Cath In Rainbow Furnell's Fangirl

“To really be a nerd, she’d decided, you had to prefer fictional worlds to the real one.”

When I first began reading Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, this was the line that grabbed me. It came early in the novel, and it carved itself into my memory. When I read this book for the first time, I was in seventh grade, and spent a majority of my time on the internet. I was a part of online communities of fans because I felt that I did not have a place in my real social circles. This novel made me feel normal; it shocked me into realizing that I could find my happiness in life; the main character, Cath, did. And if she was able to, then so was I.

Fangirl centers around a girl named Cather “Cath” Avery during her freshman year of college. She has a twin

I relate to her immensely, and watching her evolve, change, and find her happiness gave me hope for my own. She had to assess herself and her friends, and realize what she needed to do to make herself comfortable and find a place in the world. She became independent of her sister, her roommate, and her mother, and found herself and her own identity. As a young girl reading this novel, I found inspiration in this. I felt as though it gave me permission to be centered on myself for a while, in order to find my

It depicts fan culture in an earnest and honest way, and does not mock it. Fangirl is also a solid read for anyone who enjoys a good love story. In fanfiction, the term is “fluff”; it refers to a story with no dark elements, one that is written to make the reader feel good. That is what the last third of this book is: fluff. And after the emotional arc of the first two-thirds, it is much needed. If someone is looking for a light read that will give them a new perspective on something, whether it be fandom, isolation, or romance, then Fangirl is a good