Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Twins Cather and Wren are leaving Omaha behind for brave new
worlds at the University of Nebraska.
College Freshmen Wren made the decision that they should live apart so
they can both become individuals, not always be known as “one of the twins.”
Cather is not happy with the idea. The
whole point of being a twin is having your twin always around: never having to
break in a new roommate. As the year
begins Wren becomes close with her roommate Courtney and begins going to
parties and dating. Cather hardly says
more than two words to her roommate Regan and her annoying, but oddly sweet,
boyfriend Levi seems to always be there.
But as time goes on things go better for Cather. She’s getting to know a boy from her Creative
Writing class, she and Regan seem to be getting on better and Levi is actually
interested in Cather’s secret project.
Cather is an avid fan fiction writer with a following numbering in the thousands. On top of all her schoolwork she has a
self-imposed deadline, her favorite author is concluding her series and Cather
has to finish her version of how the story will end before the “real” story is
released.
I
could write about how wonderful this book is for pages and pages. Just know it feels real. This is a story of finding yourself and
liking yourself for being what makes you you.
It’s also about first love, family, not being perfect and being okay
with it, alcoholism, mental illness, responsibility, creativity, morality… I could keep going. If you were a little different as a teenager
you will identify with Cather and love her.
I know I did.
There
are two voice actors for the audiobook.
One is female and voices Cather and the other is male and reads the
excerpts from both the “real” books and the fan fiction Cather is writing. (Think of the Harry Potter series but in Cath’s
version Harry and Malfoy fall in love, it’s really sweet and works really
well.) I actually screamed when the
story ended – I wanted to keep listening.
