[review] FANGIRL BY RAINBOW ROWELL

Book: Fangirl
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Rating:

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.

I love to read contemporary novels once in a while. They are like a breath of fresh air after the blood and gore that is the Dystopia genre.

The story is about a girl who loves writing fan-fiction to the point where, for her, fan-fic becomes a way of coping with real life.
I (personally) never understand fan-fiction. I never seek it, and when i stumble upon it, I never read it. I can never read about the same characters in other authors voice. (For me) it seams like a pail copy of the original - unsatisfying.

That said (and put aside) i liked this book.
There is a teen drama in there, tween drama, friendship, love, family... It has everything any other Contemporary/Young Adult labeled book does.
So why is this any different!?

For me the first difference were the character and the way they were written. They were alive! Every single character has life and personality on its own. Secondary characters are not in there only to service our heroine and the book plot, but you can actually sense them having life outside of the pages, they change while we are not watching!
And that's just great writing! Bravo!

I also loved the MC (which is rear for me), she was weak and shy in the beginning and she found her strength and her voice by the end. I didn't understand her always, but i saw where she was coming from, and the decision she made were in character. (But the most important - she wasn't whiny ans she wasn't blushing - so its a win!)

And, oh, the Love!
It was the most tentative love story. I love friendship derived love, I find it more believable and more precious. More real!

There were few things that bothered me, like the prude thing she was having somewhere in the middle where she wasn't kissing him. And the Simon Snow thing - I feel like she gave up to easily on him after the whole book non-stop talking (and writing) about Simon. It felt to convenient, i would have liked to feel the drifting away part....

In conclusion: this book made me laugh and i have my rule about that kind of books (and the ones with a naked guy in the cover) - they always deserve at lest 3 stars (and the guy cover - never worth the read!).

I would totally recommend this one to anyone who likes to read about love and life! Its definitely worth your time!