I Was Born for This
Ratings72
Average rating3.9
The fangirl-idol dynamic in this story was instantly captivating for me. Knowing this was an Alice Oseman novel, I expected her to steer clear of clichéd, overused plotlines—and for the most part, she did. While the ending didn't entirely avoid predictability, I still felt she offered a fresh perspective overall.
The messages about what it means to be a fan were clear, though they didn't resonate with me as deeply as the themes in Radio Silence. I found myself less interested in these ideas and more engaged by certain characters. I loved Angel; she felt genuinely comforting. Jimmy, on the other hand, was harder to understand. His decisions often seemed impulsive, lacking clear purpose, which sometimes detracted from the story's momentum.
Still, I admire Alice's effortlessly engaging writing style. It's a pleasure to read her work in the original language, avoiding the limitations of a poor translation. Her characters, too, have a unique charm—authentic, genuine, and refreshingly raw.
I may need more time to fully understand the symbolism woven into the story, and I plan to do a little research on it. I'm looking forward to dive deeper into Alice Oseman's other novels!
Started off really strong with good characters but became unrealistic and drifted away from the themes as the book went on.
a classic Alice oseman story. the book was good, storyline was good.
I originally rated this book 4/5 stars, but almost a year later I keep thinking about it and the plot. I think this book might actually be one of my favourite Alice Oseman books
I loved it more than I expected towards the end it really can full circle I want more of them!
“I think the truth is that everyone in the entire world is confused and nobody understands much of anything at all.”
Alice Oseman... you will forever be one of my most favourite authors.
I have said this so many times in my reviews for Oseman's other works but I absolutely love the way realism is brought into these stories. The characters are always so raw and relatable that it's so hard not to find some type of attachment or connection with them.
Every single character brought something so special to the story. They each had their own struggles that they were dealing with. This wasn't about romance or fame, this was about real life.
This book showed the point of views of the fan girl and the boy from the band. I think it was so interesting to see how both sides experienced the same things. I don't think people realise that celebrities at the end of the day do not owe us anything, especially when it comes to their personal lives. This portrayed the positives and negatives of celebrities and their fandoms perfectly.
I'm not a religious person at all and I have a very negative relationship with it due to past experiences but I do have to say that I appreciated reading about Angel and Jimmy's relationship with it.
I love that Oseman always is so diverse with her works. The two main characters are hijabi Muslim and mixed race and trans and I really deeply appreciate how she writes stories that everybody can view themselves in.
I really loved this and I would love to revisit it again in the future.
CW: MC with severe anxiety, portrayal of panic attacksNot what I was expecting, after reading all of the available [b:Heartstopper: Volume One 40495957 Heartstopper Volume One (Heartstopper, #1) Alice Oseman https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1541887843l/40495957.SY75.jpg 62811229] novels, with their sweet, slow burn romance. I Was Born for This is considerably darker, with a focus on the benefits and risks of fandom for both the fans and the objects of their love. Fereshteh “Angel” Rahimi, whose adoration of the boy band The Ark is the only thing that gives her life meaning, has a much more interesting journey than Jimmy Kaga-Ricci, the band member and other POV character, who can't understand why achieving the fame and fortune he dreamed of isn't making him happy. The two MCs are on a collision course with each other, and although their time together is very brief, they both emerge significantly changed. The secondary characters, especially the two girls who Angel meets, are extremely engaging, and it's nice to see some helpful parental figures (the author is the same age as my youngest child, so I admit to being quite a bit outside of the target demographic). Plus I liked the fact that although Jimmy is trans, his queerness is not a central plot point. This isn't the story of two boy band members who are secretly in love with each other. Neither is it the story of a boy band member who falls in love with a fan. It's a messy story about growing up and realizing your own value, whether you're a superstar with a million screaming fans or an ordinary teenaged girl with a mediocre report card and no idea what comes next.
It's obvious from reading any of Oseman's books that she really deeply understands both her characters and her readers. As well as being an entertaining examination of friendship and fame, this is a love letter to her fans.
I didn't empathise with anyone and had absolutely no “lived experience”. I'm really too old for these books and this world - I've never Tweeted or Tumblred and I followed my bands escapades in Smash Hits! Still it was enjoyable and everyone felt really real - insofar as they were insecure mishmashes of normal and weird - and, yeah, I can relate to that.
Merged review:
It's obvious from reading any of Oseman's books that she really deeply understands both her characters and her readers. As well as being an entertaining examination of friendship and fame, this is a love letter to her fans.
I didn't empathise with anyone and had absolutely no “lived experience”. I'm really too old for these books and this world - I've never Tweeted or Tumblred and I followed my bands escapades in Smash Hits! Still it was enjoyable and everyone felt really real - insofar as they were insecure mishmashes of normal and weird - and, yeah, I can relate to that.
I feel like Angel when I read this book. Despite being white, male, atheist, trans, and gay.....
But like aaaahhhhh Alice Oseman writes THE BEST books!!!! I feel very fanboy-y over her writing!
I love love loooove this book! Just as I have loved all of the previous ones! I think Alice Oseman writes such interesting and diverse characters with interesting and diverse themes and stories to go with them. If I had any complaints, it would be that I would've liked a bit more extension on the ending, and maybe a more deeper look into Jimmy being trans because, as a trans guy myself, I know it is something that impacts every moment of my life (although hopefully less so in the future, once I can transition..!). But either way I am so so happy to see trans rep in any book, and I appreciated the acknowledgements to all of the trans people and Muslim people that Alice Oseman consulted while writing this book. It really shows that they care about what they write.
Read this book!!!
“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.I think the truth is that everyone in the entire world is confused and nobody understands much of anything at all.”rating - 4/5
If you read for escapism, Alice Oseman's books aren't for you.
Honestly though, her books are the closest thing to real life i've found. The way she somehow manages to make characters on paper feel so real and authentic has always fascinated me.
I've always loved reading fiction because for once, the problems aren't mine. So naturally, I've strayed away from contemporary fiction that isn't romance. This book made me reconsider though. Hit a little close home, but it does a great job at discussing important topics while also having beautiful writing and diverse characters.
I annotated this for my bestfriend and we started talking online because of a boyband, so that was fun. There was A lOt of highlighting and capitalization. absolutely recommend. go pick it up rn.
I think my least favourite of Oseman's. I'm glad she didn't fall in the “girl chooses pop culture and it clashes with her muslim religion” trope, and the story was interesting, but the rhythm is off. Things start becoming interesting half way through, it really picks up at 90%, and as usual a very brief resolution which doesn't give us enough time to enjoy the ending.
Achei os personagens meio chatinhos, mas o livro é ótimo e fala de coisas muito importantes
8/10
Alice Oseman mi autora favorita desde ya.
Los personajes, el mensaje...
Lo único es que se me ha hecho hiper corto yy el final es abierto y necesito saber que pasa entre Jimmy y Lister ahhhhhhh
Their music was good and fun, yes, but they looked kind. They were attractive, but not in a scary, very masculine way that many young girls find intimidating. They had floppy hair and skinny frames, you know, that sort of thing. Which is very fashionable now, but wasn't really back then. They gave these girls something very safe to love. Something that would never bite them back. In the sixties, everything would bite you back if you were a girl.
This was way better than I expected. I loved the characters, especially Jimmy, Lister, Bliss, Roan. The friendships were so nicely written and were the highlight of the book. The characters and the story were realistic and I enjoyed it a lot.
—spoilers—
List of things I liked:
* Oh look, so much diversity.
* Angel's real name, Farishtey ☺️ It was so nice to see someone with an Urdu name. Props to audiobook narrator for pronouncing it correctly.
* Jimmy's relationship with his grandad.
* Jimmy and Roan's friendship.
* Lister wearing a cape and singing Batman's opening theme
Eu ainda não tinha parado para pensar muito nesse livro até escutar a música “Pretend” da Orla Gartland e me deparar com a frase “oh, who are you so afraid to be?”
Angel Rahimi é a sua típica adolescente britânica prestes a entrar no mundo adulto. Sua vida gira em torno de apenas uma única coisa: a banda The Ark e, principalmente, o vocalista desta, Jimmy Kaga-Ricci.
O que poderia ser apenas mais uma das histórias de romance impossível entre uma fã e um cantor famoso se torna, na verdade, uma importante lição sobre valores, vida e, porque não, identidade.
Angel é uma menina alegre, divertida e animada, justamente por ter esse comportamento extrovertido e amigável, grande parte de seus problemas e suas inseguranças são jogadas no fundo de um baú esquecido em algum lugar de um sótão escuro e empoeirado.
Angel, em seu âmago, não tem a mínima ideia do que quer para essa vida e, ainda pior, no que ela poderia ser boa, tendo sua vida inteira sido mediana em tudo que envolvia a vida escolar.
Como não se sentir um pouquinho representado, não é mesmo?
Por não querer lidar com essas inseguranças relativas ao futuro, Angel se enfurna em sua vida de fã, tendo a certeza que cada lacuna de sua identidade seja preenchida com o The Ark.
O livro explora muito essa questão da insegurança e da dúvida, convidando Angel a sair de seu pequeno e desconfortável casulo e perceber que o mundo real não precisa ser assim tão assustador. Na verdade, mais do que isso, junto de Angel percebemos que muito daquele mundo real estava sendo perdido, justamente por sua própria fixação.
Muitas vezes o futuro parece um local distante e assustador, borrado pela incerteza e coberto pela complexidade. As vezes é difícil nos distanciarmos de nossos pensamentos e compreendermos, de verdade, quem somos e o que queremos. O grande medo de Angel, de se perceber um ninguém além do The Ark, acaba por cortar todas as possíveis relações e situações fora destes. Acaba por corta-la de ser quem ela realmente era.
Afinal, de quem Angel estava com tanto medo de ser?
Afinal, de quem nós temos tanto medo de ser?
4.5
This book was very important and heartbreaking. I've heard that all the other books by Alice Oseman are better than this one. And I'm super excited!
i...........have no idea how to really rate this?
- i really liked jimmy's pov but it kind of fell apart for me in the last 50-100 pages
- i didn't like angel's pov at all which makes me sad, but a lot of it was pretty cringey
- this is more of a character driven book than a plot driven one and i didn't overly vibe with it
- the friendships in this book are probably the best part of it though
idk i was just expecting to love it after seeing how many other people have and i just feel let down
Another Oseman masterpiece about the existential anxiety of early adulthood and the impact of fandom on our worldview and relationships. Remember that Bo Burnham response to a heckler about parasocial relationships? Probably not because why would anyone, but I Was Born for This is like if you took that clip and made it a diverse funny/sometimes sad 400-page YA contemporary. This is a story about a band (The Ark) and one of its fans (Angel) very strangely crossing paths. This meeting throws into question what Angel thought she knew about The Ark, and what members of The Ark presumed about their fans.The grandparents (Juliet's and Jimmy's) were stellar. They care about their grandchildren, showing up for them when their parents don't. They also show concern for their grandkids' friends and younger generations without condescension. They recognize that many issues facing today's youth were present in their own forms throughout the 20th Century. Juliet's nan tells Angel about Beatlemania in the 1960s. Jimmy's grandpa talks about the mental illness he observed growing up. Most of the YA I read that discusses religion seems to be about teenagers struggling with their faith. I see value in this, and have found such stories cathartic because of my personal background. So I was surprised to enjoy reading about two teenagers turning to Christianity and Islam. A trans character finding unconditional acceptance in Christianity brought me joy. Their beliefs were a soft place to land. They provided routine and peace, but it was more than that. For them, faith was a refuge.This never would have worked if Oseman wasn't so good at depicting the dynamics and motivations driving fandom. Her characters are nuanced, flawed but lovable. I always ending up loving them more than they love themselves and it distresses me. When characters contradict themselves or speak in hyperbole, it's believable. This is the case with not only main characters, but many secondary characters as well.I have some issues with the ending, so I knocked off a star, but this is more a 4.5. If you liked [b:Radio Silence 30653843 Radio Silence Alice Oseman https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1467051579i/30653843.SY75.jpg 45055773] or [b:Eliza and Her Monsters 31931941 Eliza and Her Monsters Francesca Zappia https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1476994065i/31931941.SY75.jpg 52586056], you'll like (I Was Born for) this.
See original review here: www.weebitwordy.blog/i-was-born-for-this/
Well this was a whirlwind of a read if I do say so myself! When I first picked this book up, I had my doubts, having not read anything previously by Alice Oseman, I wasn't sure what I was diving into. Part of me was really expecting a default YA girl meets boy, they fall in love with each other after some struggles and they live happily ever after. That, my friends, was not the case at all. While there were some love triangles happening, this was not your cliche YA read–and I LOVED IT!
cough sorry about that little outburst there... now where was I...
If you're looking for something to appeal to your millennial heart, then you've come to the right place, because this little number just defied all odds and threw everything in there from the main character being a hijab wearing Muslim to having one of the band members trans and the other being gay. Never have I read a book with so many ‘outcasts' that have been thrown into one setting, and have it all seem like normal everyday life:
Like. It. Should. Be!
cough sorry again... I don't know what it is about this book...
What appealed to me the most about the book is that we didn't just get fan-girl Angel's POV of the whole events in this book, but we also saw things from band front man Jimmy's POV, and his struggles with mental health dealing with fame and his adoring fans. Throughout the book we see Jimmy's mental health slowly get worse, which leads to the incidents where Jimmy and Angel meet–in the most unorthodox ways. I will admit that I was expecting there to be a little love story between the two when they eventually meet, but in fact it's quite the opposite, as Angel ends up literally becoming Jimmy's guardian angel.
As well as all this we deal with a few other things in the book, the love triangle between the three band members, as well as a girlfriend who is kept a secret to avoid the lime light; internet friends meeting IRL for the very first time as well as all the social awkwardness and anxieties which go along with it; and lastly, my favourite, the tried and tested quote which really is the fruition of the whole book: Never meet your idols.
Overall, I think it's safe to say I thoroughly enjoyed this book, considering I devoured it in only two sittings, and got surprisingly passionate about the whole thing (really don't know where that came from). I Was Born for This is available from May 3rd, and I hope you get your hands on a copy and enjoy it just as much as I did.