introverted I actually am, and how anxious I feel in unfamiliar situations, with new people.
I’ve never been a fan fiction reader or writer, but I’ve always been a voracious reader, and I’ve certainly always found fictional worlds to be a great way of escaping when my own life was difficult. I loved all the characters in this so much, even the ones I wanted to slap or at least shake vigorously. I agree with you, this book was perfect.
Thank you! And yes, absolutely, the feeling of necessity of diving into fiction to escape my world is something I connected strongly with, even as an extrovert. So Cath’s impulses and catharses felt very real to me, even if her social tendencies aren’t very like my own. Similarly, even though I didn’t mention this in the review, I was so impressed by how well-rounded and realistic the supporting characters are. There were parts of me and people I know in everyone, and like you said, even when I wanted to shake some of them, I still partly understood where they were coming from. None of their bad choices were ever moustache-twirly; they were just real human mistakes.
Clearly I could go on and on.
What a great book with which to reach your Cannonball – Congratulations! I think Fangirl is her most detailed novel, but I am also very fond of Attachments.
Thank you! I owe “discovering” Rowell to the Cannonball, so it seems fitting I’d use her to hit something of a milestone!