Reviews with content warning for Stalking - I'm a Fan: Roman

"Fans take their heroes and make them a part of their identity and so it becomes unbearable to ever really take in rumours of bad behaviour. We want them to remain perfect in order that we can telegraph or offload certain archetypes on to them: the truth teller, the champion, the maverick, the trickster. If we turn people into symbols and then create a fandom around them, we don’t have to take on those responsibilities ourselves, they become our spokesperson nominated to do this for us so we can carry on living our lives unperturbed."

I'm a Fan is a novel about obsession in two forms: romantic and parasocial. The novel's unnamed narrator is completely obsessed with her lover. Her lover who is also not only married but seeing additional affair partners as well. Her second intense obsession is with one of her lover's other affair partners and is primarily envy/hatred based. She closely follows this woman's life via Instagram, even attempting to be at the same in-person events. Though our narrator is intensely obsessed, she is also deeply self-aware - she knows that her obsession with both people is toxic and destructive. But she just can't stop, she's truly addicted!

This book would be worth a read - even just for the delicious, messy voyeurism. However, I'm a Fan is much more than its central relationships. Patel uses the interactions throughout the story to drop observations or moments of cultural criticism that were incredibly accurate and sent me scrambling for a highlighter. I love a book that entertains and forces me to reflect on modern social dynamics.

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dizzymisslizzy's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad 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

3.0

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nialystic's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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cspa's review against another edition

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informative reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I enjoyed this book, and I'd like to begin by highlighting what I liked about it. The book provides insightful commentary on the relationships between influencers and followers, social media, privilege, class, and racial structures. The unnamed narrator's obsessive and erratic behavior intrigued me, as I've recently appreciated reading about unpredictable and unhinged female protagonist for added drama. However, I felt that the potential for dramatic tension wasn't fully explored to my liking, although the book remained engaging for the reasons mentioned earlier.

The commentary in the book was remarkably perceptive and thought-provoking, adding depth and sharpness to the narrative. So much so, that even with the lower raking, highly recommend reading this book for its insightfulness. While it was my favorite aspect as it encouraged deep reflection, I'm unsure if the protagonist's vibrant and unruly personality seamlessly aligned with the overarching heavier themes in the more essay-like chapters, leading to a somewhat disjointed experience.

Conversely, as someone with mild dyslexia, I found the book's format to be challenging. The abundance of run-on sentences, lengthy paragraphs that could be divided, and the absence of quotation marks for dialogue made it difficult to follow. I recognize that this style mirrors the protagonist's stream-of-consciousness narration and her unstable nature. Which I appriciate but did struggle with. At the halfway mark, I bought the audiobook to enhance my reading experience, and I regret not doing it earlier. The author's captivating narration truly brought the character to life in a authentic way my brain alone couldn’t.

My last qualm, I wish the timeline had been clearer and more linear, as the frequent shifts between past and present tense were somewhat disorienting.

In conclusion, I believe it's valuable to read due to its insightful analysis. Additionally, it's a shorter book with chapters of varying lengths so there’s no harm in giving it a shot!

Ultimately, I enjoyed it, but I didn't adore it.

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bookishconnections's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense 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

1.5

I rarely rate books so low but I don’t quite understand how this book got published apart from the unknown and unnamed narrator’s obsession with a famous man who is not named.

She’s literally obsessed with him and his other girlfriends and wives to the point she stalks one of his paramour’s half sister and tries to ingrain herself in their life.

The writing was excellent at times but a lot of times I tuned out because it was so repetitive and flat and also because the narrator just didn’t seem to want to move on from this obsessive and toxic relationship.

I was not a fan of this book.

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kkpines's review against another edition

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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? It's complicated

2.25

girl there’s medication for these kind of things

incredibly stagnant book with a delusional narrator.. starts off with a lot of unhinged promise and delves into a slightly pathetic, whiney, narcissistic stream of consciousness.

two(ish?) stars

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