I might be a little late to the Rainbow Rowell fan club, but I've got to say that I'm absolutely hooked after reading Fangirl. I gave serious consideration to immediately re-reading the book once I finished it, but my pile of "books to be read" is just so huge at this point that I was forced to move on.Meet Cath, an 18 year old starting her freshman year of college. Her twin sister has abandoned her to meet new people, her roommate is less than polite and has an overly friendly boyfriend, her dad isn't coping well with the whole "empty nest" thing, and her fiction writing professor constantly expects more from her. All Cath really wants to do is disappear into the world of fanfiction where she's most comfortable. She's already gained a little bit of fame on the Simon Snow (world-wide literary phenomenon--picture Harry Potter) forums. Fanfiction is what helped her cope with her mother leaving, created a stronger sisterly bond with her twin, and provided the inspiration for her chosen field of study. Faced with a new life outside of her comfort zone, Cath will have to choose between moving forward in the real world or continuing to hide in the fanfiction world.
Rowell has a real talent for creating characters so life-like that you almost believe they are people you know. The dialogue that flies back and forth between certain characters is so realistic and true to the college experience (or at least my college experience) that I was constantly telling people, "Here, just listen to this, I have to read it to you." Perhaps most impressive was the amount of work and planning that evidently went into setting up a fictional Harry Potter-esque franchise as part of the backdrop for this book. "Excerpts" and plot points from the Simon Snow series are sprinkled throughout which further sucks the reader into the book. I actually did a web search to see if Simon Snow was a real series just to make sure I wasn't missing something. I also appreciated the fact that this is a true young adult novel. While I do enjoy a good teeny-bopper book, Fangirl is definitely written for a slightly more mature audience (I'd probably recommend to ages 16+) and I found that really refreshing.
Grace gives this book 5 out of 5 carrots!
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