Dear Rainbow Rowell

I finished the best book last night. It's called Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell and I urge you- I implore you- to rush out to a bookstore and get this book immediately. I was so taken by this book and even with its 434 pages, I raced through it. I found myself postponing reading it because I knew how fast I would get through it and I wasn't ready for it to end. But the second I picked it up last Sunday night, I finished the second half of the book in two hours. When the book closed and my dry eyes finally pried themselves off of the last page, I had that lovely settled feeling that comes after finishing a perfect book.

If you are a person who considers yourself to have any sort of internet presence, you will connect with the main character Cath so much. She writes fan fiction for a series of books about a young wizard named Simon Snow. While she can't seem to connect as much in the real world and her group of real life acquaintances is small, online she has any number of friends at her fingertips. Although my blog doesn't have the 20,000 hits hers does, I relate to her feeling of connection and love through the internet. I love my blog readers, I love reading other blogs, I love this internet communication.

If you consider yourself a writer at all, read this book. Rainbow Rowell has the most delicate and perfect way with words. She just... she gets it. She gets what writing feels like, the urgency that you can feel building in your fingertips as you write or when you feel an idea building in your head and no matter where you are, you just start intensely staring into space as the characters move inside your head.  Samples:

"She liked to sit next to him and watch all that good come out of his hand. Watch the jokes spill out in real time. Watch the words click together."

"'But there's nothing more profound than creating something out of nothing.' Her lovely face turned fierce. 'Think about it, Cath. That's what makes a god- or a mother. There's nothing more intoxicating than creating something from nothing. Creating something from yourself.'"

"Your characters quiver, Cath, like they're trying to evolve right off the page."

I just... I can't, you guys. She is unafraid of words and her passion jumps off the page and seeds inside of your soul. I cannot seem to ever forget her characters and I struggle starting new books after I finish hers because I just love these people so much.

The thing I love the most about her writing is how she writes romantic scenes and romantic feelings. This is another area that she just gets. She makes is so raw and so real and it was the first time that I really felt urgency in the romance. A lot of books make every love scene and every romantic feeling very delicate and light. "I can't get close enough to you, I want to be near you..." BLAH. No. It's more than that. It's an all consuming desire and Rainbow Rowell knows that and she writes that. And... it's so incredibly sexy I cannot stand it. I've had to put her books down and fan myself because YES. Just... read this:

"Right about then, Cath realized just how close she was to the edge of Levi's jaw- and remembered what she'd promised herself to do there  She closed her eyes and kissed him below his chin, behind his jaw, where he was soft and almost chubby, like a baby. He arched his neck, and it was even better than she'd hoped.... Cath brought her hands up to his neck. God, he was warm- skin so warm and thick, a heavier ply than her own."

"Levi's mouth was open, too, and he kept pulling back a little like he was going to say something; then his chin would jut forward again, back into hers. God, his chin. She wanted to make an honest woman of his chin. She wanted to lock it down."

I JUST NO AHHHH

Don't even get me started on the sexiness of Eleanor and Park. A taste:

"If he were to look up at her now, he'd know exactly how stupid she was. She could feel her face go soft and gummy. If Park were to look up at her now, he'd know everything. 
He didn't look up. He wound the scarf around his fingers until her hand was hanging in the space between them.
Then he slid the silk and his fingers into her open palm. 
And Eleanor disintegrated."

"She wanted to lose herself in him. To tie his arms around her like a tourniquet."

"'And you look like a protagonist.' She was talking as fast as she could think. 'You look like the person who ins in the end. You're so pretty, and so good. You have magic eyes,' she whispered. 'And you make me feel like a cannibal.'"

That protagonist line? My favorite line in the history of all books. It is perfect. I want my man to look like a protagonist. Get out of her, Rainbow Rowell. You win.

Go get these books, everyone. I can't even write well when I write about these books because they are too perfect for my words. The only way I can describe these books is with Rainbow Rowell's words from Eleanor and Park:

"'I just want to break that song into pieces,' she said, 'and love them all to death.'" I love every piece of these books. To death.

via *