Fangirl

I have read Fangirl many times at different points in my life—first as a teenager (of course), then as a young adult, and again in my early twenties. Each time, I’ve cried, but in a comforting way. I just think that Cath’s story feels so real and relatable. Personally, every time I reread it, it feels like a “curita para el corazón.” If you haven’t read it and are thinking in do in it and are older than 16, please take in mind that Cath is an 18 years old person and she reflects that.

This was fun! This reminded me a lot of being younger and growing up online in fan communities, and then being super awkward in my offline life, haha. I'm apparently only a few years older than Cath too, based on her saying 9/11 happened in 3rd grade.

This is a coming-of-age story for Cath, twin sister to Wren, as the two of them move from Omaha to Lincoln to attend UNL. I bought the book because it was local and it sounded fun, even though it's outside my usual genre. Cath and Wren grew up as huge Simon Snow fans and would write/post fanfiction together. As they enter college, Wren is ready to put that childishness aside and enter the party college life, but Cath isn't.

I appreciate that even when Cath is obviously wrong and just being driven by emotions/anxiety/etc, we get into her head to understand that. A fair number of books I've read in the last couple of years had authors who seemed to forget you can do that, so it's refreshing to read this one. Some of her anxieties are ones that I relate to and her friends are there to help her figure out how to navigate the real world. Love all the characters.

Small complaint: It was weird that Levi eventually mentions "Harry Potter" when Simon Snow is obviously a stand-in for Harry Potter. It's kind of a double-take moment since it feels like we agreed that this is a world where Simon Snow *is* Harry Potter, and now brings up the question of what's Potter's place in the world? It only comes up once though so it's easy to forget.