Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - I Was Born for This

I Was Born for This follows the lead singer of a successful boy band and a teenage girl from their fandom. While Angel Rahimi lives her dream and gets ready not only to meet her idols but to be at a live concert, Jimmy Kaga-Ricci and the rest of The Ark deal with the consequences of fame: speculations made by their fans.

When I started reading Alice Oseman’s third book, I was afraid the story would become like the ones we find in fanfiction. Despite the slightly unrealistic way the events unfold, that didn’t happen. Overall, I found myself thinking it focused on the characters and their personal development while addressing relevant matters regarding the relationship between artists and fans.

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thabea's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.0

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cecilielaugesen's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I’m having a hard time reviewing this book, because even though there were things I didn’t like, I overall enjoyed the book.
Things I did not like:
1. I thought the plot was weird, and at times it made me a little uncomfortable…
2. Some of the characters!
3. While I liked that it deals with some bigger topics such as identity and mental health, I did not like how it felt glossed over.

It was basically every page that had some variation of “I hate myself so much I don’t want to be alive”, and at no point did they actually address it properly.

Also would definitely recommend checking the trigger warnings before reading:)

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beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.0

I wanted to read this book because I've been loving Alice Oseman - I wanted to read more about the other people that Alice has wrote about and this book isn’t connected to the Heartstopper universe at all. So, I was very excited to see what this was about.

This book has two points of view. The first is Angel and her life is about one thing: The Ark. They are a pop-rock trio of teenage boys who are currently taking the world by storm, being a part of The Ark’s fandom has given her everything – her friend Juliet, her dreams and her place in the world. The second point of view is Jimmy, and he owes everything to The Ark. He’s their frontman and playing in a band with his best mates is all he has ever dreamed of doing. However, dreams don’t always turn out the way you think, and when Jimmy and Angel are unexpectedly thrust together, they find out how strange and surprising facing up to reality can be.

I adored all these characters in this book, and I wanted to hug every single one of them (and also send every single one of them to therapy, like seriously). I wanted to hug Angel and Jimmy and Juliet and Bliss and everyone. This book has such a strong storyline and managed to break my heart. I was so worried, and I didn’t know what the hell was going to happen. This book can describe anyone who has ever created a second account on twitter or Instagram or Pinterest or made edits or whatever regarding a celebrity or a band. Fangirls get so much shit just for being a fangirl and this book can show the highlights of being a fangirl and the downside of being a fangirl and how pressuring it can be to the celebrity that they are fangirling over.

I feel like this book was slow starting due to the excitement of meeting the Ark and then once it’s the day of the concert and after all hell breaks loose. This book can be hard-hitting and there is mention/depictions of suicide, so please check the trigger warnings before reading this book.

I’m really excited to read more of Alice’s work including Loveless, even if that one kills me.

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honeyfauna's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful 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

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ross_emm's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

3.5

I liked the plot/setup of this book, the characters are what threw me off a little. They feel very wattpad esque and gives me y/n fanfic vibes, but i still had a good time reading it. Definitely gave me some second hand embarrassment .. repeatedly

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cdoubet's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.0

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