Fangirl
This is my first Rainbow Rowell book which totally surprises me since so many people sing such high praises about her so I decided to jump on the wagon and see exactly what I was missing. I have been missing a heck of a lot, since this book really blew me away.
The twins were headed off to the same college but they were going about it two different ways. Wren was psyched and ready for new adventures (without her sister) and Cath was not so sure about the whole ordeal. Cath likes routine, she likes contentment and she likes Simon Snow. Simon Snow is Cath, rewriting these stories gives her a way to express herself and escape. I laughed when Cath shoves granola bars in her mouth as she’s too shy to find the café and when she hides out in the bathroom reading the graffiti on the walls instead of confronting her professor, she was too much. Her roommate, over-the-top? Perhaps overwhelming at first but she provided Cath the ability to be who she is. And who is Cath, really? I think Cath places a lot on her shoulders, she likes her own little world but she knows there are things out there she’d like to do, it’s just those first few steps that are hard to take. College is the right place for her, the opportunities are there, the people and the ability to say yes or no if she can just open her door and take a step. Wren, she does too much walking and not enough no’s. She seems to like the freedom route too much. Nothing is blocking her path and what she has her sights on, I am not quite sure she knows herself. To see the sisters take such a drastic separation in college was heartbreaking. Their separation was so immature and rough. They both have some adjusting to do and they needed each other but time had already done its damage when they needed a shoulder to lean on. Each of the relationships in this book was incredible and it electrified me that I got to be a part of them. Cath’s and Levi’s relationship, her comment about the kiss, “I don’t just kiss people,” wow, the implications that sentence had in their relationship and how that sentence stuck with me the rest of the book. Cath’s and Reagan’s relationship, two totally different people yet they fit, “But you’re so helpless sometimes. It’s like watching a kitten with its head trapped in a Kleenex box.” I laugh now thinking about them two. Cath and Nick’s – what was with that? Oh, Nick, I was rooting for you. Cath and Wren, their bond pulled so far apart and their father, being alone for the first time, the family is truly divided.
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