From the Bookshelf of The Seasonal Reading Challenge…

Fangirl

Rainbow Rowell

Start date: December 1, 2013

Finish date: February 28, 2014

Why we're reading this: This book was chosen for the Winter 2013 Group Read in the category 2013 YA
[close] This book was chosen for the Winter 2013 Group Read in the category 2013 YA

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What Members Thought

Mar 19, 2015 Nancy rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, chicklit

I am not a particular fan of YA, or of chicklit for that matter so perhaps a 2 star rating is a bit unfair. There was not a lot about this book that appealed to me. But saying that, I have read YA I really like and I have also read chicklit which wasn't too bad either. Sadly, for me, this book didn't achieve either. It was just too predictable and I felt it just didn't go anywhere. I got so tired of the Simon Snow excerpts between chapters as well that I barely read them by the end as they just ...more

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Jun 13, 2014 Shaylene rated it it was amazing

I'm very glad to have found Rainbow Rowell and her books. I first read Eleanor and Park and really liked the way it ended- as I thought it was nice to see a different sort of ending. Next I picked up Fangirl, which I liked even better! I thought the characters were so very real, and the premise of the book was different from anything I've read before. The characters didn't really fill your stereotypical roles, but they were real people who behaved as real college students behave. I also, obvious ...more

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Apr 27, 2014 Jessica rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, almost-read, contemporary, 2015-reading-challenge, female-authors, one-word-title

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 because of Simon Snow. This is the first book by Rainbow Rowell that I have read, and I had high expectations. Were they met? In some ways, but I found the book slow going.

Cath, our main character, is having a hard time starting college. She doesn't want to meet people, and has a crippling sort of social anxiety. She doesn't go to the cafeteria for a month because she doesn't know where it is, and she isn't asking. She's also a popular writer of fanfiction in the Simon 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 because of Simon Snow. This is the first book by Rainbow Rowell that I have read, and I had high expectations. Were they met? In some ways, but I found the book slow going.

Cath, our main character, is having a hard time starting college. She doesn't want to meet people, and has a crippling sort of social anxiety. She doesn't go to the cafeteria for a month because she doesn't know where it is, and she isn't asking. She's also a popular writer of fanfiction in the Simon Snow fandom (an obvious Harry Potter knock-off, though strangely enough Harry Potter does exist within the book's universe.) She has a twin sister who she's growing apart from. And she finds the social scene of college to be impossible to navigate, as she's not interested in frat parties or drinking.

Let me say that I related to Cath very much. In fact, she's the reason I kept reading. I myself was once a shy, socially awkward college freshman attending a large state University. I also stayed in my dorm room with the door shut (because I was not interested in the things the other girls were) and read large amounts of fanfiction (on the X-files, to date myself a bit.) I feel that Rowell caught her Cath's personality perfectly. She was sometimes frustrating, as she refused to move outside her comfort zone, but it was consistent with her character.

I thought this was going to be a 5 star read for me. The thing that held it back for me was the lack of forward motion in the plot. I understand that this is a coming of age story, but I sometimes felt the plot meandered around, with no central conflict. I also thought that Cath's love interest was much too perfect, and not believable to me. I wasn't super invested in Wren's plotline either (view spoiler)

Recommended, just know that it's not in a hurry to get anywhere. ...more

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Jan 18, 2016 Matthew rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Great book. I really couldn't put it down! Which is saying a lot, because I'm not usually into YA chicklit, but I gotta say, this was very well-written, and I absolutely loved the characters. It was also a really eye-opening look into fanfiction writers, too!

The ending, though, hit WAY too fast... I feel like she could've kept going, because the story wasn't really done. Way too many loose ends... you know how it goes! ...more

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Sep 11, 2013 Laura rated it really liked it

Shelves: cbre, 2010s

Most books I have been reading lately usually have characters that I can't fully relate to in the story. Fortunately, I was pleased to read a novel with a character closer to my age and also a college student. What made it great for me was that even though I was in no way a fiction/fanfiction writer, I could still relate to the characters very easily. It reminded me of how I get excited about a certain book series, tv show, or any other type of media that was popular.

Though, I'm not really atta ...more

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