BOOK TALK: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

It's not a rare occurrence for me, being deeply touched by a book. In second grade I read the Little House On The Prairie book series, and my future as a bookworm, a bookie, a lover of words was solidified. I hope you all enjoy the first installment in what I hope to be a regular series. 

I loved this book. I connected with Cath on a deep level; I felt Cath's nerdy, sometimes cringe-worthy embarrassment and pain. 

“Sometimes writing is running downhill, your fingers jerking behind you on the keyboard the way your legs do when they can’t quite keep up with gravity.” 

There was another paragraph about writing in their somewhere, near the end when Cath was talking to her teacher, but I couldn't find it on Goodreads. 

Cather, twin to Wren, is a fanfiction writer who seems to believe she cannot write anything but fanfiction about a story eerily similar to J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter. 

Truthfully, I also wrote my fair share of terrible fanfiction in my pre-teen years, believing I could get lost in someone else's world instead of inventing my own through writing. I have never read anything similar to this book. I'm a huge fan of books that are full of sheer honesty, and this one did not disappoint. 

“I don’t trust anybody. Not anybody. And the more that I care about someone, the more sure I am they’re going to get tired of me and take off.”

Fangirl is not only a gift to young writers who can relate to it, but also young people in general. Cather begins the book going off to her first year of college, and is much more reluctant to leave the house than her sister, Wren, who jumps into being a regular partying college freshman. 

I was personally touched by this book because of how much Cath's personality resonated with my own. Shy, awkward, but with a million words constantly waiting to pour out of her. I read it constantly until I finished it, and even wrote it on my English teacher's board of book recommendations, even when I could predict(accurately) I would be taunted for reading a book with such a nerdy title by classmates(gotta love 'em, though). 
I hail Rainbow Rowell for being able to portray a young writer in this way. Fangirl made me and, I'm sure, many others like me feel a little bit less weird for thinking and acting the way we do. 

Overall, I give this book a 9/10 for being absolutely amazing. Add it to your to-read list, and congratulate me on surviving this year.