A review by serendipitysbooks
I'm a Fan by Sheena Patel

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

 I Shouldn't have liked I'm a Fan. Stories about messy millennial women are not normally a big hit with me. And this story is definitely messy as the opening sentence indicates - “I stalk a woman on the internet who is sleeping with the same man as I am. “ The fact that the man in question is married and is open about having no plans to leave his wife for the narrator, who has a live-in boyfriend, only adds to the messiness. But the short sharp chapters and the fierce, unabashed yet perceptive narrative voice made this one a win for me. I especially loved the social critique of racism, classism, sexism, white privilege and more. Zingers like this - “No matter how much some say they respect women, each man, even the ‘good ones’, benefit from women’s low expectations of them as control is exerted via a climate of instability, fear and violence.” The examination of the role we allow social media to play in our lives was also well done and spot on. I liked many of the distinctive, some would say quirky, features of the novel - the way the narrator refers to other characters (“the man I want to be with”, “the woman I’m obsessed with”) and the intriguing chapter titles. I even loved the ending, which I will admit is a polarising one. 
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