I just finished Rainbow Rowell's young adult novel Fangirl last night and I'm so sad it's over. Reading this book was like finding a piece of sea glass on the beach when you're not looking, like wishing on a fuzzy dandelion and having your wish come true. It was completely unexpected, but so rewarding in the end. Picking up this book, I knew it would begood. I mean, I fell madly in love with Eleanor and Park when I read it in January so I knew this book had to be just as good.
There was something about Cath, Wren, Reagan, and Levi that made them seem so real despite the fact that they are just characters in a book. I think it's because they are flawed and imperfect and speak their minds honestly. And for the short time I spent with them in this fictional world, they were like my best friends. I could totally connect with Cath as a writer and lover of a fandom that most people often snub. But luckily, like Cath, I've found friends who support my love of all things nerdy. I have family that supports me too and a love for the stories I've read and the stories that are in my head.
I can't wait to go back and read this lovely piece of YA lit. again, but I'm also so sad because I'll never have that first time back again. There is something so perfect and magical about reading a really good book for the first time. But there's also something so wonderful about reading your favorite book again and again because you never read it the same way. The book doesn't change. You're the one who's changed. And because you've changed, there are certain lines that you pay more attention to. Lines that make you smile a little brighter, phrases that break your heart, scenes that make you cry.
I think that's the beauty of all books. I think being able to go back and spend time with some of your favorite people in worlds that you enjoy are important to stay positive, to have faith in this world when bad things happen. And for me it's even more important because it shows that words and stories are still important, making me believe that my words and my stories are important too. And I can't wait to share them with the world someday. But until then, I think I'm going to fall into places like Hogwarts and Watford and Omaha, New York City and Mullaby and even Panem.
xoxo
K.K.