Reviews - Y/N | The StoryGraph

2.12k reviews for:

I really really REALLY tried to like this book. This sounded like a fascinating book and I’d wanted to read this since it was released but I really hated it. The entire book felt like a weird fever dream where nothing plot wise made sense and there wasn’t any depth any of the characters. The author was constantly trying to make these poignant and philosophical points which didn’t connect to the story or context of the chapter at all. One of the most disappointing books I’ve read for a good while.

Just leaving one quote here:

“He reached the scene where Y/N bikes down a Berlin street naked, throws herself off, and skids down the asphalt. She uses the pus from her lacerated body to fry up the most delicious meals of Moon’s life” - WHAT?!?!

fourwols's review against another edition

4.0

challenging mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

charlenehamlin's review against another edition

1.5

challenging

lrc's review against another edition

3.25

challenging dark slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

lildarkage's review

3.5

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

hmmmmmmmmmmmm. i don’t really even know how to rate this. i can’t really even tell if i liked it or not. above all, it wasn’t anything like i had anticipated and was doing way too much to say much of anything. was it a satire of parasocial relationships and fandom? initially, i thought so, because it read so much like an actual fanfic but then i couldn’t tell if that was intentional or not. it felt TOO much like a y/n fanfic where y/n is not like the other girls. like yeah, it’s about delusional but… idk it’s hard to explain without reading it.

i don’t think there was enough literary merit here to be as surrealist and absurdist as it wanted to be… it also moved so fast that i ended up getting bored. what even happened in the last third of the book? it was hard to get though, so i can’t piece together the unreality. such a unique voice to the main character though. she was unsettling and sociopathic, truly guided by nothing but herself and her obsessions. i could see her being a real person, if not for some inconsistencies in her motivations.

some of the prose was beautiful and at points i was struck with some meaning about identity and obsession, and i genuinely do think they book captured obsession in such a hyperbolically raw and real way. but overall, the book didn’t land.

not an issue, but i think you have to have an understanding of fandom culture, especially kpop, glean the main character’s feelings and much of the context of what is going on… i can’t imagine going into this without that.