Scan barcode
kobireads's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
thephdivabooks's review
4.0
Christine Ma-Kellams’s whip-smart, darkly funny, and biting debut, The Band, follows a psychologist with a savior complex who offers shelter to a recently cancelled K-pop idol on the run.
This book was completely unexpected! I’m not sure what I expected though–perhaps a literary drama. This is much more of a satire, which delighted me. I love that biting, dry humor that layered just under the surface. I am actually not a huge K-Pop fan, though I find the popularity of K-Pop to be fascinating. I think this book could replace K-Pop with [celebrity] and still work, and the story is only about K-Pop on the surface and speaks much more about how celebrity “talent” is used like a piece rather than a person.
The story reads a bit like fan fiction, in a fun way. It felt like a love letter to K-Pop fans. It seems to me like the author and narrator blend together at certain points in the story, as though Ma-Kellams wrote herself into the K-Pop world and imagined playing a small part in it. The story centers around Sang Duri, a cancelled Korean boy band member who caused an uproar among the public after releasing a controversial solo.
Duri hides from the public outcry in the mansion of a Chinese-American woman he meets in Los Angeles. Ma-Kellams writes the narrator as a psychologist with a savior complex (and I’ll say as a psychologist myself, this type of unhinged savior complex is sadly not uncommon in our field). The relationship between the narrator and Duri is at the center of the book, but it’s also only one small piece of the broader story. The book weaves together many related stories—the Band’s producer and his attempts to work with a girl group, the other members of the Band dealing with the fallout from Duri’s departure and cancellation.
The narrator is a bizarre character, and I do love a character that is boldly strange. Her relationship with Duri is unclear—the book hints heavily at a sexual relationship between the two. The spotlight is on the narrator but also on the reader. Aren’t we all guilty of being too interested in the salacious and private details of celebrities’ lives? Don’t we all sometimes feel entitled to know intimate things about these idols, as though they don’t deserve privacy because of their career?
The book is written in a freeform style that was exactly what a story like this needs, but also may not appeal to every reader. I think in part that’s because it’s hard to get a concrete grasp on the story. It’s very dream-like in the way it unfolds across the page. There isn’t a dull or extraneous moment—for such a loosely flowing narrative, Ma-Kellams kept it tight in presentation.
Duri’s struggles with mental health in the wake of his scandal felt authentic. This is a man whose entire identity for years became what the public saw him to be, and not who he truly was. The very same public and fandom cancelling him begs the question if Duri can find himself again and not take on what others think of him. Fellow people pleasers out there will have a small moment of comradery with this aspect. How do we learn to not see ourselves by someone else’s definition of who we are?
A book for the K-Pop fans out there, but really for anyone who appreciates a novel approach to storytelling and a broader message about obsession, celebrity, and fandom, and the toll those can take on the person at the center of it.
Thank you to Atria Books for my copy. Opinions are my own.
This book was completely unexpected! I’m not sure what I expected though–perhaps a literary drama. This is much more of a satire, which delighted me. I love that biting, dry humor that layered just under the surface. I am actually not a huge K-Pop fan, though I find the popularity of K-Pop to be fascinating. I think this book could replace K-Pop with [celebrity] and still work, and the story is only about K-Pop on the surface and speaks much more about how celebrity “talent” is used like a piece rather than a person.
The story reads a bit like fan fiction, in a fun way. It felt like a love letter to K-Pop fans. It seems to me like the author and narrator blend together at certain points in the story, as though Ma-Kellams wrote herself into the K-Pop world and imagined playing a small part in it. The story centers around Sang Duri, a cancelled Korean boy band member who caused an uproar among the public after releasing a controversial solo.
Duri hides from the public outcry in the mansion of a Chinese-American woman he meets in Los Angeles. Ma-Kellams writes the narrator as a psychologist with a savior complex (and I’ll say as a psychologist myself, this type of unhinged savior complex is sadly not uncommon in our field). The relationship between the narrator and Duri is at the center of the book, but it’s also only one small piece of the broader story. The book weaves together many related stories—the Band’s producer and his attempts to work with a girl group, the other members of the Band dealing with the fallout from Duri’s departure and cancellation.
The narrator is a bizarre character, and I do love a character that is boldly strange. Her relationship with Duri is unclear—the book hints heavily at a sexual relationship between the two. The spotlight is on the narrator but also on the reader. Aren’t we all guilty of being too interested in the salacious and private details of celebrities’ lives? Don’t we all sometimes feel entitled to know intimate things about these idols, as though they don’t deserve privacy because of their career?
The book is written in a freeform style that was exactly what a story like this needs, but also may not appeal to every reader. I think in part that’s because it’s hard to get a concrete grasp on the story. It’s very dream-like in the way it unfolds across the page. There isn’t a dull or extraneous moment—for such a loosely flowing narrative, Ma-Kellams kept it tight in presentation.
Duri’s struggles with mental health in the wake of his scandal felt authentic. This is a man whose entire identity for years became what the public saw him to be, and not who he truly was. The very same public and fandom cancelling him begs the question if Duri can find himself again and not take on what others think of him. Fellow people pleasers out there will have a small moment of comradery with this aspect. How do we learn to not see ourselves by someone else’s definition of who we are?
A book for the K-Pop fans out there, but really for anyone who appreciates a novel approach to storytelling and a broader message about obsession, celebrity, and fandom, and the toll those can take on the person at the center of it.
Thank you to Atria Books for my copy. Opinions are my own.
swimstein's review
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The Band was a fun read. While it wasn't exactly what I was expecting from a novel set in the K-pop industry, it kept me engaged. After Sang Duri, a member of a BTS-style group called The Band (no relation to Robbie Robertson), is "cancelled" over his latest music video, he disappears from sight. He meets a middle-aged Chinese American woman at an H-Mart in Los Angeles and ends up hiding out with her and her family until the scandal blows over.
Although he doesn't meet this woman until Chapter 7, she is the narrator, which, in itself, is one of the most unique aspects of the novel. The narrator provides backstory and relays concurrent events for The Band members and their producer, whom she only refers to as Pinocchio. As Sang Duri is hiding out with her, his bandmates become the target of threats and violent attacks. She also relates stories about an unnamed girl group Pinocchio managed before The Band.
The assumption is that much of the information the narrator conveys, she either learned from Duri himself or through celebrity gossip sites after the fact. However, since she is the one telling the reader, the point-of-view is almost a first-person omniscient perspective, which is not something I have ever really encountered in a novel - at least not to this degree. The narrator also has a distinct voice which mixes in humour with scientific insights through references to real behavioural studies that apply to different parts of the story. (The narrator, like Ma-Kellams herself, is a psychologist.)
The narration also includes footnotes, which is always an interesting choice in the novel. Here, they are used to highlight Korean text, provide additional information without breaking the flow of the narrative and even to provide actual citations for scientific studies and concepts. This gives book a bit of an academic feel which contrasts nicely with the gossipy tone of the narration.
While the narrator is more of a witness narrator than a protagonist, the scenes where she is present can feel a little slow in comparison to the ones when she's not there. There appears to be a real connection between Duri and the narrator, one she may no longer have with her husband. She and Duri are probably sleeping together, though at times, she acts more like his mother. (Of course, these things aren't mutually exclusive.)
But their relationship tends to get sidelined by the gossip of what's happening with Pinocchio and Duri's bandmates. Granted, I was a little more engaged with the story of the girl band (which was backstory) than Duri's band but that may just be a personal preference. The antics of The Band were still enjoyable to read.
Overall, The Band was a fun, fast-paced, witty novel that should be exciting for K-pop fans or anyone who has ever gone down the celebrity gossip rabbit hole.
(Note: This review is based on an Advanced Reader's Edition I received for free in exchange for an honest review.)
Although he doesn't meet this woman until Chapter 7, she is the narrator, which, in itself, is one of the most unique aspects of the novel. The narrator provides backstory and relays concurrent events for The Band members and their producer, whom she only refers to as Pinocchio. As Sang Duri is hiding out with her, his bandmates become the target of threats and violent attacks. She also relates stories about an unnamed girl group Pinocchio managed before The Band.
The assumption is that much of the information the narrator conveys, she either learned from Duri himself or through celebrity gossip sites after the fact. However, since she is the one telling the reader, the point-of-view is almost a first-person omniscient perspective, which is not something I have ever really encountered in a novel - at least not to this degree. The narrator also has a distinct voice which mixes in humour with scientific insights through references to real behavioural studies that apply to different parts of the story. (The narrator, like Ma-Kellams herself, is a psychologist.)
The narration also includes footnotes, which is always an interesting choice in the novel. Here, they are used to highlight Korean text, provide additional information without breaking the flow of the narrative and even to provide actual citations for scientific studies and concepts. This gives book a bit of an academic feel which contrasts nicely with the gossipy tone of the narration.
While the narrator is more of a witness narrator than a protagonist, the scenes where she is present can feel a little slow in comparison to the ones when she's not there. There appears to be a real connection between Duri and the narrator, one she may no longer have with her husband. She and Duri are probably sleeping together, though at times, she acts more like his mother. (Of course, these things aren't mutually exclusive.)
But their relationship tends to get sidelined by the gossip of what's happening with Pinocchio and Duri's bandmates. Granted, I was a little more engaged with the story of the girl band (which was backstory) than Duri's band but that may just be a personal preference. The antics of The Band were still enjoyable to read.
Overall, The Band was a fun, fast-paced, witty novel that should be exciting for K-pop fans or anyone who has ever gone down the celebrity gossip rabbit hole.
(Note: This review is based on an Advanced Reader's Edition I received for free in exchange for an honest review.)
yangelareads's review
2.0
I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Copy provided by Atria Books.
Sang Duri is the eldest member and “visual” of a Korean boy band at the apex of global superstardom. But when his latest solo single accidentally leads to controversy, he is abruptly cancelled.
To spare the band from fallout with obsessive fans and overbearing management, Duri disappears from the public eye by hiding out in the McMansion of a Chinese American woman he meets in a Los Angeles H-Mart. But his rescuer is both unhappily married with children and a psychologist with a savior complex, a combination that makes their potential union both seductive and incredibly problematic.
Meanwhile, Duri’s cancellation catapults not only a series of repressed memories from his music producer’s earlier years about the original girl group whose tragic disbanding preceded his current success, but also a spiral of violent interactions that culminates in an award show event with reverberations that forever change the fates of both the band members and the music industry.
In its indicting portrayal of mental health and public obsession, fandom, and cancel culture, The Band considers the many ways in which love and celebrity can devolve into something far more sinister when their demands are unmet.
I am so sad because I was so excited to read this one but it left me disappointed. I think the concept of this book is interesting and right up my alley as a huge fan of Kpop, but the writing was very lacking. And I personally though there was no character depth. The main problem for me was so many different storylines were tied into this one book. With this being such a short book, we did not get much about each storyline. This book like many others said it read more like a nonfiction book than fiction which was definitely true. Also, I am not sure why there was so many footnotes in the book. The ending definitely did get better and there is definitely potential for the book. I think some people may love this one, but it was not for me. But if you love kpop, you may like this one.
Sang Duri is the eldest member and “visual” of a Korean boy band at the apex of global superstardom. But when his latest solo single accidentally leads to controversy, he is abruptly cancelled.
To spare the band from fallout with obsessive fans and overbearing management, Duri disappears from the public eye by hiding out in the McMansion of a Chinese American woman he meets in a Los Angeles H-Mart. But his rescuer is both unhappily married with children and a psychologist with a savior complex, a combination that makes their potential union both seductive and incredibly problematic.
Meanwhile, Duri’s cancellation catapults not only a series of repressed memories from his music producer’s earlier years about the original girl group whose tragic disbanding preceded his current success, but also a spiral of violent interactions that culminates in an award show event with reverberations that forever change the fates of both the band members and the music industry.
In its indicting portrayal of mental health and public obsession, fandom, and cancel culture, The Band considers the many ways in which love and celebrity can devolve into something far more sinister when their demands are unmet.
I am so sad because I was so excited to read this one but it left me disappointed. I think the concept of this book is interesting and right up my alley as a huge fan of Kpop, but the writing was very lacking. And I personally though there was no character depth. The main problem for me was so many different storylines were tied into this one book. With this being such a short book, we did not get much about each storyline. This book like many others said it read more like a nonfiction book than fiction which was definitely true. Also, I am not sure why there was so many footnotes in the book. The ending definitely did get better and there is definitely potential for the book. I think some people may love this one, but it was not for me. But if you love kpop, you may like this one.
inkcoffins's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
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
3.0
rachelle_reads's review against another edition
DNF at 30%. I tried a few times to get into this book, but I couldn’t seem to grasp on to the different threads long enough to see them come together by the end of the book (I hope?). I read a lot of books with multiple narrators and multiple timelines, but with this one, I just couldn’t seem to figure out what was going on. I did find the premise intriguing and wanted to immerse myself into the K-pop world a bit.
Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.