From the Bookshelf of Addicted to YA…

Fangirl

Rainbow Rowell

Start date: November 1, 2013

Finish date: November 30, 2013

Discussion: Stand Alone

Why we're reading this: It won the poll for the stand alone book
[close] It won the poll for the stand alone book

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Stand Alone

* Stand Alone- Better Than Revenge
By Bailey · 2 posts · 28 views

last updated Sep 15, 2025 07:03AM

* Stand Alone- Maybe Meant to Be
By Bailey · 3 posts · 30 views

last updated Aug 18, 2025 12:04PM

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What Members Thought

Sep 14, 2015 Colette added it

DNF

4 likes · Like · see review

Aug 02, 2013 Kim rated it it was ok

Shelves: teen-romance, realistic-fiction, fan-fiction, ya-botm-challenge-2013, young-adult

I am obviously one of the few but I really didn't like this book at all. I did listen to it, so maybe it has something to do with it. I read Eleanor and Park and really enjoyed it, even though it wasn't my typical read. I was hoping the same would ring true with Fangirl. It did not. I couldn't stand majority of the characters. I found Cath so annoying. The romance made me want to slap the characters half the time and puke the other half, and I am usually such hopeless romantic. What really bugge ...more

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Oct 15, 2014 Jenn rated it really liked it

This book....it was so full! So many things happening at once. It was just an ordinary story, but with so many themes running through it - I can hardly decide where to start.

Within the first few minutes of reading, I was mad. As a rabid Potterhead I saw the blatant rip off that was Simon Snow instantly, and it made me angry. I even stopped and googled for more information, and it wasn't until reading an interview by the author stating that she just needed something to stand in for Harry's world This book....it was so full! So many things happening at once. It was just an ordinary story, but with so many themes running through it - I can hardly decide where to start.

Within the first few minutes of reading, I was mad. As a rabid Potterhead I saw the blatant rip off that was Simon Snow instantly, and it made me angry. I even stopped and googled for more information, and it wasn't until reading an interview by the author stating that she just needed something to stand in for Harry's world that I got over it and decided to enjoy it for the fangirl aspects it provided.

And then...there was so much. Relationships - between sisters, mother-daughter, daughter-father, boy-girl (healthy and unhealthy), between roommates, even wizard-vampire, and then the college experience, anxiety problems, writing struggles, plagiarism, excessive drinking - it was everything from every YA novel all crammed into one. It left little time to concentrate on any one theme, and just when you felt like you were diving more deeply into something, it was time to forget about that issue and focus on the next. Complicated. A little disorienting. Busy.

But interesting. I felt a bit of foreshadowing when Cath was reading an old fic to Levi and didn't have an ending to give him. She said something about it being left to the reader to decide. And she went on to not mention if she finished Carry On in time, or where things lead with Levi, or what her Mom's deal really was. Can I just say, I hate that? It reads lazy. There's no mystery there. This wasn't a thriller. The ending dragged on a bit as the author struggled to tie up all the loose ends, and it felt like she just got lazy and said, "screw it, I'll just leave it up to their imaginations and claim intentional creativity".

The only guess I can make here is that she wanted to inspire her own fanfiction. She wanted the readers to perpetuate this story - to finish Simon's story, to finish Levi & Cath's - like a giant secret poll so she could decide where to lead them next, if anywhere. I could get behind the premise of that, but it still feels lazy to me.

And why was there no mention of Cath wearing glasses until 3/4 of the way through the book, and then they could stop saying it? It was too late for me. My mental picture of her didn't have glasses by the time she said so, so I just decided to ignore that.

I rated it as high as I did because despite all of this, it kept my interest, I liked Levi a lot, and I appreciate a fellow fangirl. Worth a read! ...more

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Dec 13, 2014 Bernadette rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, theme-coming-of-age, genre-romance, theme-college, genre-contemporary

I feel like Rainbow Rowell wrote this book especially for me, I can relate to it so well. Fanfiction has been part of my life for so long, and usually it's not written about in a positive light, if it's written about at all. But lately I feel like many authors have been coming out and praising fanfiction writers, and not only does Rainbow Rowell do that, but she rewards them as well by writing Fangirl, and Cath. ...more

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Oct 09, 2014 Kristie rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya-lit-realistic

I really liked this book, but I was annoyed by a few nit picky things, mostly involving the fanfic. In general though, I enjoyed it. I wish there were more scenes with Cath and Wren and their mother, though. Overall, a fun read (particularly for HP nerds).

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