#7 of 36: Receding Hairlines and All: A Review of Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Receding Hairlines and All: A Review of Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

I thought this was a lovely read. I will have to add that I blame my friend, Ines, for pointing out Levi's receding hairline (which prompted me to obsess over it as I read the book). This book was my reward for finishing a romance novella in May. I devoured it like cake. It was a quick read because I loved the story. I loved Cath, of course. I will always picture her in my head as someone jumping on her bed during an emergency dance party. I thought she was named after Willa Cather. I was disappointed to find out otherwise. But I loved Reagan even more. She reminded me of Eleanor (from Eleanor and Park) somehow. I don't know why. Maybe because she was a big girl. I loved how she became friends with Cath out of pity. What a cool girl. I would be scared to have her as my actual roommate, though. I'm a total wimp. But I wouldn't mind having her as a friend!

I have to admit: I am not into fan fiction. I like reading original stuff. Don't think I'm a snob. I am not. I can understand why there's a huge base of fan fiction out there. People don't want a story to end. I have nothing against that. But I find myself in Professor Piper's position. If I were running that creative writing class, I, too, would demand for original work.

All in all, I had fun reading Fangirl. I still like Eleanor and Park more, though. I don't know why. It punched me in the gut, maybe. I will be reading more Rainbow Rowell books soon.

View all my reviews

Filipino Friday #3: FanFic Felicity

And here I am posting for Filipino Friday on a Saturday. Sigh. As I said in my first Filipino Friday Post: Better late than never.

So, here's this week's prompt: Fanfiction is pretty popular, no doubt about it, but it has been received with mixed feelings by many authors and writers. Some don’t mind it, and even welcome readers who give their own spin on their work. Some writers don’t like it at all, to the point that they contact fanfiction authors to take their work down. Others use it as a jump-off point for their own writing.

How about you? What is your take on fanfiction? Do you read fanfiction, and if you do, what kind of fanfiction do you read? Do you write fanfiction, and why? Or are you against fanfiction? Enlighten us.

My answer: Reading and writing are not meant to be isolated acts. In the end, it is a story being told and a story being heard. It is part of human experience. Let that be my underlying principle.

So, on to fanfiction. I don't think there's anything wrong with fanfiction. It's a way to engage with a written piece of work. I think writers should embrace fanfic because it's part of a conversation. Once a writer publishes work, it belongs out there. It no longer belongs to the writer. That's just how it is. No use being in denial.

I think fanfic is a great exercise in writing. My very first fantasy novel (the one that I lost a long time ago) could be considered fanfic after reading Ursula LeGuin's A Wizard of Earthsea. I copied the style of archaic writing and world-making as well as the idea of mapping that world (which, if you think about it, started further back with The Lord of The Rings which I hadn't read at the time). I also got encouraged to write love stories when I first read Sweet Dreams books. So, there, gave away my age. Haha! One of my favorites was P.S. I Love You. I was such a fan. I later read her other books, The Summer Jenny Fell In Love and Winter Dreams. Fanfic is a good starting point, especially for a writer who's just starting out.

But do I read fanfic? Not really. But this is not to say that I would discourage anyone from reading it. That's totally different. It's just not my preference. I would rather read the original stories.

So, in conclusion, I think fanfic is great. It's a great creative activity for fans. Some worlds are just so engrossing they have to be built upon. It's a great activity for writers, especially when they are inspired by a piece of work and are just starting out in a genre. As a reader, I have a preference for original stories. But that's just me.