---
title: "Fangirl by Rainbow Roswell"
description: "Summary: A college coming of age novel about a young writer of fanfiction. For all of my reading, I have read very little fanfiction. But I loved another one of Rowell's books, Eleanor and Park, so I..."
url: https://bookwi.se/fangirl/
date: 2013-11-22
modified: 2026-07-16
author: "Adam Shields"
categories: ["Book Reviews"]
type: post
lang: en
---

# Fangirl by Rainbow Roswell

[![Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell](https://bookwi.se/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/cover-28838.jpg)](http://www.amazon.com/Fangirl-Rainbow-Rowell/dp/1250030951/)**Summary: A college coming of age novel about a young writer of fanfiction.**

For all of my reading, I have read very little fanfiction. But I loved another one of Rowell’s books, Eleanor and Park, so I picked this one up without reading the description.

Cather (she prefers to be called Cath) is a new college freshman.  Her twin sister, Wren, is trying to form a new identity, without Cath.  Their father, a barely hanging on bipolar advertising idea man, raised them on his own. Their mother left when the girls were 8 which traumatized both girls in different ways. (The mother was not prepared for twins and couldn’t come up with a different name so she split the one she had picked out, Catherine, into Cather and Wren.)

Cath is a fanfiction writer.  She posts her short stories on a fanfiction site and is working on a full length book.  Her obsession is a young adult fantasy series (think Harry Potter).  But Cath specializes in changing the story to turn it into a gay romance between the two antagonists. That romance is the only real romance in Cath’s experience.

College is a hard transition for Cath.  She is introverted and scared of new experiences.  Luckily her roommate takes her under her wing and her upper level fiction writing class gives her a real challenge.

Things get a bit complicated when Cath starts falling for both her writing partner and her roommate’s boyfriend.

I really liked Eleanor and Park, but I liked Fangirl more.  The characters are a bit older.  And while both are kind of geeks, what is geekier than fanfiction?  Both book were character driven.  Rowell did a great job building full characters, not just the main couple, but the side characters and backstory as well.

My only complaint is that the ending was a bit abrupt.  I was engaged with the character and I wanted more.

**Fangirl by Rainbow Roswell Purchase Links: [Hardcover](http://www.amazon.com/Fangirl-Rainbow-Rowell/dp/1250030951/), [Kindle Edition](http://www.amazon.com/Fangirl-Rainbow-Rowell-ebook/dp/B00BMKH5NW/), [Audible.com Audiobook](http://www.amazon.com/Fangirl/dp/B00E9YYT64/)**

***Related Reviews of Bookwi.se Young Adult Books***

- [Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (Book and Movie Review)](https://bookwi.se/enders-game-by-orson-scott-card/)
- [Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell (Adam’s Review)](https://bookwi.se/eleanor-park-by-rainbow-rowell/)
- [Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell (Emily’s Review)](https://bookwi.se/eleanor-and-park/)
- [The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (Adam’s Review)](https://bookwi.se/the-fault-in-our-stars/)
- [The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (Emily’s Review)](https://bookwi.se/the-fault-in-our-stars-2/)
- [The Yearling by Majorie Kinnan Rawlings](https://bookwi.se/yearling/) (Seth’s Review)
- [The Sword of Six Worlds by Matt Mikalatos](https://bookwi.se/the-sword-of-six-worlds/)
- [Attachements by Rainbow Rowell](https://bookwi.se/the-attachements/)
- [Landline by Rainbow Rowell](https://bookwi.se/landline/)