Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman

42 reviews

robinks's review

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emotional reflective 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 really love Oseman’s work, and this novel was no exception. My favorite part was the amazing cast of characters who we actually got to know beyond the surface through their conversations. I also really like when stories are told alternately through two character’s perspectives, and the length and pacing of the chapters fit well with the ebbs and flows of the action in the book. I found this novel very difficult to put down!
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vampirerat's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

First Alice Oseman book I've read. I really really enjoyed it :) the exploration of a parasocial relationship was so interesting and I like how it was a bit like like fanfic of a fictional band. 

I think I enjoyed Angel/Fereshteh's pov more than Jimmy's, though Jimmy was an interesting character too. I was a bit frustrated by how he was treated by Rowan throughout, and how Rowan acted in general (and I don't think this resolved itself by the end of the book). 

This perhaps could work well as a trilogy instead of one book so that the characters and relationships could be more fleshed out? With Juliet and Angel too. But that's just a thought. Still really loved it :)

Lister was so interesting as a character and I would love to read a book about him !!

Also love how seamless/"not a big thing" the aspects of gender, race and religion felt in this. Love love love reading trans characters (feels a bit surreal) and love to read non white main characters. 

Read it in 3 days without really stopping so that's saying something!! 

Listened to this in audiobook form on Borrowbox. 
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mels_reading_log's review against another edition

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

3.0

Angel’s whole world revolves around her love for the boy band Ark, so her and her internet bestie make plans to meet for the first time in real life to go to the Ark concert. Jimmy is a member of Ark and is having a lot of difficulties with the stress and anxiety of being in one of the biggest band in the world. This book follows each character as they go throughout the week learning a lot about themselves, what they prioritize in life and their friendships.  I really love the diversity of this book and that the main characters are very religious but not in a problematic or traumatic way, they just find peace and happiness in their God.
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anjh's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad 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? It's complicated

3.75

as are all of Alice Oseman’s books this was a very easy read, the short chapters are just *chefs kiss*. the characters were also very likeable and diverse which is always rly nice to see. bonus points for having a trans character, multiple lgbt characters and a hijabi Muslim! such a diverse cast is so rare in books these days i feel. 

to be honest i found myself not being able to really really get into it because the band and fandom theme wasn’t really my thing but it was still good nonetheless. 
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abby271's review

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adventurous emotional medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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fairy_internet's review

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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

2.75

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emmitt's review

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emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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crufts's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad 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

4.5

This must be the most exciting week of Angel Rahimi's life. She's meeting her best friend from the internet for the first time, and together they're going to see the boy band they love, the band which gives Angel a reason to wake up every day: The Ark. 
Jimmy is the frontman of The Ark, struggling to keeping up the fantasy facade of perfection the band portrays. After all, he knows all too well that the "love" of fans is not real love...

The novel explores themes such as love, devotion, worship, religion, and more through the lens of fandom (a topic which the author understands back to front). I loved that the author made both protagonists religious, as their respective faiths acted as a springboard into comparing the Ark fandom to a religion.
The novel showcases the sheer power of fandom to rouse spirits as well as any religion, as Angel makes clear:
> Please, God, please, I want to believe. I want it to be real more than I want to be alive.

I really liked the entwined protagonists, with their entwined character development. The switching first-person point of view was clear and easy to follow, with each chapter clearly marked with the POV character's name.
Both protagonists are also very likeable, and the opening chapters had me immediately invested in them and wanting them to succeed.

Another thing which the author knocks out of the park is the interpersonal conflict. A few believable and compelling good-vs-good conflicts arise, such as
Angel only caring about the band, vs Juliet actually wanting to get to know Angel and Mac as people. Or Angel's selfless love for Jimmy, only wanting him to be happy, vs Jimmy's cynical belief that no fan could truly love him because they don't know him
.
I also liked the redemption arc for
Mac. Mac is symbolic of Juliet choosing to love something else, not just the Ark. Ultimately, Angel comes to see that this is actually a healthy and reasonable choice, so it felt appropriate and even necessary that Mac ends up in Angel's good graces
.

Now, let's talk about the representation! Firstly, a wide range of ethnicities are represented amongst the cast. There are also a number of LGBT+ characters, such as Jimmy (trans and gay); Angel (heavily implied to be asexual); as well as
Bliss (bisexual); and Lister (bisexual)
.
Now, heaven knows I'm a harsh critic of trans representation in media. But when it comes to Jimmy I have no complaints. Medical details are accurate, minor details are relatable, and it all seems well-researched. Well done! It was also rather cool to see a trans man character who transitioned at a young age (12).
One thing which the novel could have developed further was that
Lister and Rowan treating Jimmy as a fragile and immature "baby" would probably hit Jimmy much harder than they realized, as trans men are often infantilized. This could have led to an interesting conflict with Jimmy saying something like "You think you're being protective of me, but you're really just othering me - I know you wouldn't treat me this way if I was cis"
.
However, this is a minor suggestion and I thought it was fine as is.

Regarding the realism of life in a band: I don't know if this was truly an accurate depiction or not, but it definitely came off as convincing and maintained my suspension of disbelief that this could be real.

About the ending... I don't love it. I tried rereading the novel in case I'd missed something the first time, but that didn't help. It seemed like some of the final character development comes out of nowhere, specifically the changes of attitude from
Rowan and Lister, who are suddenly not treating Jimmy like a "baby", taking his concerns about the contract seriously, changing their mind and deciding that they don't need to go to America, etc
. 
I also disliked the author's postscript about what happens after the story, i.e.
Jimmy and Lister end up dating eachother?? After everything Lister did??? Also, isn't Lister still an alcoholic????
.

Even so, I enjoyed the book overall and would definitely recommend it.
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robinskye28's review

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

2.0

As much as I love Alice Oseman, this one was not it. Too many plot lines that are all sorta half finished. Very slow paced until the last 100 pages where suddenly everything is happening (very chaotic and hard to follow). Ending seemed rather unexplained? Angel confused me - one minute she is presenting as the very stereotypical fangirl (whole chapter talking about how The Ark is like a "faith" and "despite everything in the world being terrible, we choose to stand by The Ark") but the next she is 'not like the others'. Would have liked more background/info on Juliet and Bliss as well.
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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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