REVIEW: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

The Summary : When Cath’s twin sister, Wren, tells her that she doesn’t want to room with her in college, Cath freaks out. Suddenly, she is thrown into a new situation, all by herself, with a roommate that she has never met. To cope, she throws herself into her fiction writing course, and writing her Simon Snow (read : harry Potter) Fanfiction. Keeping up her secret life as a famous fanfiction author becomes really hard when her roommate, Raegan, forces her to be social, and a cute boy named Levi, falls for her.

The Characters:

Cath : Cath is a phenomenal character. She is awkward, and quirky, and funny. She is a perfect portrait of an introvert being forced into a social situation, which is something that I can totally relate to. She has an incredibly relatable voice, and all of her problems feel very real. She worries abut the things that every college freshman would worry about, such as what to do when she’s late to class, and should she let this random boy into her dorm. She is forced out of her comfort zone, and boy does she come out of it.

Wren : In the very beginning, I wanted to hate Wren for abandoning Cath. As far as character development goes, I feel like Wren didn’t change all that much. Instead, Wren’s storyline just goes on, as anyones life would, and she grows up from it, but not any more than any regular human being. You really grow to understand her, which is amazing.

Raegan : Raegan is so sassy and I love it. Literally, if I could have any roommate from any book ever, It would be Raegan. Cath describes her as “bigger on the inside” and “forceful,” And that is exactly what she is. She lives her life like she owns the world. On the other hand, she ends up being an amazing friend to Cath, which i didn’t expect at all.

Cath and Wren’s Dad : FINALLY A YA NOVEL WHERE THE PARENTS EXIST. I don’t think I have ever read a young adult novel where the parents aren’t just side characters. Their father played a large role in this book, and he added so much to the story. He gets to be the “cool dad,” and be there for Cath in everything she deals with, but manages to be the bad cop when Wren needs it.

Levi : Literally, just insert the heart eyes emoji here. That’s all I have to say. Levi is perfect. He is the perfect guy friend, and becomes the perfect boyfriend, but the best part is, is that he isn’t perfect at all. He is the genuinely good guy that every girl wants to meet in college. If I ever re read this book, it would be solely for Levi.

The Plot : Rainbow Rowell is amazing. She created this world that is incredibly real, a world that completely sucks you in, so that you can’t put the book down. The story moves at a great pace, not too fast, not too slow, and the story isn’t typical or cliche at all. The most unique part of this story is the fanfiction. Rowell has created a story within a story, and throws in some excerpts from  the “Simon Snow” series, which is along the lines of the Harry Potter series in our world. These excerpts, along with some excerpts from the fanfictions that Cath and Wren have written really add to the story. I didn’t expect to like those parts, but some o them ended up being my favorites.

The Overall : 5 out of 5. Fangirl is an amazing book. I very rarely read a book and wish that there was a sequel. I love how this book wraps up nicely in the end, I just wish there was more. I would recommend this to everybody. Literally, I have no specifications. Everyone should be reading this book.

 

Book Review – Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King

The Summary : Vera is in love with her best friend, Charlie, and he loves her back. Only, She doesn’t know that. She does, however know, all of his secrets, and all of the details surrounding his untimely death. Vera now has to decide whether or not to share these secrets and clear his name, or to keep them to himself, all the while being haunted by Charlie’s ghosts.

 

The Characters :

Vera : I fully understand where Vera is coming from. Her best friend completely screwed her over, and then he died before they could fix their friendship. She is coping with Charlie’s death as best as she can. She starts drinking, which is a normal teenager thing to do to cope with tragedy, And that whole thing with James was also really normal and real, as well. All in all she is just a good depiction of a teenage girl who has been through hell and back, and has come out the other side.

Charlie : Charlie read very attractive to me. Like damn. Charlie was a typical “bad boy” YA character. He drove a motorcycle, smoked cigarettes, smoked pot and sold his underwear to an old man. Wait what? Yeah, that happens too. Charlie was right all along, Vera is too good for him. He spends most of their friendship fighting his feelings for her, to save her from him, which, while really depressing, it is very honorable.

Jenny Flick : Jenny Flick can go fuck herself for all I care. 

Vera’s Dad : Vera’s dad is a pretty cool guy. I liked all of his Zen Buddhist sayings that were thrown in around the book.

 

The Plot : I liked how the book flipped around from past to present, and between different perspectives. I think my favorite part was either “a brief word from the dead kid” from Charlie’s perspective, or “a brief word from the pagoda,” which is literally from the perspective of a pagoda. Please Ignore Vera Dietz has an amazing concept. The fact that Vera is being haunted by not one, but thousands of Charlie ghosts is really interesting to me. I liked the fact that the story wasn’t obvious, especially the end. I actually wasn’t expecting Vera to forgive Charlie in the end, or to make peace with her dad. I thought that was a great ending.

 

The Overall :  This book gets 5 out of 5 stars. This is extremely rare. I literally have zero complaints about this book. I loved the concept, I loved the characters, I loved the pacing, and I just definitely loved everything. I would recommend this for fans of contemporary YA fiction, who wouldn’t mind reading something a little bit on the darker side, without being too dark.

 

SUMMER BLOG OVERHAUL

Ok, I should really start by apologizing for disappearing for two whole months. There is really no excuse, but guess I just couldn’t find the motivation to write anything. Like literally, I wanted to have the novel that I’m working on finished by the end of the year, and if I keep going the way that April and May went, then I will never get it done.

But any way We aren’t going to talk about the past, and how I completely screwed up in March and April. Instead, we are going to look to the future, and focus on what is to come in the summer. Starting in June, I will be bringing back Fearless Literacy. I’ll be back on my two posts a week schedule, but I will be switching from Tuesdays and Fridays, to Mondays and Thursdays to accommodate my new work schedule.

I will be posting a ton of reviews for the books I’ve been reading in the past few months, and I also have a bunch of other posts on different topics. But, here is where you guys come in. I am going to need some requests for topics to write about. 

Thank you guys for sticking with me for the past few crappy months. I hope that y’all stick with me and enjoy this upcoming summer.