I Was Born For This Review

I Was Born For This by Alice Oseman

#Queer #Contemporary #YA

CW: Click Here

4.5/5

I Was Born For This had been the only Alice Oseman book I hadn't read, until now. I figured it was time to complete the list! It was difficult for me at the start. I had to keep rewinding as I had lost focus. However, by the end I was devouring the novel. The story expresses the experiences of fandom and that of fame in the music industry. The former I can relate to, the latter I already know a decent amount about thanks to If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzalez and Cale Dietrich. Still, there was plenty to make Oseman's story a new and fresh one.

Angel Rahimi is obsessed with The Ark, a pop-rock boy band from Kent, England. She comes down to London to spend the week with her online friend, Juliet. They've Skype'd before, but this is their first time meeting in person. The week is not the fun fandom time that Angel had hoped for. Jimmy Kaga-Ricci is one of the 3 members of The Ark and he's having a week from hell. A misleading photo of him and a bandmate cuddling has been leaked, he's having frequent panic attacks, a band secret also gets leaked, and there's a new contract The Ark is being pressured to sign. After yet another disastrous moment, Angel and Jimmy meet and form an unlikely friendship. They'll shake up each other's worldviews, but will that be in a good or bad way? 

I think that Oseman does a fantastic job with representation in their writing. I Was Born For This is absolutely included in that. I will point out that I am white, cis, and not Muslim, so take my praise with a grain of salt. Angel is Muslim. Her real name is Fereshteh, which means Angel, leading her to pick that as her online username. Angel is shown embracing her religion throughout the book. She prays, even when she's exhausted, she wears a hijab, and calls herself a hijabi. Jimmy is an Indian-Italian trans guy with anxiety. He is never dead named, and Oseman keeps transphobia almost completely out of it. There is one interviewer who treats the band like a gimmick for having a black boy, a bisexual boy, and a trans-biracial boy. Other notable representation within the novel includes a bisexual Chinese/white biracial girl, two characters with poor parental relationships, struggles with alcoholism, and a dynamic elderly character. 

As they worked to get I Was Born For This out into the world, Oseman decided to use sensitivity readers. Oseman is non-binary and knows what it's like to be trans, but they don't know what it's like to be a mixed-race trans 18-year-old man. They also didn't know what it was like to be a Muslim teen girl. It makes for a more authentic story to do research and peer reviews for the things an author might not know so much about. Still, parts of Oseman absolutely made their way into this book. It's very important that this book is not a romance. Oseman is aromantic and asexual. Angel considers the fact that she's never had a crush on anyone. The fanfic she reads for The Ark is never reader-insert and she isn't attracted to them. It's never labeled on page, but this is because Oseman wanted her to be in the questioning stage. She also does that for Jimmy and his bandmate, Lister. Lister and Jimmy could be boyfriends later on, but they definitely aren't on the page.

Angel does love The Ark and the members individually, but not in a romantic or any other relationship way. She loves the community that exists because of them, she loves their music, she loves the idea of them. While she does obsess too much, it's relatable. I was big into tumblr and fandoms when I was a young teen. Now I just use it for my book blog, but back then I was glued to it. I wanted to have lots of followers and I was tuned into all the updates for certain things. Except fans will take things too far, so there is a downside to it. I Was Born For This makes sure that's very clear too. I remember an actress on Orphan Black getting death threats because her character was a threat to one of the top ships of the show, I remember an attendee of an Ariana Grande concert bombing it, and I know Sabrina Carpenter has sung about the death threats she received because of dating Joshua Bassett. There are enough messed up fans that it's no wonder a bad week leads The Ark to want to change things. They acknowledge how lucky they are to have so much money and success, but I appreciate that their mental health and boundaries are important to this story.

There are a lot of great things about Alice Oseman's I Was Born For This that I haven't even gone into here. What it's like to meet an online friend, the other members of The Ark, Angel's relationship with her parents, exploring England, and more! This book packs a lot into its pages, even a bit of mystery. If you decide to read it, I'm sure you'll be on the edge of your seat. Your book's the ticket, and The Ark is waiting.