From Beatlemania to Beliebers, right through to today’s BTS A.R.M.Y, the hypnotic hold good-looking male pop stars wield over young women is nothing new. But in an age where there are more outlets for fandom than ever before, is the line between fantasy and obsession becoming dangerously blurred?
It’s this intriguing question that Rin Usami poses in her striking, troubling new novel Idol, Burning. Already a runaway success in the author’s native Japan, where over half a million copies have been sold, the translation now looks set to climb the UK charts as well. Its protagonist, Akari, is an anxious teenager who struggles at school but finds solace in supporting her idol, Masaki. Her devotion gives her a sense of purpose sorely lacking in her everyday life, and a figure on which to pin her thwarted hopes and dreams.
As her financial circumstances worsen and her familial relationships break down, the book asks if her fangirling is to blame for her disintegrating life, or the only thing keeping her head above the water. Compelling and unsettling in equal measure, Idol, Burning is a pitch-perfect insight into how confusing and exhausting modern life can feel to young women today.
Idol, Burning, Rin Usami (Canongate)
Price: £14.99. Info: here
words RACHEL REES
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