Book #27

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

445 pages

 

I normally wouldn't have read a book by the same author of another book I've just read so close together, but a friend let me borrow this book after hearing how much I enjoyed Eleanor & Park.

Wow. I am truly impressed by this author. If I hadn't known she'd written this one, I would have no clue it was from the same author as Eleanor & Park. Totally different stories, totally different tones, total different writing styles. Both of which I enjoyed.

Cath is a college freshman, trying to keep her introverted self preoccupied as her father suffers a mental breakdown at home, her twin sister becomes a college frat rat (it's OK, Wren, we've all been there) and she tries to get along with her random roommate. Along the way, we find out she writes fan fiction for the Simon Snow series, which is a Harry-Potter like book series/movie franchise. Simon Snow has been such a big part of her life for so long, and she has thousands of fans online who read her fan fiction.

Also in the picture is her roommate's ex-boyfriend, Levi. Levi is a country-boy charmer, who seems to be the only one of her college campus that is interested in her Simon Snow stories.

Traveling through freshman year with Cath was filled with moments of remembrance about my own freshman year. Every character that got fleshed out, I thought: "I knew someone like that." These characters seemed very real to me, and I got the feeling Rainbow Rowell felt the same way.

I very much enjoyed this book! Will continue to read whatever else Rainbow sends our way.

Next up: The Little Girl Who Fought the Depression: Shirley Temple and 1930s America by John F. Kasson