Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Rainbow Rowell did the world a favor when she wrote the fan fiction Cath works on in Fangirl. It's about Simon Snow, a magician in training, who is supposed to save the world from the great evil of the Humdrum, but he feels like rubbish when it comes to actually working the power he has. He has a roommate, Baz, who is most definitely a vampire and most definitely (maybe) will try to bring the end to Simon Snow.

Throughout a great chunk of the book, you're wondering when Baz is going to act on his feelings for Simon, and whether Simon will finally figure out he has feelings for Baz.

The writing in it was gripping. I love world building, especially worlds of magic, and while this had a very Harry Potter feel, it was unique. The spells were great (Some like it hot will heat up food, for instance. Nursery rhymes have great power, cliches work amazingly well, things like that). Not only was I entertained by the use of language to perform magic, the characters had me laughing, cheering, and sometimes I just wanted to take Baz and Simon and bash their heads together.

At one point, I read a page and found the Point of No Return. I had to stay seated and finish the novel. I couldn't put a bookmark in and walk away. No. It wouldn't let me. I still find myself thinking about this novel and the characters, and a week has passed. 

This was remarkable. Truly. Thank you so much for writing, Rowell. You have so much talent. 

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

I've read only one other novel by Rainbow Rowell, Eleanor & Park, and it was definitely ranked All Night Page Turner. I loved it and was eager to read more of her work. It took me much too long to purchase Fangirl, but once I started, I couldn't stop. I read it from start to finish in one day.

Cath and her twin,Wren, were obsessed with Simon Snow, a character in a series of books as popular in this world as Harry Potter was in the real one. Now in college, Wren decides she's grown out of Simon Snow, and she's ready to live independently from Cath. It'll be good for Cath, right? So while they're at the same college, they're in different dorms, and Cath just doesn't know what to do other than to continue working on her Simon Snow fan fiction, Carry On, Simon. She's a fan fic hit!

With the world of Simon Snow, Cath doesn't have to be in her own, where her mother left when she was just a kid, where her father might not be able to handle living on his own, where her anxiety kicks in and makes a mess of things. In the world of Simon Snow, she doesn't have to have a roommate she doesn't know with the charming boyfriend that spends more time at their dorm than his place, or a writing professor who accuses her of plagiarism, and she doesn't have to worry whether her sister's going to manage a day of sobriety. Simon Snow is more than fiction. It's her crutch. It's her life.

I related well to Cath. Her insecurities and her need to hide in fiction matches my own in several ways, and her interaction with the people around her was very realistic. I loved the pieces of writing that broke up each chapter; there were snippets of the actual Simon Snow novels, as well as from Carry On, Simon (that made me really excited to jump into Carry On that Rowell released). It was creative, funny, emotional, and hit so close to home that I will reread it over and over in the future; I'll also be willing to pick up anything with Rowell's name on it and give it a go.