Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - I Was Born for This

Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman

216 reviews

alequitos's review against another edition

funny inspiring reflective medium-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

"Angel Rahimi's life is all about The Ark, a teenage pop-rock band. Being a fan shapes her identity, friendships, dreams, and place in the world."

This book taught me a lot.

We often care so much about celebrities, TV shows, movie characters, and comics that they become part of who we are. But they don't define us.

Angel is so caught up in The Ark that she forgets about her own life. She doesn't think about her mom, her friends, or herself. Her love for the band can't fill the empty space in her heart. This hits her at a concert. It's a powerful moment that moved me.

My English isn't perfect, but I'll try my best to share how the band members impacted me. I felt a connection with Jimmy, who struggles with anxiety that often overpowers him, he always seems a bit off, he’s also obsessed in a way. Rowan's intense fanhood, his need for the band, I find Rowan fascinating as a character. Despite ending up as just friends with Bliss, from his viewpoint, their story is tragic. Like Lister, Rowan is also filled with pent-up anger specially towards his fans.

Lister isn't my favourite character, but he's special to me. He's a sad guy who needs some love. I think a lot about his deep love for Jimmy but his refusal to consider the possibility of being loved back, and about his willingness to sacrifice for them. He loves Jimmy secretly and would do anything for them. Lister hides his feelings in parties, drinking, and smoking, and seeks approval from Rowan and others. He's as obsessed as Angel and Rowan.

This book makes me think of bands like One Direction or BTS. It shows that any fandom can be harmful, like the explicit fanfiction that come up about actual living human beings

Content Warnings

cdoubet's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Content Warnings

emburke's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-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

4.5

Content Warnings

rhogosch's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-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

Und wieder einmal habe ich Oseman unterschätzt. Was am Anfang wie der Plot einer 08/15 Fanfiction wirkt, entpuppt sich sehr schnell als brilliante Geschichte. Oseman schafft es dabei mit viel Feingefühl die vielen einzelnen Aspekte eines Fandom aufzuzeigen. Wie viel Kraft und Zugehörigkeitsgefühl eine Fangemeinschaft spielen kann, wie wichtig Idole und Dinge sind an die man glauben kann, wo beginnt die Adaption eines Fremdbilds, was bedeutet Verantwortung und Erwartungsdruck, etc. Dabei kann es teilweise richtig weh tuen, zuzusehen wie die Charaktere immer tiefer fallen und alles auf den großen Knall zuläuft, jedoch die Figuren in ihren eigenen Problemen und Schwächen gefangen sind und man praktisch durchs Buch schreien will „Nein, gib dir nen Ruck!“ oder „Tu doch etwas!“.
Also ja dieses Buch macht es einem fast unmöglich nicht emotional involviert zu sein. Das liegt auch an den wunderschönen Figuren von denen ich wirklich keine einzige nicht mochte (ok Dave ist eine Ausnahme). Die Dynamik zwischen den Personen ist unglaublich vielschichtig und es war faszinierend diese zu erforschen.

Ich könnte noch ewig weiter aufzählen warum diese Buch genial ist und es nicht einen negativen Aspekt gibt, aber das klaut euch nur Zeit. Zeit in der ihr dieses Buch jetzt sofort lest!
Vielleicht findet trotzdem jedoch noch wer Zeit mir alten Dino zu erklären was Tumblr ist.

Content Warnings

frey's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional sad

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

3.25

Content Warnings

betweentheshelves's review

Go to review page

emotional reflective 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

I still think Loveless is Alice Oseman's best novel thus far, but this one might be a close second. It really digs into the idea of fame and the ways society obsesses over famous people. And mental health and anxiety and all of those thinks you come to expect in an Alice Oseman novel. Of course, we get another group of characters who are wonderfully developed, and thrown into this kind of chaotic situation.

I also appreciated that there's no central romance in this, it's more focused on friendship of the main two characters. They're both trying to figure out their place in the world, and finding each other kind of helps with that. Oseman really just excels at writing those kinds of relationships in her books, and that's what keeps me coming back to them.

Anyway, I can now say that I've read every single one of Alice Oseman's books, so yay! Can't wait for what's to come next.

Content Warnings

therainbowshelf's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny reflective slow-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

3.0

Like other Oseman books, I didn't love this but I also didn't dislike it. It was entertaining, but felt like a self-insertion fanfiction by and about fans obsessed over a boy band. The characters are all fun and the problems they navigate werr intriguing enough to keep me reading to the end.

Content Warnings

lunarreads's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful 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

4.5

I'm always such a fan of Alice Oseman's books and this one is no exception! Firstly, as a Muslim, I adore Angel and I loved reading her POV and just her story 🥺. I'm always so happy to see Muslim main characters. I also adore the Ark my boys, and I love them all so much, especially Jimmy. This story starts off slow in my opinion, but I warmed up to it as I read on and by the end of it, I'd die for all the characters for real. Alice has such a way of taking characters emotions and writing them in such a raw and beautiful way, I could feel the emotions of all the characters off the page. I'd recommend this book for anyone who is part of a fandom or adores bands and so on!!

Content Warnings

good_names_dont_exist's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

dalek_caan's review against another edition

Go to review page

lighthearted reflective 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

3.75

I found this book to be enjoyable and a pretty quick read. I found Angel to be a really annoying pov character at first but she grew on me as the story went on. I definitely felt like there was a lot of nuance with the characters overall, which I definitely appreciated. It was also kind of interesting to follow two sides to the same story.

Content Warnings

More...