Micaela 's Reviews > The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl

** spoiler alert ** It is difficult for me to review this book. Not because it was terrible or amazing, but I can't quite seem to put my finger on my feelings. I didn't hate it. I didn't love it. It was problematic in some ways. It was cliched in a lot of ways. It didn't say anything new, I think, once you pull away the layers.

On the one hand, the book is entertaining. I never got bored and the writing style shows some level of effort from the author. I liked that the character's narration showcased his intelligence but also typicalness (is that a word?) of a confused teenage boy. I could relate to the male protagonist in some ways, and the things I couldn't personally relate to, I understood why they'd bother a person of his age. I wasn't bored by his talk about his graphic novel, and it actually made me want to finally read some myself.

The other title character "Goth Girl" was outrageous. I was shocked and confused and disturbed at all of her antics. And the part where she flashes people? Wow! It is no wonder that she is in a mental institution at the beginning of the sequel (which I believe is in her point of view? I haven't read it yet).

What I don't like is some of the messages in this book. I feel like the protagonist doesn't ever really "learn" anything that "Goth Girl" is trying to tell him. It bothers me that Goth Girl is basically a manic pixie dream girl trope, and we know next to nothing about her. I'd just read another contemporary YA book about this very topic, but it blatantly called the female character what she was supposed to be. This book played it straight, and it is disappointing in that regard.

It touches on some subjects (racism, sexism, etc.) in a realistic way that makes the main character seem like a hypocrite and typical narrow-minded teenager, even though he thinks he's open-minded and smarter than everyone else around him. For example, his best friend, who is both athletic and a huge comic book nerd, is the token black friend at a backwater school where only 10 black students attend. The main character seemed to expect a pat on the back for not being a racist. Hmmmm...no.

I think the way things shake out near the end knocked a star off of my rating. Way too much wish-fulfillment. I mean really? The hot senior girl he's been lusting after and objectifying (to the point that she literally is the main character in his graphic novel) kisses him for no reason and lets him feel her up? He gets flashed by Goth Girl while she's enraged that he doesn't think she's pretty (oh look, I have big boobs too. I just hide them! What's with the big boobs thing? I never..anyway)...really?

I did like that his idol didn't respond well to his graphic novel in the way he hoped. That part felt realistic. But everything surrounding male/female relationships? Really?

I'm going to read the sequel to see how this all plays out, but ultimately, this installment gets an "it's OK" shrug from me.