Caitlyn from the Napanee Branch reviews Fangirl, a popular YA novel by Rainbow Rowell. She also reviews Carry On, which is a companion novel to Fangirl

Fangirl

Fangirl is a beautifully crafted coming-of-age novel about how books change our lives—for better or for worse. Cath has buried her nose in the Simon Snow series since her mother left her father, her twin, Wren, and her when she was little. For years, Cath and Wren immersed themselves in the fictional world (which is eerily similar to Harry Potter). They dress up as Simon Snow characters for book releases, movie premieres, and Halloween, they collect memorabilia, and they write Simon Snow fanfiction. Now, Wren and Cath are going off to college. Cath isn’t expecting anything to change—Wren and her will still be best friends, and roommates, they’ll hang out all the time and keep writing fanfiction—but Wren has other plans. Cath ends up navigating college life practically all alone, dealing with an English teacher who hates fanfiction, a crazy roommate, and a boy who is unlike anyone she’s ever known. Cath tries to continue to find solace in Simon Snow, but she keeps being thrust into the world’s waiting arms.

Cath was a very likable and relatable character, especially for a fellow fangirl such as myself. She was funny, smart, and perfectly content to live forever in a vibrant fictional universe. However, this book shows that there is more to life than fiction – if you spend your whole life dreaming about being somewhere else, how can you learn to live in the place you really are? In the novel, Cath confronts her fears about being alone, about her mother having left, about not being able to disappear into the Simon Snow universe when things get bad, and about falling in love.

Rainbow Rowell writes with compassion and understanding about the ins and outs of the fangirl life.

Rainbow Rowell writes with compassion and understanding about the ins and outs of the fangirl life, presenting a character that you can’t help but love and a story that provides hope for those making their way in the big, wide world, which makes this a great book for fangirls everywhere.

Carry On

This is the companion novel to Fangirl, also written by Rainbow Rowell. In Fangirl, Cath was writing a Simon Snow fanfiction called “Carry On, Simon”, which grew and changed as she did. It was also sort of her comfort zone in the topsy-turvy world of university. In Carry On, Rainbow Rowell has written Simon Snow fanfiction, all about Simon and Baz and the Insidious Humdrum, as if Simon and Baz weren’t mortal enemies, but lovers, the way Cath envisioned them.

This was a magical, entertaining read. There’s a very fine line between love and hate, and Simon and Baz cross from hate to head-over-heels love. But along the way, they each have to deal with their own problems and their own families, and Simon still has to find some way to defeat the Insidious Humdrum and fulfill his position as “The Chosen One” (sound familiar?).

With endearing characters and plenty of magic and romance, this novel is sure to entice anyone who enjoyed reading Cath’s story and her fanfiction excerpts in Fangirl, or who has read and loved Harry Potter. I’m sure you’ll find a few similarities between the two.

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