Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - I Was Born for This

I really love Oseman’s work, and this novel was no exception. My favorite part was the amazing cast of characters who we actually got to know beyond the surface through their conversations. I also really like when stories are told alternately through two character’s perspectives, and the length and pacing of the chapters fit well with the ebbs and flows of the action in the book. I found this novel very difficult to put down!

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vampirerat's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

First Alice Oseman book I've read. I really really enjoyed it :) the exploration of a parasocial relationship was so interesting and I like how it was a bit like like fanfic of a fictional band.

I think I enjoyed Angel/Fereshteh's pov more than Jimmy's, though Jimmy was an interesting character too. I was a bit frustrated by how he was treated by Rowan throughout, and how Rowan acted in general (and I don't think this resolved itself by the end of the book).

This perhaps could work well as a trilogy instead of one book so that the characters and relationships could be more fleshed out? With Juliet and Angel too. But that's just a thought. Still really loved it :)

Lister was so interesting as a character and I would love to read a book about him !!

Also love how seamless/"not a big thing" the aspects of gender, race and religion felt in this. Love love love reading trans characters (feels a bit surreal) and love to read non white main characters.

Read it in 3 days without really stopping so that's saying something!!

Listened to this in audiobook form on Borrowbox.

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milliebluecapon's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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

4.75

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katypotaty0908's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.75

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readingpicnic's review against another edition

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Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

This book is for the gender neutral girlies who spent their childhoods deeply entrenched in fandom culture on Tumblr (or in my case, Tumblr posts that filtered through into Facebook)--the Larry shippers especially. Reminiscent of the show Swarm and the book Y/N by Esther Yi, this book gets into the nitty gritty sides of fandom culture from two sides: the shippers (a dedicated member of a band's fandom who runs a popular fan Twitter for the band and often reads stories about them on AO3) and the shippee (a member of the band who is often shipped with his bandmate/best friend, which causes him great distress). Oseman dives into the benefits of fandom for queer escapism, pointing out how people in fandoms are often queer girls or gender diverse people looking for community online since they often cannot find it in real life. However, they don't shy away from the negative aspects of fandom, such as extreme/toxic fans who take it too far and make the whole fandom look bad (aka the brick incident), as well as the negative effects that fandom can have on the members of the band in this novel, particularly due to lack of privacy: Jimmy being outed as trans, as well as having frequent panic attacks, depersonalization, and s*icidal thoughts; Rowan's personal life being exploited and exposed to the detriment of his romantic relationship, which becomes very toxic and argumentative; Lister's alcoholism, the biphobia and objectification he experiences, and his experience of being groomed and taken advantage of by an older woman at 16 that he hasn't quite come to terms with. Basically, as Rowan put it, they all need therapy. There are some very heavy topics in this book, particularly mental illness, as is par the course for Oseman's books, but I personally considered it a mostly light read that I devoured in very few sittings; the romantic tension/maybe temporarily one-sided crush also had me giggling and kicking my feet, which is the effect Oseman's romances always have on meee. The characters were so lovable, the relationships felt so real, and I'm excited to pore over Alice's social media for illustrations of these characters, which always feels like a treat after finishing one of their books.

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