Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl is a standalone book. Cath and her twin sister have always been together. They went through school together, they were in the same classes, and went to the same parties. The two sisters were inseparable, a packaged deal, but, in college, all of that changed. As the two move away from home for the first time, the more outspoken, extroverted sister Wren decides she wants to separate herself from Cath. She finds a new roommate and spends her time getting drunk at parties, while introverted Cath must find a way to survive her first year of college completely alone.
Cath is a very relatable character, especially for college freshman. Every college freshman understands the nervousness and apprehension of being dropped in a new place completely alone and without your friends and family. While for some more extroverted college students, the excitement of meeting new people overrules the nervousness, for more introverted individuals, the opposite can be true. Nerdy and introverted, Cath finds it hard to deal with the fact that she is sharing a room with a complete stranger. She finds it difficult to make friends and be outgoing, especially without her sister, but with some help, she eventually overcomes her nervousness and becomes more stable and mature version of herself. Fangirl is a beautiful read by Rainbow Rowell. As expected of a contemporary, the pacing is relatively slow. The book has no defined plot and is very character-driven. It simply follows Cath for her first year of college, watching her change and adapt to her new environment, before ending abruptly with the completion of her final week of classes. While this not unsurprising for a Rainbow Rowell book, it is still a little upsetting to watch characters grow and develop but to never get a satisfying conclusion.
Characters are one of the things Rainbow Rowell is best at. She has mastered the art of creating several realistic multifaceted characters that can interact and build off each other in charming ways. Each character is bursting with personality and each contributes something to the story and to Cath’s development as a person.
In addition to the well written characters, there is a huge emphasis on what it is like to be a fangirl. Cath is a huge fan of Simon Snow, a Harry Potter-like series with the last book slated to be released towards the end of the school year. She is an active writer of fanfiction is apparently supposed to represent the ideal fangirl. Some people might take offense to this portrayal as it neglects many aspects of fandoms and portrays fangirls as socially inept and awkward. While I can agree that Cath is not an accurate example of a fangirl as she had a tendency to only post content instead of celebrating it with others, it was nice to see someone obsess over something the way, I obsess over books.
However, I did have trouble accepting the almost “Mary-Sue” like attention Cath receives. Cath is an extremely popular fanfiction writer who gets 20,000 views per post. On its own, that can be acceptable, however she also manages to work her way into a junior level writing class, earn respect and admiration from one of her peers, and become the favorite student of a renowned professor. All of this attention seems unrealistic and can occasionally detract from the story.
The romance aspect of the story felt a bit similar. While the romance was beautifully executed with its slow build and caring love interest, it seems unlikely that a person who rarely leaves her room would happen to stumble upon such a perfect boyfriend.
While the book has a multitude of flaws, it does do a good job of portraying how a socially awkward, introverted person might feel about college. College can be extremely overwhelming and scary, but everyone manages to make friends, redefine themselves, and somehow, make it through.