Superfan

When Alison, our head book buyer, sent me an email with the subject line ‘This sounds good’ and a link to the Superfan product page, one look and I thought ‘Yep, this one’s for me’! I went in expecting a light, fun read … I couldn’t have been more wrong.

It’s 2014. Minnie is in her first year of college, excited by the promises made in movies and books that this is when her life will truly begin. But making friends is hard and as the weeks slip by, Minnie feels lonelier and lonelier, until she stumbles upon and is transfixed by a video of a boy band. Somehow, they make her feel a lot less lonely as they yell ‘We are yours and you are OURS’.

Eason is known to the world as Halo, the sexy, brooding and confident member of HOURglass. But Eason is a boy running from his past, addicted to the unwavering adoration of the fans, dreading the loneliness that settles in every time he leaves the stage. As Minnie and Eason navigate their new lives, they inch ever closer until their paths finally collide.

Switching points of view between Minnie and Eason, with messageboard posts and fanfiction scattered between chapters, Superfan is an analysis of fandoms and manufactured stardom. It delves into toxic parasocial relationships between fans and their idols – the obsessing, stalking, conspiracy theories and the fans who take it too far – along with what loneliness and desperation can drive a person to do. But alongside the negatives, Superfan highlights the beauty of fandoms: how they build community, provide safe spaces and help the magic of girlhood to flourish.

While I didn’t want to put this book down, I was often so stressed that I wanted to throw it across the room. It explores racism, sexism, child abuse, grief, sexual assault, PTSD and so much more. I recommend it for anyone who’s ever been in a fandom, misses peak Tumblr or loves reading about human complexity.