I had 2 different reactions to this book. I couldn’t put it down. Then I thought about it. As I read it, I loved it. I finished in a day. The story and characters and situations all felt very relateable. Plus, who doesn’t love a straightforward happy ending for a likable heroine? But then again, there was a disconnect between the realism and the fantasy.
The heroine Cath is believable introverted, geeky first-semester college student who we follow through the ups and downs of her first year. She’s always been close to her more social twin Wren (Cath-Wren: get it? One character actually spells this out 2/3 of the way through), but Wren decides that college is time for each sister to start being her own person. Cath hates this idea, and finds rooming with someone else, going to the dining hall, and anywhere else besides class or the library terrifying.
The one part of her life where Cath has some confidence is in the world of fanfiction where she is an almost unbelievably popular writer. The fandom she lives in is basically Harry Potter and with a hint of Twilight, and Cath’s fiction focuses on the hero Simon Snow and his frenemy/roommate Baz. Cath has to balance her fan /inner life with her new college life which also includes {gasp!} boys. Cath’s insecurities and inexperience with the opposite sex and dating is one of the most relatable things about her. Even when she meets the right guy for her and realizes it, she’s still terrified and awkward. In terms of academics, Cath gets into an advanced writing class for fiction writers, and does very well, but then she turns in a piece of her Simon Snow fan-fiction. The professor gives it an F for plagiarism because Cath has used characters and world not of her own creation. Then her father has a literal emotional or mental breakdown (which it is is never explicitly clear), and her writing partner ‘betrays’ her, and her mother who left the family when she was 8 reappears in her life. Then everything turns out ok in the end, although there are a few loose ends that apparently don’t matter.
When I finished the story, I realized that it bothered me a little how Rory Gilmore-esque Cath’s story was. Even when she was put in a scary or bad situation, there was always someone nearby who loved her and wanted to help her. Her roommate who was scary turned out to have a heart, the teacher who gave her beloved fanfiction an F gives her another chance and believes in her, she can always get a ride from Lee when her father and sister seem to be in serious trouble, etc. Cath as a character is more realistic than a lot of YA or teen fiction heroines, but her life turns out a little too perfect in the end. Her boyfriend is totally understanding and respectful of Cath being nervous about having sex for the first time, Wren realizes the error of her party girl ways and comes back to Cath, and Cath ends up making friends all over the university (kinda). She even triumphs in her struggles with fiction writing that is not Simon Snow based.
I have nothing against Gilmore Girls (I loved the show), but the plot and character relationships are far too optimistic to be anything other than wish-fulfillment. This conflicts with the realism of Cath’s character and the darkness of some of the very real situations she encounters, including college drinking and mental illness. The parallels and lessons suggested in the excerpts of fan-fiction mixed into the main storyline also felt a little too neat, but I did appreciate the Harry Potter vibe with hints of Twilight added in. Cath’s fan-fiction masterpiece Carry On, Simon has since been published as its own novel. I’m sort of torn whether I want to go there or not. Who am I kidding…I probably will. It’ll be fun.