Bliss Lai - My biracial (Chinese and white) and bisexual queen. And she is sort of the reason Angel and Jimmy’s worlds cross. The same can be applied to all of the other characters. What is most important is that none of this feels forced. Not only do we have a rainbow of sexuality and gender-fluidity, but this book reflects a tiny but amazing part of this world's diversity. that's why people get into fandom and bands and stuff. They just want something to hold on to something that make them happy and feel good. Even if it's lie" Perhaps the reason I didn’t like this book quite as much is because it very much reads as a slice-of-life; while all the characters grow and change in ways both large and small, they don’t necessarily get satisfying conclusions. This is a style of storytelling that tends to appeal to me somewhat less, and despite knowing this is the point, I admit to wishing for more.

The plot is so so good! The story composition of two separate plot lines weaving together works especially great here because we are able to see two sides of the fandom: the band and the fandom for them, the artists and the fans. It gives a unique perspective of following both of these stories, seeing them as real people. If it were one-sided the message wouldn't work. Friends come and go. Right? I've been through this already, so many times before. Friends are good for a while, but eventually, you have to move on 'best friends forever' is an imaginary concept. No one can be friends forever." No giving the book a star rating is rare for me and I'll get to whys in a minute, but first I need to say this. Most adults see teenagers as confused kids who don’t understand much, while they’re the pillars of knowledge and experience and know exactly what is right at all times.”With no real understanding of the wider social/societal/systemic causes and implications of media addiction, the book falls completely flat, and the reader is constantly grappling with glaringly obvious, very banal questions. Since having "no life" is just a figure of speech, surely she must do SOMETHING besides being on the internet? If she's so deeply into fandom, does she have a favorite TV show, game, anime, celebrity or book? Does she even read? Does she have feelings of any kind that are not related to The Ark? If yes, what are they? If not, why? How does that impact her lived experience? (I am truly grateful, however, that this protagonist doesn't have a love interest. No absurd romance subplot in YA, who woulda thunk it?) We are told she hasn't been in love before. How does that make her feel, besides "lol"? Is she asexual/-romantic? How does that impact her life? In the same way, Jimmy is trans and gay, but the only thing we know about his experience is him feeling kind of weird about being outed to an international audience at 16, and little things like injecting testosterone. I imagine being trans and having transitioned to be a huge, huge deal. My being gay is already a big deal to me, but it is far less stigmatised than transgenderism, and at no point did it involve altering my body, so I am fairly confident in saying that this must play a bigger part in his life than we are told. We get it, she really likes that band, but when she says something along the lines of "They help me get out of bed when I feel miserable" or "They make my stupid boring life worth living", I would maybe... like to know why she feels that way? I want to see some personality besides "outsider, fangirl, muslim and nice person". That's not even a vague approximation of a character. This book hit a bit too close to me , like if I say it's probably going to be one of my favourite books it's going to be a bit of understatement . It has already qualified as my favourite y/a fiction of all time.

Now if I get a chance I will make her my bestfriend , like she is so cool and awesome , I can spend nights with her obsessing over the boys. That's why people get into fandom and bands and stuff. They just want something to hold on to something that makes them feel good. Even if it's all a big lie.” When she rewatches their posts, she realizes that she didn’t pay enough attention to Lister. Technically Lister is impossible to ignore because he’s loud and crude and gorgeous. But he was always watching Jimmy too. Only his expression never faltered or wavered; in every frame, in every video he was watching Jimmy with utter fascination. The writing is flowing so naturally and beautifully. It's so easy to read, the language the character use is very appropriate for their age. Alice Oseman gets all of the aspects of writing teen characters.I guess you can already tell that this book made me think a lot and I have so many thoughts and feelings it’s quite a challenge to put them all into words. There were so many topics and situations that spoke to me and no matter if it was Jimmy’s POV as a musician, Angel’s POV as part of the fandom, the diversity and reps or the relationships between all of those lovely characters, I could relate to all of them! *lol* This book reminded me so much of my own youth and my life in general that it almost felt like Alice Oseman wrote it just for me. Like seriously! Alice how do you do this?

This story is written from both Angel and Jimmy’s perspective and it adds honestly so much to the story. It’s not just a story with two main characters and their paths cross. It’s more than that. Angel is a 18-years-old hijabi and she lives for The Ark, she would die for the members of this boy band. Jimmy is a 19-years-old biracial transgender guy, and he’s one of the three members of The Ark. Let me stop you even before you start thinking about a potential love story between these because nope, it’s not going to happen. Jimmy is gay and Angel “probably would go out with a girl, but I don’t really ever get crushed on anyone, so I just don’t know what I am right now, to be honest.” This isn’t a story about them falling in love, so relax — sounds like something I’ve already said about Radio Silence to my friends lol. I'd say this is perfect for people who enjoy contemporary novels. Nicely written, easy to read, well characterised, and the audiobook was a goddamn feast for the ears. I want the dude narrator to give constant commentary on my life. Now let’s talk about the pic of Rowan and Jimmy sleeping together in their bed. *lol* OR let’s just talk about how close they are as friends! I mean it’s so obvious that they love each other a lot, just not in the way the fandom wants them to. There’s no Jowan, but I really adored their interactions and how much they seemed to care about each other. You can see that they are really close and that they are super comfortable around each other. I’m like that with my besties too and a very cuddly person. (Do whatever you want with that random info. *lol*) So for me to see their strong bond was really nice and even though they argued quite a lot in the ending it was only because they cared so much about each other. =) I don’t know who I am. Everything I do feels like a lie. I wake up every day and I have to be Jimmy Kaga-Ricci, this famous guy, and I have to smile at the camera and say hi to people but ... I don’t even know who I am underneath that.”A funny, wise, and heartbreakingly true coming of age novel. I Was Born for This is a stunning reflection of modern teenage life, and the power of believing in something - especially yourself. About This Edition ISBN: