Book Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Synopsis: Cath and Wren are identical twins, and until recently they did absolutely everything together. Now they're off to university and Wren's decided she doesn't want to be one half of a pair any more - she wants to dance, meet boys, go to parties and let loose. It's not so easy for Cath. She's horribly shy and has always buried herself in the fan fiction she writes, where she always knows exactly what to say and can write a romance far more intense than anything she's experienced in real life.

Without Wren Cath is completely on her own and totally outside her comfort zone. She's got a surly room-mate 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.

Now Cath has to decide whether she's ready to open her heart to new people and new experiences, and she's realizing that there's more to learn about love than she ever thought possible . . .

Pages: 445

Rating: 9/10

Overall: If you're a fangirl like me, it is hugely relatable. It made me nostalgic for the days when we were desperately waiting for the next Harry Potter book. A very relevant book right now.
Fangirl

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Mini Review Type Thingy: Becoming YouTube

The last episode of this series by ninebrassmonkeys came out last night delving into what makes YouTube, well, Youtube. Here's the trailer.


I have loved this series, partly because it helped me discover so many YouTubers but also because it is like proper telly. As in half hour episodes that you can really get into. In the past, TV has looked at the internet and tried to understand it. When BY looks into YouTube, and even the internet as a whole, it’s great because it gets the internet. It’s irreverent but thought provoking, and nerdy to the extreme.

Also Ben Cook (/ninebrassmonkeys) is really funny and so insightful. I met him at SitC ‘13 and he is the nicest guy, despite all video evidence to the contrary. I asked him a question and gave me a proper in depth answer even though there was a massive queue of people waiting to meet him. Huge respect for him.

The last episode really cracked me up at several moments. There was a huge reference to Harry Potter, which included Jack and Finn (/jacksgap) in it. Loved it. Nerd heaven… literally. It mainly talked about change. As always, very interesting. Especially as the interviews are all from a few years ago, and lots of the most controversial changes (G+, I'm looking at you) hadn't happened.


There was a hint at a second series of BY coming in the summer and I am so excited for it! So glad it’s coming back. If only to see how YouTubers' opinions have changed since S1.

Anyway, if you're at all interested in YouTube or internet community, you should definitely watch it.


Looking Back

I keep looking at my old reviews or ratings on GoodReads and thinking "I should change that rating, I don't think it is a 5* book anymore when I compare it to this book." or "Why did I only give that book 4*s? It is obviously a 5*er."

Since starting this blog in particular, I feel like I am starting to get marginally better at deciding whether I thought a book was just really good or blow-your-socks-off amazing.

I think I would probably change a few of my reviews/ratings in retrospect. I'm not going to because I think what I gave a book at the time was what I thought of the book at that particular moment.

My opinion of a book definitely morphs and adapts over time, that sometimes a review written the day or a few days after finishing can't capture.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this. This is a bit of a stream of consciousness, I suppose. But I'd really like to hear what other book bloggers think about looking back at old reviews. Do they match up to what you think of the book now? Do you wait a little while before writing your review? Would you change any review looking back on them?