Nam has perfectly captured the details of Rowell's characters: Cath's Simon tee-and-jeans wardrobe, Reagan's voluptuous beauty, Levi's widow's peak and Carharrt coat, etc. It's every bit as poignant and funny and sweet, but with excellent accompanying art that is sure to spark conversation about whether the characters were depicted as readers imagine. The best part of the manga is that it makes Cath's story more accessible to a new generation of teen readers who may not have read the original. All the main lines and plot points are still present. An Emergency Kanye Party filled with artist-specific rapping transforms into an Emergency Dance Party where the visuals of the dancing outweigh the playlist one off descriptions of 'rapey' and 'Gimpy' and 'socially retarded' are also changed, but those improvements will likely only be picked up by folks who re-read the original before starting the comic. There are slightly fewer fanfic interludes in the comic, and there's also a tightening of the story and some minor but positive changes of the text. Instead of being indented and in different font, the fanfic in the manga is framed in black, making it stand out to the 'real life' proceedings. The beloved tribute to fandom and first love works beautifully as a graphic novel, with the black-and-white art capturing Cath's anxiety and loneliness and her devotion to fictional characters. As she gets to know Nick better, she also starts to enjoy Levi's constant company - even though he 'belongs' to her roommate. Cath's favorite class is an upper-level fiction writing course, in which she meets Nick, an upperclassmen she teams up with on a writing project. Because the eighth and final book is to be released in May, Cath has the school year to finish her epic fanfic before the author's official book closes the series. Her fanfic is followed by tens of thousands of readers. Within the Simon Snow fandom, Cath, known as 'Magicath' online, is a big deal.

Except for class, Cath rarely leaves the room and spends most of her time writing Simon Snow (a Harry Potter-like fantasy series) fanfiction. Cath is intimidated by Reagan's worldliness and Levi's gegarious nature. His name is Levi, and he's apparently the boyfriend of her roommate Reagan, a junior scholarship student. The moment she steps into her dorm room, Cath finds a guy in it.

Because her identical twin Wren wanted to branch out, Cath, who deals with social anxiety, faces being alone for the first time. This first installment covers the beginning of Cath Avery's freshman year at the University Of Nebraska.

The book returns as a manga adapted by Sam Maggs and illustrated by Gabi Nam. FANGIRL was one of the biggest young adult books of 2013, catapulting Rainbow Rowell into a bonafide YA superstar after Eleanor & Park.

Fangirl the manga