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A review by emilyrowanstudio
I'm a Fan by Sheena Patel
dark
funny
tense
fast-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
5.0
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].
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
Moderate: Drug abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism