Fangirl in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Nov 30, 2013 Molly rated it it was amazing

Shelves: realistic-fiction, kindle, on-the-classroom-shelf, recommended, ya-lit, 4-and-a-half-stars, read-in-2013

This was, in a word, delightful. Twin sisters Cather and Wren Avery (seriously) are about to start their freshman year of college. Although they’ve been joined at the hip since birth, Wren is ready to branch out, and for the first time in 18 years, Cath finds herself living with someone other than her twin sister. The girls’ mother left when they were eight, so they’ve been raised by their single father. He’s basically a creative genius, but suffers from some pretty serious highs and lows (manic This was, in a word, delightful. Twin sisters Cather and Wren Avery (seriously) are about to start their freshman year of college. Although they’ve been joined at the hip since birth, Wren is ready to branch out, and for the first time in 18 years, Cath finds herself living with someone other than her twin sister. The girls’ mother left when they were eight, so they’ve been raised by their single father. He’s basically a creative genius, but suffers from some pretty serious highs and lows (manic depression, it would seem, although Rowell never gives it a name), so it’s understandable that Cath would have a lot to be worried about when leaving home for the first time. She’s always been the more reserved twin, but having Wren around allowed Cath to be outgoing...without actually having to be outgoing. People in high school accepted the two as a package deal, and Cath was happy to tag along. She and Wren also wrote fan fiction stories about Simon Snow, who is basically off-brand Harry Potter. The twins wrote together for most of their teen years, as the Simon Snow book series wore on, with the 8th and final volume scheduled to be released in the spring of 2012, the end of the girls’ freshman year. Although Wren loses interest as college approaches, Cath only becomes more wrapped up in the world of Simon, where she is a pretty big deal. She’s in the midst of a novel-length work called Carry On, Simon Snow, which is meant to cover Cath’s version of Simon’s 8th and final year of wizarding school. She has thousands of readers (and is apparently “weirdly huge” in Japan, which cracks me up for some reason), and more fan mail and positive commentary than she can keep up with. Yet Cath begins her freshman year with a surly roommate and a pathological fear of speaking to strangers. She actually spends the first few weeks living off of protein bars (though she does meet Wren for lunch a few times a week) because she’s afraid to go to the cafeteria by herself. Eventually, her roommate Reagan steps in and gives her some tough love, but it takes a while for Cath to come out of her shell.

The one class Cath is actually looking forward to, and the one time she isn’t painfully shy, is Fiction Writing, a class for upper-classmen that required special permission to take. Seeing as she’s written thousands upon thousands of words of fanfiction, Cath is pretty certain she’ll excel here, and things look up even more when she meets Nick, the cute hipster who happens to sit in front of her. Nick is struggling a bit and seems intimidated by Cath’s writing ability, so the two agree to team up and be partners on any future writing assignments. Meanwhile, they meet every Tuesday and Thursday to work on a shared story. Cath can’t decide if these meetings are dates or not, but she enjoys working with Nick, even if it does take time away from writing about Simon. However, when she’s asked to hand in her first solo short story, Cath decides to write a new fic about Simon and Baz (the Draco Malfoy of the Simon Snow universe), and is shocked when her professor gives her an F -- for plagiarism. This brings up an interesting academic point...in creative writing, can we consider fanfiction plagiarized? I mean, from a publishing standpoint it’s absolutely clear, but it’s an academic gray area. As Cath herself says, she’s not claiming to have created the characters or the world, she’s just “borrowing” them and moving them around. It also hits on some of Cath’s deeper fears about her own writing -- she feels stymied when trying to create something outside of Simon’s universe. Even working with Nick on “their” story, Cath is more of an editor or “story stylist” than co-author. Cath has always been a writer and always identified herself as a writer, but she’s faced with a terrifying prospect -- what if she isn’t actually creative? (view spoiler) I loved the pacing up until the last few chapters, and then I sort of felt like...well, Cath and Wren’s father in a manic episode, actually! I mean, there is something sort of inherently...lazy? about fanfiction in that so much of the work has been done for you. Say the word “Hogwarts” and you’ve already set the scene -- no need to go into detail describing the castle because JKR did that for you. Mention the name Draco Malfoy and a dozen adjectives spring to mind. No need to develop him as a pretentious prick, because again, JKR did that for you. But at the same time, the best pieces of fanfiction read like they could take place in that world, so it does require a certain amount of talent and ability to ape the author’s writing style (that’s why I’m not sure “lazy” is really the proper word!).

I’ve read a few reviews complaining that Cath is so meek and frustrating as a character, but I could completely relate to her because I basically was that person my freshman year of college. Not quite to the same extreme (although I’m fairly certain I wouldn’t have braved the cafeteria by myself in the first few months either!), and I was a reader rather than writer of fanfiction, but I can understand being so terrified of everyone that you just want to curl into a ball on your bunk bed and cry. I spent many nights that first year sitting in my room, hearing all of the people in my residence hall being all cheery and friendly and being absolutely petrified to go out there and join in. There was something comforting about the world of Harry Potter (this was when only the first...4? books had been released, so the possibilities were endless!), so I feel like I kind of sank into that world a lot my first year of college, via oh so much fanfic. Granted, I never wrote any of my own (negative criticism is tough to take, and people on the Internet are bitches, did you know?), but trust me when I say I read A LOT of the stuff. So yes, I can relate to Cath here, and to me her situation rang true. I was lucky enough to fall into a wonderful and loving group of friends, and by the end of the year I had my shit together -- as does Cath! Thanks to tough love from Reagan, and a burgeoning relationship with Levi (she spends the first few months thinking he’s Reagan’s boyfriend, and I think it’s a mark of how much like Cath I am that it never occurred to me that we were all supposed to realize they were “just friends.”), Cath eventually figures out how to manage freshman year. Her ending to me felt realistic, not idealized (even if it is happy!).

I loved how Rowell created her characters here -- there are just these tiny little details that tell you so much about a person. For instance, Cath and Wren’s mother chose their names because she didn’t realize she was carrying twins and had only chosen one name: Catherine. Cath’s story to Levi about how her mom “didn’t feel like” coming up with a second name pretty much says everything you need to know about Mama Avery. I also like that Cath and Wren are sort of like the two different versions of a college freshman (perhaps more extreme) -- you have the quiet one who wants to study and keep her nose clean, and then the one who’s ready to paaaar-tay! Granted, there are degrees of both, and some people vacillate from one extreme to the other. I actually found myself more annoyed with Wren than Cath most of the time -- it’s pretty shitty that she all but drops her sister once school starts to hang out with her “cooler” roommate. I kind of wanted to shake her and tell her to go be nice to her sister, because she was having a hard time. But at the same time, Rowell lets us see that maybe Wren just needs a break -- having spent most of her life making sure her sister was included, maybe Wren just needs to look out for Wren for a while. (view spoiler)

Minus my one tiny quibble about pacing towards the end, there is nothing I did not adore about this book. Every chapter begins with a piece of a Simon Snow story -- either the “original” or a piece of fanfic written by Cath. Rowell gives us just enough detail about Simon’s world without it completely derailing her true narrative, which I appreciated (Douglas Coupland could take a lesson from that...I’m still pissed off about the hot mess that was The Gum Thief). It allowed us to learn about the books (I’m sure for legal reasons she couldn’t use actual Harry Potter, I bet that shit’s expensive!) without just having Cath or someone else recite an awkward monologue about the wonders of Simon. It was a very elegant way of including the information and paralleling the events of the chapter, without beating you over the head with it. I’m pretty sure I want to read everything Rowell has ever written, and also give this book to every awkward teenaged girl I know!

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Apr 30, 2019 Sarah rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-fiction, coming-of-age, ya-romance, ya-fantasy, audiobook

Cath is a freshman at the University of Nebraska. She is a bit awkward, prefers late night library writing sessions to parties and is struggling to fit in IRL. Her people exist online, both fictional characters from a Harry Potter like universe, and real life fans of her Baz/Simon (think Draco/Harry) ff. I really liked Cath. Her struggles feel heartbreaking while at the same time she doesn't wallow in self pity. I loved her friendship and evolving relationship with Levi. I thought Nick, Reagan, ...more

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Oct 03, 2013 pianogal rated it really liked it

Shelves: pop-culture, z2013-reads

Had to check it out twice, but I finally finished. And while I really enjoyed reading this one, the ending frustrated me. It was one of those where we work so hard and travel with these characters and them poof! the story is over and everything is resolved. Yeah! *sticks tongue out* I wanted more details about how Professor Piper felt about Cath's real story. I wanted to read more of the plot. I hate when authors cut us off like this. Sigh.

But the rest of the book was good. It was easy to relate ...more

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Jul 25, 2013 Gayle rated it it was amazing

Shelves: kindle, 2014

I started this book at about 11:30 last night. I only stopped reading it because I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. Picked it back up again this afternoon and spent the last three hours holed up, steadily reading. I ignored my boyfriend, my cell phone, the outside world. Loved it! ...more

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