Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - I'm a Fan

4.75 rounded up - This is a fantastic book and I would love to see it win the Women's Prize (although I don't think it will).
I love books like this. So 2023, so modern, so political, so about social media and internet culture.
I'm a Fan is told in short chapters, many less than a page long. Some are first person narratives where our protagonist loses herself in The Man I Want To Be With and The Woman I Am Obsessed With, some are essays about race, womanhood, manhood, art, and some are a mixture of both.

I can see why this such a marmite book. If you're not a lover of the internet, or intrigued by fame and influencer culture, or fascinated by the way we can so easily be found and traced online, then you won't "get" this. It as an acquired 21st century taste. The protagonist, and three of the other main characters, are never named. They are all horrible and unlikeable people. The impersonality with the lack of names combined with the spewing of dark thoughs and deep desires, the conscious and unconscious will to destroy themselves, the sinister traits of their character - there is much here reminiscent of the MCs in Eliza Clark's Boy Parts and Otessa Moshfegh's My Year of Rest in Relaxation, but I'm A Fan is smarter than them both. The social and political commentary interspersed with the non-linear plotless prose is expertly done.

I'm A Fan is so of the moment yet so one of a kind. This is a near perfect book. I can't wait to see what Sheena Patel does next.

[To add - and this has nothing to do with the book itself and only the reception it has received - I didn't find I'm A Fan as dark as I expected. Unhinged, certainly. The actions of the protagonist make you wince at times, but to be labelled 'dark' I was expecting something more explicitly sinister to happen].

Content Warnings

jacs63's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.0

“A fast, fizzing cherry bomb of a debut” (The Observer [UK]) about power, intimacy, and the internet“

This was a very good book. Easy to read. I enjoyed the short chapters. They were punchy and easy to take in.
I can see why it's on the Longlist for the Woman's Prize, but I can't see it winning.

It's so well written and interesting, but its quite depressing and a bit of downer. I could have seen myself being a little bit like the main character when I was quite young, but not now. Thankfully.
As the mother of a young woman myself, I found the book a bit disturbing.
It talks about gender, race, racism, politics, the patriarchy, colonisation, toxic relationships, sex, abuse, obsession, art, status, social media, family etc etc etc .
It's a lot.

Content Warnings

madamelacy's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective slow-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

2.75

The unnamed female protagonist obsesses over an unnamed, married older man and obsessively follows (online) him, his wife, another lover and that lover’s associates. The book was often challenging over issues such as misogyny, fidelity, racism and classism.

Written in short, frequently anachronistic chapters, there was no real plot and an abrupt ending with no resolution. Written in the first person, I found the woman selfish and unlikeable.

The triviality of online fandom is highlighted with the man’s other lover being an already privileged white girl with a blue tick which afforded her a greater following.

The book really made me think about who has the dominant voices in society.

Content Warnings

your_true_shelf's review against another edition

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challenging dark slow-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

I think the writing style of this book just wasn't for me. I liked the concept and I found the reflections on the fakeness of social media, racism and class very well done. However the characters are all so unlikeable, there's no character development and the writing style just isn't my cup of tea.

Content Warnings

feebles640's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

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