CBR14 Book 19: "Fangirl, the Manga, vol 2" by Sam Maggs, Rainbow Rowell and Gabi Nam

Page count: 224 pages

Rating: 4.5 stars

CBR14 Bingo: Bodies (Cath and Levi become a lot more aware of each other's bodies in this volume - not like THAT. Get your mind out of the gutter!)

Cath has started getting more comfortable at college and with her classes, but she still finds it difficult to reconcile the fact that her twin, Wren, is having such a great time without her. Wren is embracing the party lifestyle and seems to spend a lot of evenings out drinking with her roommate. Meanwhile, Levi keeps coming round to Cath and Reagan's room and hanging out, being incredibly friendly, helpful, and charming, making friends with Cath even when she tries to resist him. He's willing to drive her places late at night, he brings her free coffee and he even wants to hear about her Simon Snow fan fiction. 

In fact, Cath might be growing to like Levi a bit too much. He's Reagan's boyfriend, after all. Or is he? After a very confusing night, when Cath ends up reading the entirety of The Outsiders to Levi because the audiobook isn't available, he and Cath end up kissing before falling asleep and when a tearful Cath confesses this to her roommate, Reagan is unsurprised and admits that she and Levi are very good friends, but haven't been a couple since before they came to college. Could the reason Levi has been hanging around Cath and Reagan's room all this time be because he really likes Cath? 

Sam Maggs continues to adapt Fangirl the novel beautifully, aided by the lovely artwork by Gabi Nam. It seems suitable that Levi graces the cover of this volume since he's a very important character throughout. I can repeat my complaint from my review of the first volume that it takes a depressingly long time between these volumes, and there is absolutely no news as to when volume 3 will be available. Readers should be aware that this book ends on one heck of a cliffhanger - those who have read the novel probably know which scene I'm referring to. It'll be a long wait to continue the story. 

Judging a book by its cover: Volume 2 has Gabi Nam's version of the wonderful Levi, complete with sensible winter boots and cozy knitwear. Where the cover of volume 1 was a warm, autumnal yellow, this cover is a wintery blue, with each volume following a season of Cath's first year of college.

 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

#CBR12 Book 97: "Fangirl, the Manga: Vol 1" by Sam Maggs and Rainbow Rowell

Page count: 216 pages

Rating: 4 stars

Cath Avery thought she'd be sharing a room with her twin sister Wren when they went to college (isn't that the benefit of having a twin?), but her sister has cut her hair into a cute pixie cut and is looking forward to reinventing herself at college. She's already friends with her roommate and can't wait to move away from home and their anxious father.

Cath, on the other hand, is deeply outside of her comfort zone. Online, she's an undisputed queen, an incredibly prolific and popular fanfic writer. Her Simon Snow fanfics are read by thousands of people all over the world. Now she needs to get used to all sorts of new things, like how to talk to her intimidating, beautiful roommate or said roommate's charming and gregarious boyfriend. She's taking an advanced writer's class, even though she's just a freshman, and her professor is asking a lot of her. She needs to find the courage to actually go have a meal in the cafeteria. She should probably also find out why Wren is so determined to distance herself from her.

It can come as no secret to anyone who has read my reviews over the years that I'm an unashamed Rainbow Rowell fan. She's one of my favourite authors currently writing, and of all the books she's written, Fangirl is probably the one that speaks the most directly to me and mirrors much of my own early time at university. I have read the book four times and own it in audio, e-book and paperback. That book gave me Cath and Levi and Reagan, not to mention the first appearances of Simon and Baz (although I love Rowell's own versions, I'm not quite as fond of Gemma T. Leslie OR Cath's versions). 

So there really was no question that I needed to own and read the manga version, as well, cleverly adapted by Sam Maggs and illustrated throughout by the talented Gabi Nam. There was little doubt that I was going to like this a lot - unless massive amounts were altered, which of course is not the case. It's strange reading a story I know so well in a graphic format, but I think Nam has captured the characters really well. The similarities and huge differences between Cath and her twin Wren are especially well done. You can see that they are identical, yet they have such very individual looks. Reagan, Levi, and the various versions of Simon and Baz are also a lot of fun to see on the page.

My biggest gripe with this is that it was too short! The second part doesn't even have a release date yet and I'm not sure whether it's been confirmed how many volumes there will be (I suspect four because it's a pretty big book, but hoping for three - manga is expensive!). So now I'm going to have to be impatiently waiting for the next volumes of this, while I'm also pining away for the final Simon Snow book (out in July!)

Judging a book by its cover: I really love Gabi Nam's art throughout the manga, and this image of Cath just captures her so well. I also really like the warm, yellow colour of the background, not to mention the autumn leaves swirling around Cath. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.