I had read Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell a few years ago and liked… some aspects of it, but mostly I was intensely curious how a novel that was so in its protagonist’s head and so heavily about writing could possibly be adapted to a visual medium in a way that communicated the same information. When I saw this book existed, I screamed out loud and then begged for a review copy. Fangirl Rainbow Rowell (author), Sam Maggs (adaptation writer), Gabi Nam (artist) Unlike the source material, the graphic novelization of Fangirl is a beautiful, contemplative, and fun reading experience. 1 tells the story of Cath, a popular fanfiction author struggling with adjusting to her first semester at college, meeting new people, and growing apart from her twin sister. 1 by Rainbow Rowell, Sam Maggs, and Gabi Nam adapts Rainbow Rowell’s original novel to a manga-inspired, black-and-white graphic novel for VIZ’s new imprint VIZ Originals. I also feel like this can really stand alone as a manga without knowing the original story at all.Fangirl Vol.

I really liked seeing Cath in picture format and I could really feel her emotions leap off the page. It was very expressive and the characters looked exactly how I pictured them – especially Cath. I did enjoy the art style and I felt like the story fit the art style well. The manga stays very faithful to the original story, and I couldn’t pick anything up that felt different (although it has been a long time since I read it). However, I’m finding it so hard to discuss or rate this book because it felt like an odd re-read of the first part of the Fangirl book. I haven’t read Fangirl in a really long time, but I really enjoyed it and thought this would be a great way to revisit the story. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming boyfriend, a writing professor who thinks fanfiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome new writing partner…Īs soon as I found out there was a Fangirl manga coming out, I knew I wanted to read it. There are suddenly all these new people in her life.

But now that she’s in college, Cath is completely outside of her comfort zone. She has her twin sister, Wren, and she’s a popular fanfic writer in the Simon Snow community with thousands of fans online. Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath just can’t let go…Ĭath doesn’t need friends IRL. Okay, everybody is a Simon Snow fan, but for Cath, being a fan is her life.