It's the Christmas holidays, so what does that mean? Lots of time to read, YAY. Incidentally, I also rearranged my entire bookshelves because nothing fit and I had to stack everything up weirdly, which was really annoying me to look at every day. But now I found more space so they're all colour coded and pretty - even though they'll probably only stay like that for the next couple of weeks before I mess it up. Oh well.
Anyway, I stole borrowed Fangirl from my sister to read, about a year after I first bought it her - she insists on having read her books before I can borrow them, which would be fine, but it takes her months to get through each one - and read it in about a day. Needless to say, she was a bit irritated.
Summary
Cath and Wren are identical twins, and until recently they did absolutely everything together. Now they're off to university and Wren's decided she doesn't want to be one half of a pair anymore - she wants to dance, meet boys, go to parties and let loose. It's not so easy for Cath. She's horribly shy and has always buried herself in the fanfiction she writes, where she always know exactly what to say and can write a romance far more intense than anything she's experienced in real life. Without Wren, Cath is on her own and totally outside her comfort zone. She's got a surly room mate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, and she can't stop worrying about her dad, who's loving and fragile and has never really been alone. Cath has to decide whether she's ready to open her heart to new people and new experiences, and she's learning that there's more to learn about love than she ever thought possible.
Cath and Wren are identical twins, and until recently they did absolutely everything together. Now they're off to university and Wren's decided she doesn't want to be one half of a pair anymore - she wants to dance, meet boys, go to parties and let loose. It's not so easy for Cath. She's horribly shy and has always buried herself in the fanfiction she writes, where she always know exactly what to say and can write a romance far more intense than anything she's experienced in real life. Without Wren, Cath is on her own and totally outside her comfort zone. She's got a surly room mate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, and she can't stop worrying about her dad, who's loving and fragile and has never really been alone. Cath has to decide whether she's ready to open her heart to new people and new experiences, and she's learning that there's more to learn about love than she ever thought possible.
As for my thoughts on this book: very cute. It was pretty much your standard cutesy YA romance chick lit thingy, which honestly is exactly what I was expecting. I mean, I really enjoyed it, I just didn't find it particularly attention-grabbing; if I'd actually been in school instead of having complete freedom all day it probably would have taken me a lot longer to get through and I wouldn't have really minded. But then maybe it's just me, because YA books that are just romance have never seemed to steal my attention completely, and the books that hold that honour are usually of the fantasy/adventure variety
I really love the way Cath's insecurities are portrayed in this book - I think every teenager has a little bit of Cath in them, because let's be honest, being a teenager is hard, okay? For me, Rainbow Rowell manages to use Cath to perfectly encapsulate exactly what I feel every time I'm thrust into a new or different situation: that fear of being judged, of breaking some unwritten social rule that nobody tells you about but you're still expected to magically know. She explains it far better than I could explain it myself, and watching Cath eventually overcome this (a bit) was inspiring. I felt like a proud mother by the end of the book. And I loved the relationship between her and Reagan, with all the sarky comments, bluntness and tough love. Books need more girl friendships like this, ones that reflect the sort of relationship you might actually have with your friends.They were just stories, but stories weren't just anything.
The romance in this book was so so so adorable and sweet and I think he may just be my new book crush - although this will probably only last until the next book I read - because he was the most genuinely nice guy in any book. Ever. In fact I challenge you to find a nicer guy somewhere.I especially liked the inclusion of excerpts from the Simon Snow books and the Simon Snow fan fiction that Cath writes in between each chapter. My sister found them distracting, but for me it gave insight into a huge part of Cath's world, it made me understand her character better and I think without it the whole character-who-writes-fanfiction idea would have fallen really flat. I actually sort of wish it were a real thing so that I could go read them all now.
Rainbow Rowell has some of the most beautiful sentences and I honestly had such a hard time picking these three quotes because I thought the whole thing was so brilliantly written. These three stood out to me as showing just how well she seems to understand what it is like to live, to be a teenager who isn't the most confident, who feels like life is getting on top of them and wants more than anything to just escape for a little bit.
Recommended for: fans of John Green, David Levithan, Robin Schneider, Stephanie Perkins
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