anna_scht7's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
littlebabywylan's review
1.0
Would not recommend. My rating would really be a 1.5 because I did really enjoy the first half of the book but I should have known from the countless JKR/H*rry P*tter references that this book would fall off. The synopsis is misleading, calling the book "a love story wrapped in social text" when it really is an encouragement of delusional behavior. The author tries to explain that 'Idol Limerence' is this "spectrum of love" which "[spans] from OT7 soft stan to sasaeng[,]" but that, in my opinion at least, only validates the dangerous behavior of sasaengs. I get that in being "social theory" the author should not seem biased but I think it is okay to condemn unsafe behavior. In not doing so, it felt like the author was trying to say "Hey we all experience limerence so that means it is okay if you take it too far because BTS are celebrities so they will never really know who you are."
A final few things,
First, I felt like the author should have just stuck with writing an essay on the topic because the book felt very repetitive.
Second, I wish the author had included other members when using examples instead of only talking about RM for the entirety of the book.
And lastly, I wish the book flowed better. It felt as if the author jumped around from one point to another.
A final few things,
First, I felt like the author should have just stuck with writing an essay on the topic because the book felt very repetitive.
Second, I wish the author had included other members when using examples instead of only talking about RM for the entirety of the book.
And lastly, I wish the book flowed better. It felt as if the author jumped around from one point to another.
dnk_541's review
5.0
Combines different styles (academic, fiction, memoir) in a way that makes it very readable and special. She develops the idea of "idol limerence" to explain the process of how/why fans fall in a type of love with BTS, how this shapes both ARMY and BTS, and the potential transformative power of this relationship. It's a unique, thought-provoking book, and also a fun read. Highly recommended!
gisellelondon's review
4.0
As both a kpop stan and Psychology major, this book has been on my TBR list for quite some time and I was quite excited when I finally got around to opening it up. I surely wasn't disappointed.
What I found was a poignant commentary filled with the nuance commonly not found surrounding this discourse in neither involved fandom camps nor those outside of the kpop world. That is, the industry and its idols lie in a grey area, they simply 'are'. The perspective of the idol both being product and participant, a free and kept person at the same time was something I highly enjoyed exploring. How they are just as much feeding the system as they are suffering from it and can experience limerence as much as the fan. I think using BTS was a perfect example of this.
I did, however, find Echo's moments a little too on the nose at some points. I think the extreme route her character was written into (borderline psychosis, in my opinion) isn't as representative as the normal stan experience as it was supposed to be. It kind of read like a bad fan-fiction at times to me. Though I may be alone in wanting solely the theory and analytical parts of this book. Except all things Jungian, which I found so dense that it completely lost me at times.
I do think there was a bit of reaching going on, and there were some points that I specifically disagreed with and found contradictory of one another. But ultimately I would definitely recommend this read to those in the same niche interest!
What I found was a poignant commentary filled with the nuance commonly not found surrounding this discourse in neither involved fandom camps nor those outside of the kpop world. That is, the industry and its idols lie in a grey area, they simply 'are'. The perspective of the idol both being product and participant, a free and kept person at the same time was something I highly enjoyed exploring. How they are just as much feeding the system as they are suffering from it and can experience limerence as much as the fan. I think using BTS was a perfect example of this.
I did, however, find Echo's moments a little too on the nose at some points. I think the extreme route her character was written into (borderline psychosis, in my opinion) isn't as representative as the normal stan experience as it was supposed to be. It kind of read like a bad fan-fiction at times to me. Though I may be alone in wanting solely the theory and analytical parts of this book. Except all things Jungian, which I found so dense that it completely lost me at times.
I do think there was a bit of reaching going on, and there were some points that I specifically disagreed with and found contradictory of one another. But ultimately I would definitely recommend this read to those in the same niche interest!
rightwhrleftme's review
5.0
WOW WOW WOW! i have no words on how important this book is to understand bts and the things we feel as army. this should be mandatory reading, really!