Book Review: Fangirl

Confession time: When reviewing YA Lit, I always try to think about the book in terms of its primary audience - i.e., teens.  However, almost from the start, Fangirl hit me right in the gut.  Because it takes place during the college freshman year of its protagonist, the book brought up many memories and emotions for me.  I suppose that's what a good book is supposed to do, but this one in particular was like a trip down memory lane.

Fangirl follows Cath, a Nebraska freshman dreading her first year of college.  She's heading off to school with her twin sister, Wren, but Wren is eager to break free of the twin bond.  She's going to live in a different dorm, have a different roommate, a different major.  Cath is almost cripplingly anti-social, and her early weeks at college are painful.  She eats nothing but protein bars because she doesn't have friends to eat with and is too afraid to ask where the dining hall is.  She doesn't go out, and makes excuses when her roommate, Reagan, tries to invite her.  When she does go out on the rare occasion, she has nothing to wear except jeans, t-shirts, and cardigans.  Mostly, Cath nests in the comfort of her tiny dorm room and works on her online fanfiction novel.

So why did Fangirl get to me?  Because I WAS Cath my freshman year.  I went to school out of state so I knew no one and wasn't particularly outgoing.  I remember plenty of meals in the dining hall (at least I knew where it was), where I pretended to be studying to cover up for the fact that I was eating by myself.  I was afraid of breaking rules and going to parties.  I often turned in at a decent hour on a Friday night because I had nothing else to do.  I once attended a dance wearing jeans and a sweater because it was supposed to be "informal."  I didn't realize that "informal" meant short dresses instead of long ones.

Painful, right?  Yep.  I was a mess.  Luckily, I gained confidence in myself and snapped out of my hermit lifestyle, and so does Cath by the end of Fangirl, thanks in part to her roommate's friend Levi, who shows a genuine interest in Cath and her writing.

Author Rainbow Rowell, who also wrote the bittersweet Eleanor and Park, quite deftly pulls off a remarkable achievement with Fangirl.  She hasn't written just one book, but three.  First, there is the main story of Cath and her journey.  However, Cath is obsessed with a fantasy series called Simon Snow; the similarities to Harry Potter are obvious and intentional.  Between chapters of Fangirl, Rowell also writes excerpts from the fictitious Simon Snow series.  Additionally, she provides excerpts from Cath's fanfiction novel based on Simon Snow.  It shows Rowell's skill as a writer to invent three worlds and subtly manipulate the tone for each.

I enjoyed Fangirl, and can report that even though I thought about my own college experiences at first, I was able to let those go as the novel progressed, and invested in Cath and her struggles.  Rowell excels at creating relatable characters who don't always get endings wrapped up in a neat bow.  This would be a good choice to hand to high school seniors heading off to college, especially those introverted types who need reassurance that "it's going to be o.k."as they take the next step.