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A review by ironfang
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
3.0
An entertaining enough easy read. I absolutely preferred it at the start where Cath's interest in fanfiction felt more like it had a more 'concrete' presence in the book - something safe for her to retreat to in an unfamiliar college setting, the discussions with her lecturer about plagarism, how it was part of her relationship with her twin - as I felt it fell out of relevance as the book went. Even with the snippets of Simon Snow books and Cath's fanfics sprinkled throughout, they never felt like they connected all that much towards the end.
When the the initial hook of Cath's fandom investment and the ways it's come up in her life disappearing over time, the book ended up feeling like a fairly by the numbers college romance but the characters were likeable enough. Ultimately I don't really think I have any strong opinions on Fangirl either way, it was a solidly 'fine' read if the concept grabs you. Just don't expect too much depth in the fandom aspect, despite the title.
(Could not suspend disbelief when I learned that Simon Snow, this wizard magic school franchise juggernaut, didn't replace Harry Potter in universe but existed alongside it. The latter comes up once in the entire book! There'd be overlap in those fandom spaces of SOME kind, even if it an off-the-cuff comparison of the two! This is a very small thing though, but was a looming shadow of 'nah, no way' after learning it for me.)
When the the initial hook of Cath's fandom investment and the ways it's come up in her life disappearing over time, the book ended up feeling like a fairly by the numbers college romance but the characters were likeable enough. Ultimately I don't really think I have any strong opinions on Fangirl either way, it was a solidly 'fine' read if the concept grabs you. Just don't expect too much depth in the fandom aspect, despite the title.
(Could not suspend disbelief when I learned that Simon Snow, this wizard magic school franchise juggernaut, didn't replace Harry Potter in universe but existed alongside it. The latter comes up once in the entire book! There'd be overlap in those fandom spaces of SOME kind, even if it an off-the-cuff comparison of the two! This is a very small thing though, but was a looming shadow of 'nah, no way' after learning it for me.)