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challenging
mysterious
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
.... I really did not like this. I don't think that the plot matches the writing style. Now I'm just left confused and a little bit longing for what I thought this book was going to be like.
I chafe against books written about fandom by people who feel like they've never been in fandom. I understand the instinct behind intellectualizing fandom in order to be "taken seriously" when writing about it, but it typically comes off as condescending, patronizing, and wholly detached from the lifeblood of fandom itself. Modern fandom is so compelling, and I think there is depth and warranted exploration of it in connection to our mental and emotional states, search for meaning and purpose, existence in a capitalist society, community, jealousy, etc. but I also believe you can discuss fandom alongside these ideas without sounding like a prick. I want books exploring fandom without the "holier than thou, fandom is inherently weird" attitude please.
This was absolutely bonkers in the best way. It reminded me a lot of [b:Earthlings|50269327|Earthlings|Sayaka Murata|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1580144195l/50269327._SY75_.jpg|64972303], mostly in tone. For all the satire of fan culture that's present, I never really felt like Yi was mocking the narrator, more highlighting how surreal being a "fan" can be. It also had some very funny moments that came from the irony of the topic: "Reading her first Y/N story, Lise had learned incredible things about herself"
I'll probably re-read at some point because it was incredibly dense. There were some gems of dialogue or prose talking about how k-pop idols (or people in general) develop their sense of self. "He kept waiting for the story to “get me right,” as if this would prove that he’d conveyed a neat package of selfhood to the public. Then he would be sure that who he was on the outside corroborated who he was on the inside. But whenever the story achieved an accurate depiction, he seemed to resent the assumption that he could ever be known. In sum, the character could do nothing right."
I'll probably re-read at some point because it was incredibly dense. There were some gems of dialogue or prose talking about how k-pop idols (or people in general) develop their sense of self. "He kept waiting for the story to “get me right,” as if this would prove that he’d conveyed a neat package of selfhood to the public. Then he would be sure that who he was on the outside corroborated who he was on the inside. But whenever the story achieved an accurate depiction, he seemed to resent the assumption that he could ever be known. In sum, the character could do nothing right."
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I can definitely see why people wouldn’t like this book; the purple prose and absurdist characters make it a hard read to “get” off the back, leaving people behind. Even though I understood the genre, the very final page threw me for a loop, and I pretty strongly disliked the final conversation between Moon and the MC and the following seen between him and Maewha. That being said, for people who’ve read fanfic or been otherwise entrenched in fan culture, I think that this book is a great commentary on that, and the literary writing allows that commentary to not be immediately shrugged off, but rather contemplated and considered. Overall, I think it does its job, it just wasn’t my favorite story.
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I meannnn it’s unique! This book was wild, I kept expecting it to be one thing and then it would veer off in another direction. It’s very artsy and I don’t think I fully got the message but it was an interesting little trip
DNF: I thought this would be an interesting book, and it is, but I cannot stand the narrator (or most of the characters to be honest). I know it’s satire but reading the dramatic intellectual dialogue of every self-righteous character annoyed the hell out of me and I’m not interested enough in the plot to push through the irritation - and my copy was overdue when I decided to DNF. I got about halfway through and it did start to pick up the further I got into the book to be fair. I do really like the idea of a super fan who is sort of in denial about how obsessed they are and detached from reality. The narrator constantly has moments of acknowledging how much Moon means to her but then follows it up by saying that he’s like family to her and he’s more than just some idol to her. I’m sure a lot of fans feel the same, but she sees it as this sort of special connection.
Date Stopped: 12/20/24
Date Stopped: 12/20/24
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this was very unhinged but i appreciated the sense of hyper realism while also being entirely fictional