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A review by veilchen24
I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman
4.0
Finally, the last book of my Alice Oseman Marathon. And this might be among my favourites. Alice has a talent for writing very real stories. She takes very modern topics, deals with them in a familiar setting that most people can relate too and doesnt overdo it or romanticise it. Although she doesnt offer any solutions to those problems, the reader feels a little better afterwards, seeing that they are not alone with these feelings.
The topics "I was born for this" deals with are mostly fan culture, especially obessive internet fan culture, but also mental illness, fame and friendship. The main characters are Angel and Jimmy. Jimmy as part of a famous boy band and who is struggeling with this new fame. And Angel as one of his number one fans who would do anything for him. But when they meet, their beliefs start to fundamentally change.
I have never personally been in a fandom of a boyband or any real people. But I have seen a lot of other fandoms and I know what they are like - with all the good and bad stuff. This book perfectly represents this. It shows how much joy fans get from idolizing these people - and how and when this can get dangerous. As the first book actually dealing with this problem, I was very intrigued by the story and couldnt put the book down. I was a little disappointed by the end, but i have already found out that i just dont really like the authors type of endings - very open with a lot of room for interpretation and not really any kind of closure. Another typical thing for Alice are 1) her excellent representation for queer people and POC and 2) the love she shows for platonic friendships. I love how they are never treated as less then romantic relationships, but instead valued just as much and much more the focus of the interaction between the characters. Love that.
This book was excellent not necessarily because of its good storyline or because of its characters, but more because of the topics it deals with, how it delas with them and what it does to the reader. If you have ever been part of any fandom, especially on the internet, this will be an interesting read!
The topics "I was born for this" deals with are mostly fan culture, especially obessive internet fan culture, but also mental illness, fame and friendship. The main characters are Angel and Jimmy. Jimmy as part of a famous boy band and who is struggeling with this new fame. And Angel as one of his number one fans who would do anything for him. But when they meet, their beliefs start to fundamentally change.
I have never personally been in a fandom of a boyband or any real people. But I have seen a lot of other fandoms and I know what they are like - with all the good and bad stuff. This book perfectly represents this. It shows how much joy fans get from idolizing these people - and how and when this can get dangerous. As the first book actually dealing with this problem, I was very intrigued by the story and couldnt put the book down. I was a little disappointed by the end, but i have already found out that i just dont really like the authors type of endings - very open with a lot of room for interpretation and not really any kind of closure. Another typical thing for Alice are 1) her excellent representation for queer people and POC and 2) the love she shows for platonic friendships. I love how they are never treated as less then romantic relationships, but instead valued just as much and much more the focus of the interaction between the characters. Love that.
This book was excellent not necessarily because of its good storyline or because of its characters, but more because of the topics it deals with, how it delas with them and what it does to the reader. If you have ever been part of any fandom, especially on the internet, this will be an interesting read!