Fangirl

Goodreads Choice Awards Final Round

It’s the final round! We’re at the point of the awards where I just vote for books from authors I like or skip whole categories. The only category I’ve read more than two books is romance. Sadly, Ilona Andrews Emerald Blaze did not make it.

My nominations:

Mystery & Thriller – When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole

Fantasy – The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

Romance – Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

Sci-Fi – Axiom’s End by Lindsay Ellis

Food and Cookbooks – Modern Comfort Food: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten

Graphic Novels & Comics – Fangirl, Vol 1: The Manga by Sam Maggs, Rainbow Rowell; Illustrated by Gabi Nam

Middle Grade & Children’s – The Tower of Nero by Rick Riordan

Picture Books – The Seed of Compassion: Lessons from the Life and Teachings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama by Dalai Lama XIV; Illustrated by Bao Luu

Alright, so I’ve read three of the above books. The library has the graphic novel Fangirl waiting for me to pick up, so if I’m able to pick that up before the deadline, I could change my vote. Unless I absolutely hate it, I don’t see that happening. All the other books were books from authors I’ve enjoyed in the past.

This is pretty normal for me when it comes to the Goodreads Choice Awards. Usually, I end up finding a lot of books that I hadn’t heard about that I’m interested in, but not this year. I’ve been in a very critical mood lately, and there ended up only being a couple of books that I added to my list.

In my opinion, the Goodreads Choice Awards needs some changes. I was pleased to see more diversity, but I would love to see the categories changed. Why is Biography not in the same category as Memoir and Autobiography? Having one category for romance is ludicrous. Why are books that aren’t even published yet allowed to be included? The Pioneer Woman cookbook doesn’t even come out until tomorrow.

There are so many illustrated covers. I liked the trend, to begin with, in romance, but I’m starting to miss beautiful women in elaborate gowns draped over bare-chested men.

Anyway, there you have it, the conclusion to the Goodreads Choice Awards.

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Carry On By: Rainbow Rowell

Carry On

Carry On By: Rainbow Rowell

Plot:

Simon Snow is the worst chosen one who’s ever been chosen. That’s what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he’s probably right. Half the time, Simon can’t even make his wand work, and the other half, he sets something on fire. His mentor’s avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there’s a magic-eating monster running around wearing Simon’s face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here—it’s their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon’s infuriating nemesis didn’t even bother to show up. Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story—but far, far more monsters.

Review:

Rainbow Rowell has joined Ilona Andrews and Patricia Briggs in the very short list of authors that I will buy whatever they do. I love her, she reaches a part of my soul that no other author I read does.

I’ll stop being sappy now.

I loved Fangirl and I thought the parts about Simon Snow and Baz were fun so I thought it was pretty cool that Rowell was taking it a step further and writing a full book about the characters. I did not expect this, though.

It was like reading the eighth book in a series, there are mentions of exploits from past adventures, but the book isn’t really about those adventures or even the current one, it’s all about the relationships. It’s—awesome.

Even in a fantasy novel Rowell’s characters are so real and common, but not too common, they’re normal, but a weird normal. I love them.

Simon is stupid, but kind of on purpose. He doesn’t want to look any deeper into anything because the magical world he’s apart of is the best thing in his life. Baz may not be the chosen one, but he’s been given just as many obstacles to overcome.

The romance in the book is perfect and filled me with all kinds of warm fuzzies. I just really loved this story.

Fair warning, this is not a normal fantasy book. There’s magic and monsters and spells and all that jazz, but that’s not what makes it so great. It’s the characters and their reactions. You still care about the whole end of magic mystery going on, but because it affects the people you’ve come to love.

5/5

Fangirl

fangirl

Fangirl By: Rainbow Rowell

Plot:

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. Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words… And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone. For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?
Review:

I love Rainbow Rowell. I like to think if I ever met her we’d be friends.

*sigh*

Creepiness over.

Rowell creates great characters. People I understand and like to think I’d get along with. The people she writes are people I wish I met in real life. Maybe I’m just not getting out enough. Probably.

Fangirl could have easily been about me at that age. Well except for the twin sister, and the horrible mom, and the whole writing fanfiction. Cath is like an uber introvert and that’s how I was, or really wanted to be but I forced myself to leave more than she did. Of course I wasn’t an emotional wreck like Cath was, I guess that’s why my life isn’t a novel.

Oh well.

Awesome book, horrible review, this happens when I love a book/movie/tv show too much.

5/5