Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell {book review}

Today I am reviewing Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. This book is by the same author as the rather controversial Eleanor and Park (read my review here, and my discussion of it's censorship here), but is, in my opinion, even better.

Summary
In Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl, Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan, but for Cath, being a fan is her life--and she's really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it's what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath's sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can't let go. She doesn't want to.
Now that they're going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn't want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She's got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can't stop worrying about her dad, who's loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

My Review
Wow, that was a really long plot summary (I just grabbed it off of the amazon page)! Let's start with the characters. This book had some really good, really complicated characters. Cath, Reagen, Levi, and eventually Wren, are all characters with multiple layers. You think you know them, and what they would do, and then you suddenly realize you don't. These characters were all great, and very human.

The plot was enjoyable. For a lot of the book I wasn't sure what direction it was heading. Was it going to be an Eleanor and Park like romance, an Ellen Hopkins like book about dealing with mental illness (I know that Rainbow Rowell and Ellen Hopkins aren't even slightly comparable, but I was thinking that it would end up being about how she gives up everything to take care of her dad and sister)? In the end, it didn't really fit any of the stereotypes. It made a new catergory, one without a name. One with fanfiction (an almost taboo topic in most teen lit), romance, difficult parental and sibling relationships, and other very real issues being dealt with be a very real teenage girl.

The writing was fantastic. I love Rainbow Rowell's writing. This was where I thought this book really surpassed Eleanor and Park. While the 1st person naration switching between characters is popular, and works fine, I liked that this book didn't do that. Having a third person book with is all on one character was a bit refreshing. It makes the book feel more personal. Also, one thing that people complain a lot about with Eleanor and Park is the swearing. There is a lot. While it didn't really bother me, I did sometimes feel that it was overused. I have no problem with well placed swear words intended to make a point, but an f-bomb every few lines can get annoying. This book really used swearing in a believable, efficient manner.

I think the reason I liked this book so much was because I related to Cath right off the bat, which rarely happens to me with teen books. While I don't have her family situation, I do have one that can feel very tricky to navigate at times. While I don't write fanfiction, I do read it (I used to read it all the time, but now I just read the one my friend writes, which I am in), and I understand the culture around it pretty well. Her fears, concerns, and anxiety about college, and relationships is something I can directly relate to. In some ways, I see my future self when I read this book.

Who Should Read It?
I'm going to give this book a very high recommendation. If you are into fanfiction, you should really read this book. There is mild swearing, some drinking, and some sex, so if that bothers you, be warned. It is all quite mild though, especially compared to several of the books I have reviewed on here recently, including other books by the same author.

I'm almost done with A Game of Thrones (finally!), so expect a review soon. I also just got Smoke, the new Ellen Hopkins book, from the library, and I am super excited. I first started reading her books right before Fallout came out, and since then, I am always looking forward to her next one! This is the sequel to Burned, which honestly I never expected to happen, so expect a review of that in the next few weeks. Also, I'll be posting a final NaNoprep post this weekend.

Sorry for the crazy long post! If you made it all this way, give me some book suggestions in the comments! What would you like me to review? If I've read it, I'll write something up, if I haven't, I'll put it on hold at the library.

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Some Thoughs On Books, YA Lit, and Censorship {Eleanor and Park}

Earlier this morning, I opened up my blog reader, as I so often do, and found this post. The post (which is from one of my favorite websites), talks about lots of interesting and fun things, but there were a few things which stood out to me. Go look over that post, and then read what I have to say. I'll quote it a little, but I don't want to steal their thunder.

The Parents Action League of Minnesota's Anoka-Hennepin school district is working to ban Eleanor & Park—a book supposedly “littered with extreme profanity and age-inappropriate subject matter”—from the high school reading list. Here’s what author Rainbow Rowell had to say about the situation. NPR even weighed in on the issue.

This is the section I want to talk about.  Now, please go read each of the three links. The first from a school district explaining why they wish to ban Eleanor and Park, and book that I read, loved, and reviewed, this spring. The second is an interview with the author, and the third is an NPR book critic's very thoughtful comments on the issue. I'm not going to just reitrate what they said, though that would be easy to do. Instead, I'm going to discuss this issue from another point of view: as a teenager, the exact group of people these ADULTS say should not be reading this book.

The first complaint these people had was about the profanity. Honestly, it really didn't bother me. Swearing is something that I'm used to seeing in books, but that does not mean that I like it, or never mind. There are plenty of books that I have read that used swearing as a tool, to show that they were cool, or to emphasize a point, and I don't like that. The profanity in Eleanor and Park is honest and real. It feels real, and makes a subtle point about the teens at the high school.

The second complain is about the story. They say that it is inappropriate for teens to read about the events in the book. It didn't bother me. More then that, these things that people complain about are some of what I liked the best about this book. It feels REAL. I don't want to read about sugar coated teens who never drink, or swear, or have sex, and who have perfect home lives. Why? Those people aren't real. They feel fake. Eleanor is an amazing character. Yeah, her situation sucks big time, but she makes it through. Her relationship with Park is heartbreakingly sweet, and yet so sad, and all so, so real.

For me, the real bottom line is that I don't think books should be banned. I don't think anybody should be required to read Eleanor and Park, but I think anybody should be able to. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and for the parents who wrote that article don't want their kids to read this book, it is their right to enforce that in their own home. But I think that that book should still be available to all those teens to wish to read and enjoy this book.

On an unrelated note, that same FYA article linkd to this awesome list of the 25 best YA books featuring LGBTQ teens. I've only read 5, but there really are some pretty great books on that list if you're looking for something to read.

Eleanor and Park - Rainbow Rowell

Today I am reviewing Eleanor & Park, by Rainbow Rowell. I first read this book because it was recommended by John Green, who is an author that I really like and admire. This post, unlike some that I write, it spoiler free. There is almost no discussion of the actual events in the story. I will not be providing a plot summary, but the post will not really focus on the plot very much. If you are interested in learning more about the book, or even buying it, click on the title above to go to its amazon.com page.

As usual, I will begin this post by discussing the characters. I thought that the characters in this book were really well done. Since it takes place in the late 1980's, I can't really relate to the times, but the other parts of being a teenager felt very fresh and real. One thing that I really liked is that not only were the main characters well written, but the others were too. Often minor characters feel less fleshed out and real, but that was not the case with this book.

The writing was good. It was a fast read, and I enjoyed the writing. The one criticism I have on this topic is that the POV (point of view) switched back and forth between Eleanor and Park a lot, which is a useful (from a story telling prospective) but over used (from a reading prospective) story telling method. 

And last is the plot. I really enjoyed it, mostly because I felt like there were many levels of plot there, and they all felt important. There is the main story line between the two title characters, and then they each have at least one of two plot lines of their own: with peers, siblings, parents, ect. I also liked how real the plot felt. Many books involving teen romance do not feel real, but this one did. I felt like this could happen to me all the way through.

Over all, I really enjoyed this book, and I highly recommend it. While it is a romance in many ways (though certainly not a traditional teen romance novel), you might very well still like it even if you usually don't like romance.



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