Book Review: Fangirl Vol. 1: The Manga by Rowell & Maggs

Fangirl Vol. 1: The Manga 

by Rowell & Maggs

 

Finished reading: 22/11/2020

 

5/5 stars

I feel like I must preface this review by giving a short history of my relationship with the original Fangirl and its associated works. I first read the novel many years ago and it was the first Rainbow Rowell book I ever read. I had extremely mixed feelings about the book, I loved Cath’s story, but I hated the excerpts from Carry On to the point where I would literally skip these pages just to get back to Cath’s story! Then in 2019, after reading a few other Rainbow Rowell books, I decided to give in and finally read the spin off novel “Carry On” because of all the hype. Although I really didn’t expect to get through it because of how much I disliked the Simon and Baz parts in Fangirl. However, I was pleasantly surprised and absolutely adored it!! (Read my review here: https://thatgirlwhoreadsya.blogspot.com/2019/09/book-review-carry-on-by-rainbow-rowell.html). Since then, I have wanted to reread Fangirl (the novel) as it had been so long since I read it and I thought maybe my opinions have changed…but I never got round to it. Flash forward to September 2020, when I am suddenly somehow very into graphic novels and considering reading some manga but don’t know where to start. I’m scrolling through Twitter and I discover that Fangirl Vol. 1: The Manga is going to be released in October 2020!! I am so excited because I can finally reread Fangirl and also read a manga so immediately pre-order it without hesitation!

I have to say, I absolutely LOVED volume 1 and am now itching to get my hands on volume 2 as soon as possible! I don’t know whether it’s because since reading the novel, I have gone through my personal university journey (or whether I am about 110% more of a geek haha) but I related to Cath so much more than ever before! It made me realise how underrepresented characters like Cath are represented in popular fiction, specifically young adult fiction. There was something about seeing all these characters drawn in Gabi Nam’s impeccable style that just brought them utterly to life. It was like watching the perfect TV adaptation of dreams in manga form! Every illustration beautifully captured the tone and emotion in every scene. I will be definitely be checking out more of her work in future.

As for the Simon and Baz aspects, I absolutely loved seeing these wonderful characters in manga form! The snippets of Cath’s fanfiction were completely brought to life as though Simon and Baz had their very own full-blown anime series which is all I could ever want in life to be quite honest. I loved the character profiles interspersed throughout, I felt like I learned more about these beloved characters and a slightly different interpretation of them than in the Carry On novel which was so refreshing. (It has actually reminded me again of how desperately I need to read Wayward Son and I feel ashamed that I have left it this long!!)

I’m not sure how long I can wait for volume 2 as there has not yet been a release date announced. For this reason, I may well get ahead and reread the novel as the manga has reminded me of how great the novel is. Although saying this, I can definitely see myself rereading the manga more than the novel once all the volumes are released as it made for a much more exciting reading experience. I believe I read somewhere that there is bonus content added to the manga too. So I’d be really interested to reread the novel just to work out what differences there are between the two.

But overall, Fangirl Vol. 1 was such an incredible reading experience. I felt so immersed and absorbed in the pages from start to finish. I highly recommend giving it a read, even if you didn’t necessarily click with the novel. My only criticism is that it went much too fast and now I have to wait so long for the next! But I will definitely be rereading volume 1 AT LEAST once before volume 2 is released!