Fangirl

Oh, such a problematic book to review! On one hand, I loved it. I loved the characters and the love story and the way the author works in so many pop culture touchstones of the past decade or so in such a funny way. On the other, there are ways that it just doesn't work, and it's the weakest of the three books by Rainbow Rowell that I've read since July (Obviously, I like her writing!).

I hate writing plot summaries, but to give some basic background: the main character, Cath, and her twin sister, Wren, are popular writers of online fan-fiction based on a very Harry Potter-esque book series. Rowell intersperses chapters about Cath with excerpts from Cath's fan-fiction as well as excerpts from the books that her fan-fiction is supposed to be based on. Even though Rowell places all of these excerpts strategically and with an end in mind, I found them irritating, and just whizzed through them so I could get back to the main story. It seems to me that anyone who isn't already familiar with the world of fan-fiction will be totally confused by this structure. I AM familiar with fan-fiction, but the mix here didn't work for me. It did serve, though, as an interesting vehicle for Cath and her professor to discuss compelling questions about writing, creativity, and what fan-fiction is and is not.

Then there's a question that's probably only of interest to librarians and booksellers, about where this book belongs. My library hasn't ordered it yet, and I think it's being marketed as Young Adult, but the main characters are 18-21, which makes it fall more in the genre that many are now calling New Adult. But, since New Adult is also often associated with more explicit sex scenes than Young Adult fiction generally has, and there's a very sweet, soft-pedal approach to sex here, it doesn't really fit there either. It doesn't have to fit anywhere, of course, but it's something I wondered about as I read.

So, a mixed bag, all in all. I haven't read any reviews yet, and am interested to. I'd say it definitely won't fall into that "crossover appeal" category that many Young Adult novels of the past few years have. The market here is mostly under-25, and for some in that demographic the mish mash of fan-fiction and regular fiction may be a thrill. Me? I'd rather she had just stuck with the main story, but am still glad I read it. ( )

I liked this book for the first three-quaters of it. But, after that, it fell flat for me and I just didn't like the way everything was tied together. I kept wanting more-- or to at least get to the point where I was satisfied and felt like everything had been properly explained. Another thing for me was that I was wondering what the purpose of everything was. There wasn't a strong plot, and while I liked the book and was entertained by it, I kept asking myself where it was going.

Really mixed feelings on it. But I did like it. ( )

This book was really enjoyable but there was something about the fanfic and cuts to Simon and Baz stories that left me unsettled since it was like a fanfic about writing fanfic about Harry Potter and Hogwarts. ( )

adult/teen fiction; college romance. I would put this more in the "adult" category than teen--not for any violence or sex (there is drinking, but it does not end well) but because most teens would never get the old movie references. Still, I enjoy Rowell's characters and though this isn't my favorite of her books, it was a pretty good read. ( )

ur... ( )