Blabbering About Books: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

I just finished reading a book.

That's right, you heard correctly. I just finished reading a book. Reading would already be a surprise to me, but actually FINISHING a book is an even bigger surprise.

Anyway, that's not the point. I finished reading Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, aka the book I've mentioned in a post last week.

Overall, I kinda liked the book, since it gave me a little bit of fluff (or maybe too much fluff) and a little bit of angst, which for both I really appreciate and had felt fuzzy about. The book made me giggle at times, made me cringe, made me go like "Oh HELLLLLLLLL NO," and the like.

But I wasn't completely happy with this book. I give it a ★★★★☆. I'll elaborate on some things that really bothered me and some things that really struck me; beware of some spoilers if you decide to read.

- Dislikes -

1. Levi

Don't get me wrong. Levi seems like a great guy. He smiles a lot, is super polite, friendly to anything with a pulse, and seems ferociously faithful and loving to Cath.  

...By that, I do mean ferociously.

And that's the problem. What guy in the world would ever romantically be like Levi? I feel like he's the guy who girls draw up in their dreams. Every time Cath sees him (well, after they got together), he'd be dangling his arms over her shoulders, or holding her waist, or doing some other lovey-dovey stuff... yes, that's what the majority of girls want from their boyfriends. Attention. Love. That lil' sparkle in their boyfriend's eyes. For their boyfriends to say "I really like you" like 5 times a week. And Levi shows exactly that, feeding the hunger of boy-crazed, hormonal teenage girls. I feel like Rowell made his character this way so that "all" readers would go gaga over him. 

Sorry to burst fantasy bubbles, but having a boyfriend like Levi is almost impossible, and seeing his behavior made me feel a little nauseous... I don't like how Rowell made him this obviously unattainable guy. Then again, I don't think I want a guy like Levi if he's gonna drape himself all over me every single time I see him. 

What I'm saying is, Levi is too romantically idealistic. He made me go like, "Man, you gotta tone it town" way too many times. (Rowell, having characters like Levi is only going to make people's standards of potential lovers shoot through the roof. C'mon, now.) Again, I don't hate him... but he's too fictional. People may disagree with me but I like characters who aren't so ideal. Makes them seem more human and believable. Am I in the minority? 

2. Dialogue

Most of it seemed pretty colloquial (most), but some of it sounded too "book-like" for comfort. For example, Reagan remarks on Cath's drinking tomato juice in Chapter 35: 

"It's like you're drinking blood, if blood had the consistency of gravy."  

Seems like a pretty normal sentence when you're reading it, but it didn't feel right to me... so I read it out loud. "If blood had the consistency of gravy"? Um, right.... dunno about you, but I don't use the word "consistency" very often outside of my essay papers, unless I'm trying to sound sarcastic. And Reagan clearly isn't using that word to sound sarcastic; she really hates tomato juice. 

3. The Simon/Baz Excerpts

I actually read them, and paid attention, because I thought it had a parallel to what Cath was going through in her life. But NOPE! It didn't have any effect on the plot at all. And some of these excerpts would take up two whole pages... 

As much as I like how Simon/Baz kinda parallels with Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy, I wasn't very interested in these excerpts. A paragraph was okay, but two whole pages?... I was more interested in the progression into comfort Cath was feeling as she read her fic excerpts to Levi; I wasn't particularly interested in what she was reading.

Feelings!! I WANTED THE FEELINGS!!! Not pages of fanfiction revolving around two characters I'm not even interested in!!!

4. Abrupt Ending

Didn't like the ending. It ended with a Simon Snow book excerpt and a small excerpt of Cath's English final project, which had apparently won the Underclassmen prize.

...Okay, then.

I really wanted to know more about Cath's final project and how she slaved through it, because I feel that the project was a more important thing to include in the story. With the final project, Cath can discover what kind of other writing pieces she can accomplish outside of Simon Snow fanfiction. She could even discover herself as an author. Yes, she wins something for her project, which is great, but... what WAS the project? What was her process to end up writing such a masterpiece? I mean, really? That's it? There was more Simon and Baz text than anything!

Ending seemed really rushed. It was like Rowell didn't want to make the book any longer so she just cut it off there. No bueno, tsk tsk.

- Likes -

1. Interaction between the characters

Rowell described interactions very well-- between Cath and Wren, them and their father, Cath and her estranged mother, Cath and Reagan, Cath and Levi, Cath and Nick... all very nicely done. The characters' movements were all natural, and there weren't any awkward descriptions that made me tilt my head or anything, which is great. 

The interaction between Cath and Levi is especially nice, in my opinion. Although I'm not a big fan of Levi draping over Cath all the time, Rowell described the intimate scenes respectful to the mood-- delicately, passionately... and I think she executed them well.

2. Character description

Pretty self-explanatory, but I direct this mostly towards Cath's father, Art. He's slightly mentally unstable, and eventually I really believed that he was through the way Rowell described his behavior. I felt a little jittery and uncomfortable when he acted jittery and uncomfortable, and I worried about him as much as Cath worried about him. 

I like it when an author can throw me into her world.

3. Cath

Contrary to the opinions of some, Cath did not seem like a Mary Sue character to me. I relate to her so much that it's not funny. Although I wouldn't go as far as to hide out in my dorm room eating granola bars instead of eat real food at the cafeteria because I didn't know how the caf worked, I understand exactly her uneasiness towards unfamiliarity, social interactions, and change. 

(And when I came across the line, "Cath liked routine," I was like, oh preach it, girl.) 

Also, Cath says 'just' a lot. For example, "I was just..", "It's just that"... and Rowell mentions that Cath thought it was annoying because it showed her passive nature, but Cath couldn't help saying it anyway. This had hit close to home. I also say 'just' a lot to the point that I'm trying not to say it that often anymore. I, too, find it very annoying, but uncontrollable. I never thought of it as "passive speech" until I read this book... but then again, I am a passive person for the most part, so it makes sense. More reason for me to stop saying it, right?

Cath seems real to me, because in many ways, she is me. It's sometimes nice to see a character who reflects you in a book. It's like, wow, someone actually knows how I feel about things.

There are definitely flaws in this book that made me a little annoyed after I finished reading... but it's okay. I finished the book, which is saying something. I do admit that the plot started to drag like a K-Drama... but I also admit that Rowell has a good hand on character interaction, which is mainly why I stuck with the book, so I still give it 4 out of 5 stars. (Maybe a 3.8....) Probably wouldn't be something I'd want to reread, though.

P.S. I kinda wanted Nick and Cath to be together. There are so many romantic things you could come up with in a "writing-buddies" situation... :(

P.S.S. One more thing: did this novel show an accurate depiction of ALL fangirls? Nope. As a fangirl myself, I know not all fangirls are introverts and sit in front of a computer screen writing gay fanfiction. But Cath's devotion to the Simon Snow series is pretty spot on to represent fangirls, I'll say. Fangirls these days can be pretty devoted to their interests.