Basically MY Life Story – Minus the FanFic Fame | Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell | Audiobook Review

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Don’t want to read the whole review?  Click to jump to the Skinny Review.

I didn’t have any expectations going into Fangirl. Sure, I had heard a lot of awesome things about Rainbow Rowell, but I honestly haven’t picked up her books. I DID have Fangirl and Carry On signed by Rainbow Rowel at Yallwest earlier this year, but I gave my Fangirl copy to my cousin who absolutely ADORES Rainbow!

Anyway, in preparation for reading Carry On (which I STILL HAVEN’T DONE!), I decided to read Fangirl first and I WAS AMAZED! I mean, if you are a total FANGIRL, you will understand this book so, so, so much!

In fact, I see myself as Cath! Well, my teenage self, anyway! *wink I remember starting my freshman year in college and not KNOWING anyone in my classes because all my BFFs decided to take different courses and, and it’s just totally SCARY! So I immediately bonded with Cath right there! Contrary to what I am now, I USED TO BE SUPER SHY! I still am, by the way, but I’ve had to come out of my shell.

As the title states, Cath is THE FANGIRL. The one who is totally obsessed with and writes fanfic for one of the biggest fandoms: Simon Snow. You will also appreciate the subtle references to Harry Potter here. TOTALLY! And if you are like me who practically grew up with Harry Potter, you would totally get it!

The Story within the story

The most awesome thing about Fangirl is Carry On because each chapter has snippets of the fanfic written by Cath!

But what is Fangirl really about?

It is about an awkward girl who isn’t ready to be a college freshman. Who clings hard to her twin sister, Ren who HAS moved on from fanfic writing and the Simon Snow fandom. It is about family and discovering love – basically sort of mirroring my freshman year in college! Ha ha!

What I like most of all is the concept of family. The amazing bond between father and daughter, and the bond between sisters. Really, Fangirl is an awesome book about family as well.

But I want more romance!

Unfortunately, what is lacking in Fangirl is the romance between Cath and Levi. Since I am a romance fan, I always, ALWAYS want more romance in my books. Sure, there was the meet-cute, but I wanted more from their relationship.

The audiobook is awesome!

Because I listened to the audiobook, you get to hear two narrators, Rebecca Lowman for Fangirl, and Maxwell Caulfield for the Carry On excerpts! Awesome, right?

Recommendations

Since I don’t normally read YA contemporary, I don’t have a lot of recs I can give you. The closest one I can recommend is Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins.

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Do you think YA needs more romance?

What do you think about having a story within a story?

 

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