Fangirl

A Novel

By: Rainbow Rowell

Narrated by: Maxwell Caulfield, Rainbow Rowell, Rebecca Lowman

With a new introduction!

In Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl, Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan, but for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she's really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it's what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath's sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can't let go. She doesn't want to.

Now that they're going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn't want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She's got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can't stop worrying about her dad, who's loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

A New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of 2013

A New York Times Best Seller!

©2013 Rainbow Rowell (P)2024 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“Absolutely captivating.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“A funny and tender coming-of-age story that's also the story of a writer finding her voice...touching and utterly real.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“The magic here is cast not with wands but with Rowell's incredible ability to build complex, vivid, troubling and triumphant relationships...Fans of Eleanor & Park and other bookish, nerdy types will thrill at finding such a fantastic and lasting depiction of one of their own.”—Booklist (starred review)

Two books for the price of one-but I only wanted the one.

I love Rainbow and Rebecca Lowman has the best voice, so I was excited to listen to this book. This story had so much potential, but the main character is writing on the side, and I found myself fast forwarding during those clips and the ending just left a little to be desired. Don’t get me wrong still give it a listen…just know there are scenes where Harry Potter meets Twilight Zone laced throughout.

For the nerdy girlies

Fangirl was such an enjoyable read. Although Kath is incredibly self defacing and whiney, I still found myself rooting for her.
Rowell does a great job of giving us both Kath's personal story and the wonderful lore filled backdrop for Carry On (which I have already purchased and deeply look forward to jumping right into).
Levi and Reagan are absolutely the highlights on any page, alongside every snippet of Simon and friends. ...his hair smells of coffee....how could anyone dislike coffee scented cute boys?
This was fun, emotional, sweet, and a genuine fun read for me.

The ending felt a tad abrupt...but i do appreciate there is life outside of this book for everyone involved.

This gets added to my reread list for certain.

Concept 4.5/5
Setting 4.5/5
Characters 4.5/5
Magic System 5/5
Magical Objects/creatures 5/5
Plot 4/5
Coherence 4/5
Romance 4.5/5
Prose-4.5/5
Audio Reader 4/5
Enjoyability 5/5

Final Rating- 4.5 Stars

Final Verdict- Deeply invested in this fiction within fiction, inception of a tale.

Not solid

Two stories in 1 book, shifted the attention from the main character to a fiction character that didn’t add up anything to the book