Am I A True 'Fangirl'?

                                         

Thanks to Ninja Book Swap, I got the chance to read Rainbow Rowell’s interesting new book ‘Fangirl’. I won’t lie, as a member of multiple fandoms, I was really excited by the prospect of it being treated in a near mainstream light in this book, jargon intact and all, but I have to be honest, Rainbow Rowell surprised me quite a bit with this one.
                There were a lot of elements to like about this book. The fandom that the main character Cath is a part of is clearly a copy, in a lot of ways, of Harry Potter, something I adore and have done for as long as I can really remember now, and the main ship that Cath chooses to sail with is that of Simon and Baz (aka Harry and Draco). This wrongfooted me a little, because when people preach this pairing, I can’t get my head around it, but that is my personal choice and a niggle critique I will admit. The comedy that arose from a lot of the “them and us” mentality (by which I mean Cath versus everyone who knew nothing about internet fandoms) was really well executed, and, however much I’d like to believe people are more open-minded, I felt for Cath at the points when she tried to explain how Baz and Simon could be in relationship, only to hear the response, “Pfft, Simon isn’t gay!” This book felt really well researched in its knowledge of fan-fiction and fan communities, and the sorority you feel for Cath and Wren when they hold the eighth Simon Snow in their hands is touching in a way that I didn’t expect. The romance, between Levi and Cath, felt equally well constructed, and with its stumbles and fix-ups feeling a lot less ridiculous-sweeping-romantic-gesture (for once in YA!), and it veering far nearer to a realistic-honest-and-even-occasionally-painful kind of affection.
                I had, however, a lot of problems with this book in certainly equal measure. Cath’s character was one where I couldn’t understand why any reader would like her unless they were exactly like her. She came across as dismissive and very judgemental, and, most of all, she was never punished for any bad decisions she made. For example, skipping class and missing an exam and not really even bothering to inform anyone was resolved by her easily retaking the exam and getting another two chances for her final assignment. This was particularly poignant as Wren seemed to be punished even more than average, as she seemed to only drink socially, something Cath was very judgemental and even, at points, cruel about, and she got alcohol poisoning and was grounded (in a sense) by their father. This imbalance seemed to support Cath’s “never anything new at all ever” viewpoint a little too much for me, making it seem as though Cath’s decision to be closeminded was the correct one and that Wren, who dared to try and establish an independent life from her sister, including seeing their mother for the first time, was wrong in every sense. I understand juxtaposition, but I really think that Cath’s character development (which was really only that she stopped writing fan-fiction for school projects and would talk to a person that wasn’t Wren or her boyfriend) was really tainted by the fact that she just never learnt anything and that the world simply changed around her, rather than the reverse.

                Overall, I have mixed feelings on this book. Whilst I love its link to fandoms, and I think it is a really clever way to show someone coming out of their shell, I am disappointed that there was little growth in a character who really needed to grow up, if only a little. Maybe I will have to begin some fan-fiction of my own to add a few tweaks (in my head) to what was otherwise a very funny and heart-warming book.