Rainbow Rowell- This Woman Knows Your Soul!!!

Courtesy of http://rainbowrowell.com/blog/about/

Are you looking for an author to make you laugh, cry, and most importantly, self-reflect?  Try Rainbow Rowell.  Winner of the International Reading Association Award for Young Adult Fiction for Eleanor and Park, Rowell has thus far managed to capture the angst, joy, and overall adventure of life throughout our lives.  All four of her novels mainly focus on a female protagonist; however, Rowell's gift for witty and thought provoking dialogue make every character intriguing.  Rowell's strong women are not your typical literary women.  Rowell writes women who are quirky, smart, and attempting to navigate the choppy waters of life; all readers can relate to the feelings of insecurity or sexiness that the characters experience.  There is a constant theme of trying to fit in.  The novels explore the pressure to be cool, the want to be noticed for your personality, or the fear of having to be something that you don't necessarily want to be, even if it the "popular" thing to do.  Rowell celebrates the different personalities in women and in people in general, whether it be through the quirky characters falling in love or just the realization that being different is OK, no matter what people say.  The overarching theme in Rowell's writing is that loving yourself for who you are is the most important thing (not to mention attractive!) thing you can do.

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So far, Rowell has written four novels, starting
with Attachments in 2011. Each book deals with a different stage of life; teenage years, college years, adult years being single, and then midlife while married with children.  Each one is a love story woven throughout the trials and triumphs of life, ranging from school to work to friendship.  

My personal favorite has been Fangirl. Cather is a new college student who is torn between her life revolving around her sister and their love for a Young Adult book series (and their subsequent fan fiction about the series)  and her new life at college, with the inexplicable changes from growing up and the growing attention from her roommate's boyfriend... or is he?

The biggest draw to these books is that you feel like Rainbow Rowell GETS you.  Her characters could easily be you.  They're weird, they have eccentricities, they fall wildly in love in the worst of circumstances.  THEY ARE HUMAN.  There are no huge twists, no grandiose changes in attitude or personality, no grand gestures of infatuation or devotion.  These books are about life, all the messes and all the beauty included.  Read one and you won't regret it.