Back of Book: 

In Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl, Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan, but for Cath, being a fan is her life-and she's really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it's what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath's sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can't let go. She doesn't want to.

Now that they're going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn't want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She's got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can't stop worrying about her dad, who's loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind? 

Book Number: Stand Alone

Genre: Young Adult | Contemporary | Romance

Review: ? 

Back of Book: 

After a long, lonely year, two people stumble toward each other in this holiday short story by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eleanor & Park and Fangirl.

Social distancing came easily to Reagan. Maybe a little too easily. She’s always liked people better from afar. But Reagan doesn’t want her grandpa to be alone for Christmas this year—he’s already spent too much time on his own in 2020. So she heads back to her hometown with a dish of holiday Jell-O salad, hoping they can have a little normalcy. Hoping it will be safe…

She isn’t expecting to run into the boy next door. Mason is all grown up now. He’s considerate. He’s funny. He doesn’t mind how prickly Reagan is—he maybe even likes it. And it makes Reagan feel like her defenses are falling. She needs her defenses, doesn’t she? In a time when six feet is close enough, how long can they keep their distance? 

 Book Number: Short Story 

Genre: Young Adult | Contemporary | Romance 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

A holiday Christmas story featuring Reagan, a side character from the iconic "Fangirl" book. 

It hasn't been hard for Reagan to keep her distance once COVID struck. She's always kept people at an arm's length anyway, but she still feels obligated to spend her Christmas with her grandfather. When Reagan runs into his next-door neighbor, Mason, she begins to realize that she may just be longing for a connection after all. 

I went into this one looking for a short Christmas read, and I totally didn't know that it was connected to the "Fangirl" universe until I was mostly finished reading this one. I guess this might be my sign to read "Fangirl" soon. 

This story features a COVID Christmas, which is something that I've never read about. This story was extremely relatable, because as someone who lived through this era, I remember how odd the holiday experience was in 2020. 

Reagan is a bit of an introvert who feels obligated to spend time with her family despite all of her fears of the coronavirus. She spends most of her time alone, but it was nice to see her grow closer to Mason. I honestly thought it was pretty neat that the romance was kept to a minimum in this story and it mainly focuses on human connection in general. Also, Mason was such a sweet love interest; I mean, the care he felt towards that deer was so cute. 

Since I haven't read "Fangirl" yet I hadn't had the chance to meet Reagan prior to this story. I'm very curious to see her character's role in "Fangirl" and learn more about her in general.  

Overall, "If the Fates Allow" was a solid Christmas story that highlights the unfortunate Christmas season of 2020. I haven't read "Fangirl" yet, so I'm not one hundred percent sure how this story connects to everything. I enjoyed reading it as a stand alone regardless. Reading a COVID Christmas story truly brought me back to 2020 and had me thinking about just how much COVID truly affected our lives for a while.