Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman

75 reviews

shapesandcolours's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Abandonment, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Transphobia

marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I Was Born for This is a story of friendship, platonic love, believing in yourself, and making your life what you want it to be.  It centers on Jimmy—a trans boy band member—and Angel—one of his biggest fans.  Both narrators happen to be religious (Jimmy Christian and Angel Muslim), but I was pleasantly surprised to find that their religiosity was represented simply as a special part of each character’s way of thinking and was not at all preachy or uncomfortable.  Joan of Arc appears symbolically throughout the novel alongside a diverse cast of complex characters.  Buckle up for a wild ride full of tenderness and unexpected turns!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Cursing, Alcoholism, Violence, and Stalking

Minor: Vomit, Transphobia, Outing, and Homophobia

math_scooter's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I was born for this af Alice Oseman er en bog jeg vil anbefale til alle fans af hvad som helst, og også alle andre faktisk. Jeg har hørt lydbogen to gange nu og den kan varmt anbefales, selvom bogen nok er lige så god i skriftlig form. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness

Moderate: Outing, Alcoholism, Violence, Addiction, and Alcohol

Minor: Biphobia, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Medical content, Transphobia, and Eating disorder

tuliptohru's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, and Stalking

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Outing

this_is_lee's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book absolutely blew me away. It was nothing like what I expected, which was refreshing. I’ve never been horribly interested into fame/celebrity storylines but Alice crafted this so incredibly beautifully that I couldn’t not enjoy every minute. It has a slow start that snowballs into some breathtaking twists. 
I found this book to be so important because of the representation. Angel is a hijabi Muslim and Jimmy is not only a famous singer but is also a Transgender Christian. Reading through the perspective of these two characters came to be quite insightful. Everyone felt 3-dimensional and had real and relevant struggles. 
Overall, I learned a lot while reading this book in addition to enjoying the hell out of it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Outing, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, and Stalking

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Grief, and Sexual content

bobisthecoolest's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book is near perfect. Definitely a must read if you had/have an obsession with a (boy) band. This books talks about what happens when artists and fans meet and how fucked up fan culture can be sometimes. Will make you think 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness

Moderate: Stalking, Addiction, and Outing

Minor: Racism, Biphobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Transphobia

vaniavela's review against another edition

emotional inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Angel Rahimi, hijabi Muslim teenager whose life revolves around The Ark, an internationally famous boyband. Jimmy Kaga-Ricci, a biracial transgender gay musician and member of The Ark. What happens when the two paths unexpectedly collide?

I liked that the sexuality of the main characters are not plot points in this book. It is part of them, but it doesn't define all aspects of their lives; they are unique people with personalities. 

I loved the portrayal of mental health. I felt represented as I read anxiety can keep you from doing things, no matter how simple and easy they may seem. There are times when we are terrified of things we used to love, have self-esteem issues and even harmful thoughts that have a tendency to affect our personal relationships. 

Another aspect that really needed to be talked about was fandoms. The culture of fandoms was portrayed, the toxic aspects of them and how people can behave in dangerous ways. One of the aspects that makes me most uncomfortable and annoying is how people forcefully ship real people into a relationship, getting intense about it. Creating these romantic scenarios and then getting furious when the people involved deny it is unhealthy.

I feel like this was well reflected in how Angel (and half the fandom) is Jowan's shipper and upon the revelation that they were nothing, one of the fans throws a brick at them.

Anyway, while it wasn't the book I enjoyed the most from Alice, I can say I liked it. Plus, I loved the cover.

Rep: biracial (indian and italian) anxious gay trans guy mc, persian muslim hijabi mc, side black character, bisexual sc, biracial (chinese and white) bisexual sc. 

CW: panic attacks and paranoia, transphobia, biphobia, racism, discussions of sexual assault, depression, suicidal ideation, obsession and stalking, surgery, alchohol abuse.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Biphobia, Transphobia, and Racism

Minor: Sexual assault and Alcoholism

lyd41's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

The premise of this book was completely unique. Oseman decided to tell a story seldom told before. I loved themes of parasocial love and fandom culture and living as a celebrity and struggling with mental illness. This book would have been nice for me to read a bit younger 🥲. The exposition was a bit too slow, but the fast paced, tense, action filled ending made up for it in a way. Each character felt like a real being with motives and interests, which i enjoyed. I also thoroughly did not like some characters, just like real life!!! :D 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Outing, Stalking, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Blood, and Vomit

Minor: Transphobia, Self harm, Death, and Homophobia

nerdysread's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

My first Alice Oseman’s novel. I loved it. Okay at first I cringed. Because I was like Angel. Not with a band (it was Supernatural and it’s cast for me). And looking back I’m like « how could I be like that ». But yeah I lived for this fandom, it was something as big as the Ark for Angel. But I grew up. Just like Angel did. And that’s what I really love about this book. The characters and their evolution. 

Both Angel and Jimmy have their problems. They are great protagonists. They have their doubt, they strength, their flaws. They are human. Well all the characters in this book are really human. You can’t hate them. I’m really glad I started Oseman’s novels with this one. 

I loved the relationships between everyone and the way toxic fan culture is described. 

Anyway it’s a 5/5 stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Transphobia, Blood, Stalking, and Abandonment

Minor: Self harm, Outing, and Adult/minor relationship

elliizzzabeth's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Alice Oseman triumphs again! This was such a good look in to celebrity and fan culture from both perspectives. A love letter to fandom but also painfully aware of its limitations and toxicity as well. I love the way this book is so open ended. It's not a love story or 'how I became best friends with my idols' which are traps it could have so easily fallen into but expertly avoids. Its the story of two very different people's lives crossing for a brief moment in time and what they both learn from each other. I also loved the exploration of religion and faith from these two perspectives but without ever becoming preachy or focusing on hard doctrine. I also loved the diversity! Our protagonsts are a trans man and a Muslim woman but the story is about them as people rather than focusing on their identities.
My one drawback is that obviously the fandom is focused around band and so there are lots of discussions of shipping real people and rpf which I find a little uncomfortable. But the book explores that phenomenon and how it affects the real people involved so its not like it condones it or anything but it's definitely mentioned a lot. 
Overall, such an incredible book. 10/10 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Kidnapping, Murder, Medical content, Drug use, Outing, Transphobia, and Self harm