A Poetic Novel about Fandom and Identity

 Y/N by Esther Yi

K-Pop Fans by Joseph  Ferris III from On a Ship, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

K-Content Expo in UAE Korea by Creative Content Agency, KOGL Type 1 , via Wikimedia Commons

Thank you Netgalley for sharing this advanced copy of this book. I’m not sure how I got this book, but I was glad I read it. Not familiar with fan fiction or K-pop, I didn’t quite get all of the references in the book, but I really appreciated the kind of dedication and adulation that the narrator had for Moon in this book. It’s an interesting story about celebrity and how our society views the increasing role of celebrities in our lives. Amanda Montell kind of delves into this in her new book The Year of Magical Overthinking; however, Yi’s book looks at this from a fan’s extreme perspective. Ot was a little ridiculous, but also interesting to learn more about this kind of adulation and some of the potential reasons why we worship celebrity and how our own ideas and beliefs/desires for celebrities shapes some of the popular perception of these people as well. I was mostly impressed with Yi’s poetic writing and descriptions. I found myself highlighting and rereading many different sections because of the beauty of the descriptions and phrasing in this book. Although it was kind of a foreign topic, I found a lot to relate to in this book, and I look forward to reading more from Esther Yi.