Author: Rainbow Rowell
Genre: YA Contemporary
Pages: 461
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Released: 10 September 2013

Cath and Wren are identical twins and until recently they did absolutely everything together. Now they’re off to university and Wren’s decided she doesn’t want to be one half of a pair any more – she wants to dance, meet boys, go to parties and let loose. It’s not so easy for Cath. She would rather bury herself in the fanfiction she writes where there’s romance far more intense than anything she’s experienced in real life.

Now Cath has to decide whether she’s ready to open her heart to new people and new experiences, and she’s realising there’s more to learn about love than she ever thought possible…

I absolutely loved Fangirl! This book is my first taste of the work by Rainbow Rowell, and I thoroughly enjoyed it (I definitely enjoyed it as I kept reading until I finished it at 6am). As a fangirl myself, this book was totally relatable, and I believe it accurately portrays fandom life and culture, and how different people look at fandoms and fanfiction.

The story follows the live of Cath Avery during her first year at college. She is a major fan of the book and movie series Simon Snow (which mirrors the Harry Potter series, even though Harry Potter does exist in the Fangirl world) and is a well known fanfiction writer, getting thousands of hits daily on her stories.

Her twin sister Wren, who is also a Simon Snow fan, and a co-writer on some of the fanfiction, wants to experience college life, and so pulls away from being a member of the duo, which leaves Cath alone in the strange new world that is college. Cath is soon having feelings for her roommate’s supposed boyfriend Levi, and for her writing partner Nick, but she is unaware of how to act on these feelings, or whether they are actually real.

With issues with Wren, issues with her father, issues with her mother, and issues with her fanfiction, life is starting to get complicated for Cath, and soon she is falling for a guy. College life can be complicated, especially when its a new and scary world, and filled with a lot of unknown.

Pros: I adored the story. As Cath fell in love, I fell in love, because it was so believable and perfect. The entire story was relatable, and I could not stop reading as it was so good. The snippets of Simon Snow and Cath’s fanfiction was a quirky and interesting addition, and it made me want to actually read the Simon Snow series, despite it being completely non-existent. As a Harry Potter fan, I could see the similarities between Snow and Potter, and Cath’s fanfiction, which I saw mirroring the vast Drarry slash. I can’t wait Cath’s fanfiction Carry On, which will be released later this year.

Cons: For me this book had no faults, except one – I wanted more! The story ended with a Snow excerpt, and I felt that Cath’s and *insert love interest here* story was not over. I was slightly disappointed that we didn’t get more of a conclusion to the story, but I hope this means we can get a sequel, because I definitely want to read it.

Overall, if you read books, you need to read this one! This book is perfect for fangirls, and people with an inner nerd. I loved it and I want more! I will definitely be recommending this to everyone and anyone, and I will definitely be reading it again – it was the perfect read, and I can’t wait to read Rainbow Rowell’s other books, because she is an amazing author.

You can find Fangirl here.

Guest post contributed by My Books Are Me. This blogger openly displays her bookshelf for all to see what she reads. She mostly does book reviews on that blog, although she occasionally discusses books on her Booktube channel.