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A review by baoluong
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
4.0
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell delved into some subjects that most mainstream authors are not concerned with now these day. Though homosexuality is touched upon in this story through the fanfiction medium, it does pose a question as to what women find sensual and is writing about it considered porn? Is it more acceptable to films? What about the exploitation of sex vs. love? Can one differentiate the two or are they synonymous.
There is also the matter of the love interest and how he, Levi, is not the typical model by which most YA novels seem to follow. It's really up to the reader then to determine for themselves whether or not appearances should follow to a T and if the story is really about "How to find yourself a boyfriend".
It's deeper than that because the theme focuses on forgiveness and both first and second chances. Was it acceptable that Cather and Wren's mother left or did she do the right thing to admit that she was not capable to take care of anyone and walk away. Maybe having no mother is better than missing one in the beginning. If their mother stayed would she have loved them anymore or learned to at least. Is love unconditional and granted or are we all just left to our own devices to fend for ourselves. Personally, I believe that no one chooses to be born into the world so those that brought you here are responsible in every way to ensure your basic necessities at the very least if not love you (it seems that Cather and Wren's mother didn't even pay child support and she created a new family to start over), but the children should also be mindful and understand that it's okay to think when they're young that they are their parent's whole world, but it becomes an unacceptable flawed idea when they grow up to disregard the lives that their parents lived before they had them and the lives they still continue to live now. At one point, I though Cath was behaving as a selfish brat when she refused to even empathize with her mother, but I suppose my empathy was thrown out the window when Laura left Cath for the second time.
I found myself coming to these conclusions throughout the book which was why I think so highly of it. It's more than Cath being left by Wren. It's about her trying to become a separate entity while having an identity stemming from the same roots as her twin. At times, I found myself frustrated with Cath and her anti-social ways and I had this false perception that it was a game to her, but oh how wrong I was. It was not a game and I realized that when she spoke about her Dad, how he would go off the edge and be consumed by simply thinking-forever thinking. Cath was more than an introvert, she would be paralyzed by panic attacks with just the thought of touching people (she was late to her classes for the first two weeks of her freshman year because she was scared to walk in crowed hallways). It's quite beautiful actually how Cath is the half of the twins with their father's madness and Wren's half portray their mother's fearlessness.
All in all, I found this book simply amazing.
There is also the matter of the love interest and how he, Levi, is not the typical model by which most YA novels seem to follow. It's really up to the reader then to determine for themselves whether or not appearances should follow to a T and if the story is really about "How to find yourself a boyfriend".
It's deeper than that because the theme focuses on forgiveness and both first and second chances. Was it acceptable that Cather and Wren's mother left or did she do the right thing to admit that she was not capable to take care of anyone and walk away. Maybe having no mother is better than missing one in the beginning. If their mother stayed would she have loved them anymore or learned to at least. Is love unconditional and granted or are we all just left to our own devices to fend for ourselves. Personally, I believe that no one chooses to be born into the world so those that brought you here are responsible in every way to ensure your basic necessities at the very least if not love you (it seems that Cather and Wren's mother didn't even pay child support and she created a new family to start over), but the children should also be mindful and understand that it's okay to think when they're young that they are their parent's whole world, but it becomes an unacceptable flawed idea when they grow up to disregard the lives that their parents lived before they had them and the lives they still continue to live now. At one point, I though Cath was behaving as a selfish brat when she refused to even empathize with her mother, but I suppose my empathy was thrown out the window when Laura left Cath for the second time.
I found myself coming to these conclusions throughout the book which was why I think so highly of it. It's more than Cath being left by Wren. It's about her trying to become a separate entity while having an identity stemming from the same roots as her twin. At times, I found myself frustrated with Cath and her anti-social ways and I had this false perception that it was a game to her, but oh how wrong I was. It was not a game and I realized that when she spoke about her Dad, how he would go off the edge and be consumed by simply thinking-forever thinking. Cath was more than an introvert, she would be paralyzed by panic attacks with just the thought of touching people (she was late to her classes for the first two weeks of her freshman year because she was scared to walk in crowed hallways). It's quite beautiful actually how Cath is the half of the twins with their father's madness and Wren's half portray their mother's fearlessness.
All in all, I found this book simply amazing.