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rachela_7's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Stalking
Moderate: Domestic abuse
emma_sky's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
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
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Classism
Moderate: Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Colonisation
Minor: Drug use
contemporarymeepsie's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
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
2.0
I'm A Fan follows the inner thoughts of an unknown speaker as she blunders through the muddying mires of toxic relationships and obsession.
I did not like this book. That is not to say it was a bad book. Just that it wasn't for me personally. The protagonist is very unlikeable and quite hostile in her thoughts which given the topics she discusses is understandable, but at the same time feels a little hypocritical given her lack of morality. But that is also what makes her real. As I said, this is not a bad book, it has a lot going for it. But the unconscious train of thought style of writing, the jumping around in what little plot there was and the lack of any sort of ending really bothered me. The story just kind of stops, but it isn't like she learns anything or changes her ways, if anything the ending portrays the protagonist as continuing down the path of unscrupulous behaviour to do something I would consider morally rotten rather then just grey. I will give this book one thing, it certainly made me think and maybe that's all it ever wanted to achieve.
I did not like this book. That is not to say it was a bad book. Just that it wasn't for me personally. The protagonist is very unlikeable and quite hostile in her thoughts which given the topics she discusses is understandable, but at the same time feels a little hypocritical given her lack of morality. But that is also what makes her real. As I said, this is not a bad book, it has a lot going for it. But the unconscious train of thought style of writing, the jumping around in what little plot there was and the lack of any sort of ending really bothered me. The story just kind of stops, but it isn't like she learns anything or changes her ways, if anything the ending portrays the protagonist as continuing down the path of unscrupulous behaviour to do something I would consider morally rotten rather then just grey. I will give this book one thing, it certainly made me think and maybe that's all it ever wanted to achieve.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Stalking
carojust's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Labeling this book as "a story about a woman obsessed" would be too much of a disservice to this incredible work, though I admit it's the hook that got me to pick it up in the first place.
It's a series of short, satisfying chapters documenting our protagonist's affair with a married man, her infatuation with the other woman he's also cheating with, and commentary on racism, capitalism, sexism binding it all together. Everything felt so personal, like thoughts ripped straight from my head -- my minority-complex inferiority to the white woman ideal, my inferiority to a man who doesn't want me but wants to use me, my desperation to belong to something built against me, my fertility as a weapon and as a release.
Sheena Patel's writing is so incredibly addicting, and while it mimics a kind of Gen Z tone, it's grounded with a raw hopelessness that I haven't felt from reading in a while.
You'll enjoy this is you want to read more themes on modern relationships, race and female perspectives.
It's a series of short, satisfying chapters documenting our protagonist's affair with a married man, her infatuation with the other woman he's also cheating with, and commentary on racism, capitalism, sexism binding it all together. Everything felt so personal, like thoughts ripped straight from my head -- my minority-complex inferiority to the white woman ideal, my inferiority to a man who doesn't want me but wants to use me, my desperation to belong to something built against me, my fertility as a weapon and as a release.
Sheena Patel's writing is so incredibly addicting, and while it mimics a kind of Gen Z tone, it's grounded with a raw hopelessness that I haven't felt from reading in a while.
You'll enjoy this is you want to read more themes on modern relationships, race and female perspectives.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, and Gaslighting
ewwa18's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity and Sexual content
Moderate: Racism and Stalking
bookwormteddy's review against another edition
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
1.75
i’m gonna be honest, i struggled with this book. like. i get it, right? comparing yourself to, feeling inferior to, and fighting for attention from seemingly mediocre, rich white people makes you crazy. been there, felt that! we get a lot of discussion of race dynamics, class, white feminism, performative allyship without really expanding on them in any meaningful way. these things are harmful, not because they’re by-products of oppressive systems but because they just? piss the narrator off?
there is very little plot, which typically doesn’t bother me, but i cared so little for the few characters we met that i found myself getting so frustrated with the narrator. she is so unlikeable that i never really felt bad for her. i found myself yelling, girl get off the floor!! go to therapy!! stop it!!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, and Stalking
Minor: Domestic abuse
nats_world23's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Misogyny and Stalking
nicilaui's review against another edition
dark
funny
informative
reflective
tense
medium-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
4.5
This book is so multi-dimensional and yet so simply limited to one voice that I often had to re-read paragraphs to put everything into perspective. This novel is utterly honest with a macabre brutality in how a person can lose themselves in a toxic relationship while behaving toxic too. Patel has also incorporated an incredible amount of socio-critical approaches, such as racism, sexism and the fake nature of social media. The protagonist stays in those harmful structures even though she knows them inside out. Patel wrote this paradoxical mechanism in such a unique way that it makes this novel extraordinary. You also learn a lot about the creative industry and about art itself. There is no real structure to the often extremely short chapters. You should just go with the flow and not expect anything. This is not a usual reading experience causing why this book may not be for everyone. I personally didn’t like the ending so sadly no 5 stars. This has nothing to do with the quality of the book, it’s just a personal down grade.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Infidelity, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, and Gaslighting
kaitisbooknook's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-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
Patel had a lot of great ideas and really important things to say, but she didn’t effectively tell them through the narrative.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Xenophobia and Stalking
lena04's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-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
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Stalking, and Gaslighting