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carlisajc's review against another edition
5.0
Fangirl is lovely, easily one of my favorite contemporaries at the moment. I love its easy style and its lovable characters. And it’s just funny. And relatable. And just wonderful.
I really relate to Cath. I first read Fangirl during my first year of college so I had just experienced everything that Cath had experienced. Stressful roommates, hard college classes and tough professors, *ahem* boys, moving away from home. It was all very new to me so I loved that I could read these experiences from Cath’s point of view. She’s shy like I am and is a total book nerd like I am…I just feel like we would be best friends in real life and I love when I can connect with a character like that.
Also, Levi. I love me some Levi.
I’ve heard people say that they are wary of reading it because it just seems “fluffy,” and I totally get that. A lot of YA contemporaries are totally fluffy…but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. And I don’t think Fangirl necessarily falls into that category. Sure it’s about an 18-year-old girl and, yes, she has run-in’s with attractive boys…but she’s also dealing with really hard family matters and even some depression. It’s a very realistic book, one with feelings and anxieties that most people would be able to relate with on some level. At least that’s what I think.
And reading it a second time, over a year later, I still just love it. I’m still in college so I still have those worries that Cather does, though hopefully to a much lesser degree. Anyway, I really enjoy this book. I think people of any age who like reading, who like contemporaries…will like this book.
I really relate to Cath. I first read Fangirl during my first year of college so I had just experienced everything that Cath had experienced. Stressful roommates, hard college classes and tough professors, *ahem* boys, moving away from home. It was all very new to me so I loved that I could read these experiences from Cath’s point of view. She’s shy like I am and is a total book nerd like I am…I just feel like we would be best friends in real life and I love when I can connect with a character like that.
Also, Levi. I love me some Levi.
I’ve heard people say that they are wary of reading it because it just seems “fluffy,” and I totally get that. A lot of YA contemporaries are totally fluffy…but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. And I don’t think Fangirl necessarily falls into that category. Sure it’s about an 18-year-old girl and, yes, she has run-in’s with attractive boys…but she’s also dealing with really hard family matters and even some depression. It’s a very realistic book, one with feelings and anxieties that most people would be able to relate with on some level. At least that’s what I think.
And reading it a second time, over a year later, I still just love it. I’m still in college so I still have those worries that Cather does, though hopefully to a much lesser degree. Anyway, I really enjoy this book. I think people of any age who like reading, who like contemporaries…will like this book.
clowdywings's review against another edition
4.0
So enjoyable! Cath's growth throughout the book, in both confidence and with others, made me so proud of her. This was such a cute story about a fangirl growing into the college life. I always get inspired by this book to write my own stories and fanfic.
12dejamoo's review against another edition
4.5
I as good as read this in one day and I had a very good time.
ha_001's review against another edition
2.0
i gave it two stars because this a nostalgic read to me but if don't mind fanfiction writing and cringy stereotypes than you can read this book
courtnoodles's review against another edition
4.0
As a college student who is heavily invested in fandom (although not as heavy as Cath), I related to this book on a deep level. There are certain details that were missing that I thought would have added to the story, but her writing style is easy and captivating. Nothing too dramatic happens, but I think it's the simple, almost mundane tellings of everyday college life, friends, and falling in love that make this story so touching. Sweet, sexy, silky, addictive, a wonderful read.
brisingr's review against another edition
2.0
It seems I am reading much better if I am not announcing my current reads on goodreads until I'm actually done with them, hmm....
2.5 As usual, expected much more, seeing how hyped this book was. As usual, Rainbow Rowell falls short for me.
2.5 As usual, expected much more, seeing how hyped this book was. As usual, Rainbow Rowell falls short for me.
miaruthdp's review against another edition
5.0
This is super lovely. Loved it so much. My favorite Rainbow Rowell book so far! I've heard a lot of great comments about Fangirl but I was never really interested. I don't know what came to me, but I suddenly decided to give it a try. And oh man, it was amazing. The writing is fabulous. The characters are adorable. I loved everyone!!!! The character developments are awesome! I really liked Cath and Wren's relationship as sisters and how they care for each other. It's so special, knowing their family history. I am so inspired by how their dad raised them and loved them despite of his condition and everything that happened. Reagan was super cool as a friend. Bitchy but caring. And LEVI! He's everything! He's the sweetest and he makes me so happy. He's so easy and funny and understanding and perfect!!!! Just swoon-worthy!!!!!!! The story itself is so relatable. I bet each and every fangirl out there once experienced to be looked at as weird and deviant. But who cares?! Personally, I fangirl so hard. Some things and some people means so much to me that not expressing what I feel about them would be impossible. And I don't even care if the people I adore don't even know I exist. It's not a waste of time because it is what makes me happy.
crocmaster17's review against another edition
3.0
So, one of my friends lent me this book and asked me very politely to read it. Naturally, I didn't read it until this week because I was putting off reading a book club book. Woops. Anyhow, this book was cute and fluffy. Very YA. VERY 2011-2013. While reading it, I got this weird sense of melancholic nostalgia for an experience I'll never have. But, I suppose that's just how a class of 2020 high school grad will feel reading about a college experience that was forever just out of reach. But that's like really emo. womp womp. thank you hannah for pushing me to read it!
chadstatton's review against another edition
3.0
Admittedly, young adult fiction is not the type of thing I usually read. I have read and enjoyed some post apocalyptic young adult fiction like Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games trilogy, James Dashner’s Maze Runner series and even Veronic Roth’s Divergent series. So I’m not opposed to young adult books. My bent is more toward the science fiction elements of the these stories and not so much the romance. I know that Rainbow Rowell is not that sort of young adult author and Eleanor and Park is not the kind of book that I would ever spend precious reading time on but I did hear here speak in an interview about this book and it seemed like an interesting premise so I gave it a shot.
Cath Avery is a freshmen at the University of Omaha, Lincoln and she is really there because that’s where her identical twin sister wanted to go. Cath is a book nerd that feels more at home with the characters in a fictional world about a boy wizard, (that bears an intentional resemblance to a certain fictional boy wizard of whom we are all acquainted), than she does with the characters that she meets at school. Ms. Rowell does create mostly believable characters here, Reagan - Cath’s complete opposite roommate who feels pity, then a fondness for Cath and ultimately becomes a good friend. Levi - Reagan’s ex boyfriend and smiling bobblehead. Wren Cath’s twin sister and onetime partner in fanfiction who now wants nothing to do with her.
I thought that the book was going to be about a fangirl and what these fictional worlds mean to people and about the communities that fans build. It started out that way for about the first chapter and then it became a coming of age story that’s been done so many times that the by the end the only thing original was the excerpts from the fictional world of Simon Snow. Even that got pretty tedious at the end. I wanted to read a book about fandom and that’s not what this is at all. It’s a good story for what it is and I think the characters are mostly believable as well as the dialogue. I did get really sick of one particular character telling that special someone that he really, really, really liked her. These are college kids, not middle schoolers.
Cath Avery is a freshmen at the University of Omaha, Lincoln and she is really there because that’s where her identical twin sister wanted to go. Cath is a book nerd that feels more at home with the characters in a fictional world about a boy wizard, (that bears an intentional resemblance to a certain fictional boy wizard of whom we are all acquainted), than she does with the characters that she meets at school. Ms. Rowell does create mostly believable characters here, Reagan - Cath’s complete opposite roommate who feels pity, then a fondness for Cath and ultimately becomes a good friend. Levi - Reagan’s ex boyfriend and smiling bobblehead. Wren Cath’s twin sister and onetime partner in fanfiction who now wants nothing to do with her.
I thought that the book was going to be about a fangirl and what these fictional worlds mean to people and about the communities that fans build. It started out that way for about the first chapter and then it became a coming of age story that’s been done so many times that the by the end the only thing original was the excerpts from the fictional world of Simon Snow. Even that got pretty tedious at the end. I wanted to read a book about fandom and that’s not what this is at all. It’s a good story for what it is and I think the characters are mostly believable as well as the dialogue. I did get really sick of one particular character telling that special someone that he really, really, really liked her. These are college kids, not middle schoolers.
kristinseeberg's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0