Olga Bought me a Book! Fangirl (Novel)

Fangirl is one of my most favorite novels now, and one I should mention that Olga knows me well! She bought this novel for my birthday, and so the next two weeks will be dedicated to “Novels Olga Bought Me” as a two-week series!

So Fangirl as a novel is one I relate to very closely. Basically the main character, Cather Avery is so much like me it’s not even funny.  I got flashbacks, also, given that this book takes place in University, to my first-year residency months—of which I hated residence. It sucked. I picked the wrong damn place and ended up regretting it for like the entire first year I was there, and like Cather, refused to go to the dining hall and survived living off of protein bars. And yogurt. It was not a fun time for me—except Monday. Olga and I and some of our friends would go to the campus Tim Horton’s. Those were the best times! 

The Story

Cather Avery is a fan and fanfiction writer of the most popular read fic online, “Carry On”, based on the stories of “Simon Snow and the Mage’s Heir.” This, with her sister, was something they shared when they were kids—it helped them get through their mother leaving.

Now her sister has grown out of the fandom, but Cather hasn’t, and now that they’re going to university, Wren (Cather’s sister) has told her she doesn’t want to be roommates with her. Now Cather is alone and outside her comfort zone. Facing an aggressive roommate with an all-around charming boyfriend, a Fiction-Writer Professor who despises fanfiction, a classmate who only speaks about words, and a father who’s loving, but fragile. 

(P.s. some of this is taken from the excerpt on GoodReads) 

My Thoughts

Two things stand out to me for this novel: its ability to relate to its audience, which I assume, being Y/A are younger adults between high school and college age, and for this novel, probably female. That, and it’s imagery which creates a richly textured narrative. 

“But the hallway was practically a meet and greet. Every door was propped open but theirs. Girls were milling around, talking and laughing. The whole floor smelled like burnt microwave popcorn. Cather slipped into the bathroom and sat in one of the stalls, unwrapping her protein bar and letting nervous tears dribble down her cheeks.”

-pg. 28

So, this is apt for the description of a residence—at least the one I did, so you can guess how I imagined Cather’s uncomfortable nature throughout the entire story since it dealt with a situation of moving out alone that everyone has to deal with when they move to residence, and the fact that personally, I was Cather in my residence floor, who wrote, drew pictures of elves and posted them on my walls and kept my door constantly shut throughout. 

Oh, and someone was always burning toast or popcorn, sometimes both. 

I totally can relate to Cather as a character in general as well. And I feel like the general reader can too, even if they may not be as introverted as her. In general, there is the theme of reconciling family, which is something we can all relate to.

“Her name is Reagan. And she has reddish brown hair...And she smokes.

Courtney wrinkled her nose. “In your room?”

“She hasn’t really been in the room all that much.”

Wren looked suspicious. “You haven’t talked?”

“We’ve said hello,” Cath said. “I’ve talked to her boyfriend a little.”

“What’s her boyfriend like?” Wren asked.

“I don’t know. Tall?”

“Well it’s only been a few days. I’m sure you’ll get to know her.” Then Wren changed the subject to something that happened with some party she and Courtney had gone to. They’d only been living together two weeks, and already they had a slew of inside jokes that went right over Cath’s head. 

Cath ate her turkey sandwich and two servings of French fries and shoved a second sandwich into her bag when Wren wasn’t paying attention. 

-30

I...admittedly also had an iffy relationship with my roommate. We rarely talked. Also, we were rarely in the same room together. I’m not sure she liked me. Regardless, I was rarely seen in our dorm’s private dining hall, and people often wondered how I survived. Like they actually thought I was a vampire when in reality I just didn’t like socializing with them and preferred to spend my time on The Hobbit fandom pages reading Thranduil or Legolas fanfiction. 

So finding food on a regular basis was just a chore and I often took my parent’s food when I came to visit them on weekends. 

Accurate depiction of me living off protein bars and yogurt for 8 months.

Regardless, with Cather you really get a feel for her situation and how she feels about writing, the people she’s with, and her family dilemma. You also get a feel for good writing. The imagery Cather creates in relation to how she describes it, or how a thing is worded is so self-aware here. It’s like story-ception, a story within a story. When it evolves so do the characters, and they’re more enjoyable and realistic than most Y/A I’ve read. I talk about my experiences because I really felt that Rainbow Rowell, the author, actually understood what these experiences are like, and the difficulties of writing itself.

Additionally, the story is not like every other Y/A, as hard as it may be to imagine that. There were two separate times where the story could’ve ended like a typical Y/A 

Novel but didn’t. No, rather than end on a romantic note, or a happily ever after, the situations climax, regress, and we actually go through a realistic turn of events here. I really appreciated that as a reader. It felt close to my own life and experiences, and it’s not a Y/A to waste time in between books—no this is a very serious, and heartwarming story. If you are considering reading this—and I suggest you do, know that this book is a diamond in the rough, and definitely worth your time, regardless of age. 

My Rating

Again, such a brilliant novel! Give it a buy or a borrow! 

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

4 Stars

~Meghan