I can honestly say I haven’t read a book quite like this before. Aspects of it, yes (celebrity fandom culture, cult-like obsession, millennial work culture, unhealthy female friendships etc. etc.), but all together.. it was a bit much.
The “pop star” of this was laughably and undeniably Ariana Grande- I’m seriously surprised the likeness was OK’d and will go to print. Wow.

It read quickly overall, and had potential at times, but I wish I’d skipped it. Thank u, next.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the chance to read this ARC prior to release.

Book: Fan Club

Author: Erin Mayer

Rating: 1 Out of 5 Stars



I would like to thank the publisher, Mira Books, for providing me with an ARC.



I just think there is an example of not having the book being correctly marketed. This one has been marketed as a thriller and it doesn’t really read like a thriller. I was expecting something with super high stakes and for me to be on the edge of my seat. That just didn’t happen here.



We follow an unnamed character as she starts this obsession with a celebrity. However, this obsession goes further than that. We see this character become almost consumed by this person in a way that should have been terrifying. Again, I really felt nothing for it. I should have been all consumed by the idea of a person stalking another-I know that sounds wrong. There was just something missing about the whole affair. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I had this deep disconnect with the characters. I just felt like I really couldn’t connect with the character. They just didn’t seem real to me. I know this is a work of fiction, but I just want to feel something when it comes to my characters.



I think it is this sense of disconnect throughout the whole book is what made it very difficult for me to form any kind of bond with the characters and what was really made this a miss for me. I just would have liked to have been given a reason to care about what was going on. I would have liked to been given a reason as to cheer for the characters and what was going on. Like I’ve said so many times during the course of this review, I just felt like there was something missing. I felt like I needed something more to really drive the whole point home.



I guess the whole thing is that I need a reason. I need a reason to be invested in the story. I need a reason to care about what is going on.



Anyway, this was a miss for me. I do see why so many people do enjoy this book though.



This book comes out on October 26, 2021.

This was interesting – a weirdly twisted rat’s nest of obesssive behaviour and the drawbacks of living in the spotlight of a digitally-reliant, social media driven society, heavy with a crafted “facade of intimacy.” I enjoyed the unnamed protagonist. The story as a whole reeks of ennui and generational angst. Relatable if you've ever worked a dead end job or felt under appreciated and underestimated in the work force but I absolutely could not relate to the fandom side of things.  Not as much of a thrill ride as I had been hoping but still engaging.

It starts with a popstar. Adriana Argento’s newest single plays over the speakers at a drive bar and our narrator finds herself obsessed. With only a day job at a brainless women’s lifestyle website, our narrator soon finds herself obsessed with an online fandom watching every move Adriana makes. Normally hiding in the bathroom with her cat mug and coffee, our narrator soon finds a colleague who shares her obsession. Meghan invites the narrator to join her group of adult Adriana super fans called the Ivies. The Ivies make Harry Styles fans look like they have no devotion at all. They host parties where they worship Adrianna’s music in candlelight and chant the lyrics. When Adriana’s new singles start to come out to preview her new “very personal” album, the Ivies show their discontent with Adriana’s life, her boyfriend, and the fact that they are no in her inner circle. When the narrator discovers the depths of the Ivies’ madness, she finds that she may also be in serious danger.

Fan Club is a smart, fascinating look at obsessive fandom and the dangers of social media and the obsession with the lives of people that we think we know. Author Erin Mayer’s prose flows brilliantly, making Fan Club a book that is easy to fall headlong into. It is fascinating looking at how it can be so easy for modern fans to learn nearly every single detail about a celebrity but often forget that the object of their obsession is in fact a person with their own thoughts, actions and feelings. We see a sense of how our narrator, like many in cults before them, clings to belonging in a group, even if she is terrified of what they may do.

Fan Club is available today from Mira Publishing.

Fan Club by @erinmayer

⭐️⭐️

•Thank you to @netgalley and @MIRAbooks (an imprint of @harlequin / @harpercollins) for providing a digital copy of Fan Club in exchange of a honest

I liked it for the first 100 pages, but I felt lost after that point. Sometimes I struggle keeping track of the caracters and that's a huge bummer for me when I just cannot remember which one i'm reading about.
I found it to be a slow story, without a big plot. I was expecting an thriller which I couldn't put down, and maybe that's why I was disapointed.

I found the insight into corporate America from a millennial’s perspective interesting. The commentary on our obsession with famous people and how society feels entitled to every moment of their lives was spot on. I just didn't feel like this was a thriller. There were some dark and disturbing moments but it felt more cultish than thriller to me. I also want to warn readers that the end is very open...their isn't a true conclusion or outcome, if that bothers you then this book may not work for you.

Thank you @harpercollins @netgalley for my digital copy to review.

I enjoyed Fan Club by Erin Mayer. It features a club called the Ivies who are a group of young women with an obsession with a former child star turned international popstar Adriana Argento .who reminded me of either Ariana Grande or maybe Miley Cyrus. This story centers around an unnamed narrator - I really do wish she had been named though - everyone else had a name.. Its hard for me to relate to people with a major obsession with a public figure - I did enjoy reading it though. It was well written and I look forward to reading more from this author. The cover art for this book is stunning and I could see myself grabbing this novel based on the cover alone. .

DNF @ 36% - I thought I would be really into this as it is about the world of fandom - something so close to home for me. However, the beginning was so slow and I could not get into it. Also, I got to page 46 and still had no idea of anything I just read so I had to put it down as it wasn't for me :(

Many thanks to Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

When I read the blurb for this one I was surprised I hadn't seen this sort of story before -- after all fan clubs have been around many years. But where the traditional tabloids fell short is to create the connections between those in the fandom that can lead to great friendships or something much worse.

I was really intrigued by this and was interested in experiencing the voice in this story as this is definitely not my most-relatable time period. I found the commentary to be interesting and insightful, especially the concepts of losing yourself in the online medium.

I'm not sure if I was a fan of the similarities between Adriana and a certain contemporary performer, but it might resonate with younger readers. I didn't find that Fan Club had the high level of tension and I think I would call this more of a contemporary psychological fiction than thriller, especially since there is a single unreliable narrator to the story.

I did think there were some slow spots to the story and I wasn't a big fan of the ending, but overall, I did enjoy the concept of the story and some of what it tried to say about fandom and obsessive behaviors.

I feel about this book sort of the way that the main character feels about life. It buoyed me along, kept me interested with strange occurrences, but left me feeling sort of meh about the whole thing.
That’s not to say I didn’t like it, because I was fascinated by it. But not necessarily intrigued.
I’m not doing a good job of this.
It’s an absolute fever dream – again for both the main character and the reader.
If found it interesting that she is never named. She is as faceless as she feels she is. She is everybody and nobody. Her clothes are nondescript, her makeup is nonexistent, her personality is non-confrontational.
Until it all isn’t.
The book reminded me of Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man because of its stream of consciousness style. There were odd switches in perspective, seemingly random references to past and current events…and just some all-out bizarre moments.
And strangely, it all works in a way that had me turning pages and unable to put it down.
I think part of it was because the main character is of a generation that I just don’t get, and I feel like I got some insight into their mindset. I still don’t entirely get it, but I understand it just a little bit better.
I especially thought there was an interesting point when it came to telling people that they can be or do anything. In understanding this, and with so many people being told the same thing, they actually use their uniqueness and fall right back into faceless…drones.
The author also offers stinging commentary on the cultish fashion of fandom and social media, as well as of the people who become obsessed with their favorite celebrities. The lines between reality and imagined fame are horribly blurred.
I know this review is all over the place, but I feel like it mirrors the book. Even though there was a through-line of the main character, and we could see her progression (or regression to animalistic ways), it wasn’t really a linear read.
This has been one of the most difficult reviews to write. There were times that it was a difficult read.
But it will definitely go down as one of the most unique books I have ever read (EVER) and it shouldn’t be missed.

I don't know that I'd classify Fan Club as a psychological thriller, at least not in the sense of most that fit the genre, but it is frenzied and even shocking at times. It takes a look at how the same old - same old, day after day can take a toll on a person. Add in a bit of celebrity obsession and a fan club unlike any I've seen, and it gets twisty. And that's as far as I'm willing to go with the details of this one - no spoilers here. What I will say is that Fan Club is one of those reads that kept me turning the pages and one I won't soon forget. Erin Mayer has an engaging writing style and she's penned a pretty impressive debut.

Oof, do I have thoughts about this book!

A millennial editor with little hopes to ever meet her dreams, not that she has any, discovers the world of celebrity obsession when she hears the magical voice of one Adriana Argento. Our nameless, faceless narrator is anything, but the usual insta-filtered women you might think of. She's stuck in a nowhere job, she lives in a dream world of pretending it might be better while doing nothing, at least until Adriana. A love of music turns into something as important as air, what starts as just a scrolling of feeds and listening to interviews turns into The Ivies. The mean girls, the new Heathers, the women who accept her adult-age and love of the bubblegum pop princess. The Ivies aren't just a fan club though, they are something more, something much more.

With unexpected intensity and tabloid-esque fervor, Erin Mayer takes readers onto a journey into celebrity obsession. Fan Club reads like the cacophonous sounds of a night club at 1 AM; blurry with alcohol, messy with streaked eyeliner, and lusty like the kisses of strangers. It's an all-consuming read, it's accurate and creepy and the kind of thriller, with a tinge of cult-like love, that just cannot be predicted. I loved the deep dive into millennial fandoms, the desire to be loved and to love in return. I liked that our narrator wasn't this dream of success kind of girl, that she was struggling and trying to hang on, all while slipping into this dreamy world made up of Adriana music and pink clouds. I can relate to Mayer's critical view of flawed women making poor choices in an attempt to fit in anywhere.

With lengthy descriptions, thoughts that border on hallucinations, and inserted chapters from the perspective of Adriana herself, Fan Club borders on too much. I'd be lying if I said that didn't work for me, it takes you down a road just as twisted as the yellow bricks Dorothy walked, but I can see how it also won't work for everyone. It's a thriller that is a little bit adult fiction and a little bit literary fiction. Mayer uses words that your average reader won't know, see the use of cacophonous above. I loved that though, this was my cup of tea, however I did not love that Adriana is a spitting image of Ariana Grande. I am a fangirl of hers, she does no wrong, but it cheapened the experience of Fan Club. It's impossible not to picture her, despite the constant references to Adriana's bleached blonde hair, and in turn it makes all those around Adriana blend in with those in Ariana's past and present. I could have done with a unique singer, a mish mash of several personalities and styles, but alas, Ariana or rather, Adriana, is who we get and I ended up just listening to her music the entire time I read.

What starts as a slow, day-to-day subway ride to a boring job turns into a fever dream, a truly disturbing set of events that somehow are both believable and unbelievable all at once. On any given page you will ask yourself is this real or is our narrator losing it? It is somehow both and it is addictive like sugar. I recommend this one, I think it's the kind of book you'll love or you'll hate and I love a good polarizing read.

Do you ever finish a book and wonder what in the hell you just read? And not in a good way? That’s what happened with me here. My whole experience with this book was bizarre, on the one hand I listened to it in a day so there was definitely something compulsive about it but on the other hand it wasn’t exactly an enjoyable experience. I really liked the premise and found the whole idea of being obsessed with a celebrity fascinating but something in the execution was lacking. The whole thing felt disjointed, I was missing a solid connection to the plot and the characters, the narrator is never named so I dont think that helped. I will say that had I read instead of listened to this I don’t think I would’ve finished so audio is the way to go but overall this was a miss for me.

3.75 / 5

What is a fan? A fanatic, a person with an obsessive interest in or an enthusiasm for something or someone.

Our narrator is a millennial who works as a web producer; she is, as she puts it, “an expert in nothing, a master of the minuscule fixes.” Although she works in a very mod and hip office, she’s bored with it all.

A new co-worker notices that they both love the same pop-star phenomenon, Adriana Argento; suddenly, her life gets more interesting.

She’s invited to come to the meeting of the “Ivies” a small fan club for Adriana. Our girl realizes these are hard-core devotees; they literally worship Adriana. As she is being sucked in, she realizes there is a dark secret that bonds this group. And once you’re in, it’s your burden to bear.

I wouldn’t call this a thriller; it has more of a creepy cult feel to it. The ending left me wanting for more, but 𝐅𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛 is a frightening look at how easy it is to become obsessed with celebrities in this day of multimedia. As you watch their lives under a microscope and you want to be like them, dress like them, it’s easy to lose reality. It also speaks to how desperately we want to be a part of something, to feel like we belong.

Thank you to @_mira_books_ @HTPBooks @Bookclubbish and @harpercollins for an invite to the tour and a gifted copy.

She works at a website. We don't know her name. What we do know is that she is completely disallusioned with her job. Working on a team with four others, prducing nearly two dozen article daily, the job proves monotonous at the best of times. Having various opinions about the other producers, her attention is consistently on Tom, a married man, but one she cannot stop thinking about.

The most exciting part of her day is her consistent coffee breaks, with her own cat-shaped mug. If not for these breaks, she is not sure she'd get through her days. Beyond thinking about Tom more than she should, her attention becomes focused on a pop star. The singer, Adriana Argento has both old and new music. While drawn into the pop star's older music, the new music has its own appeal. It doesn't take long for our millenial to discover that there is a group of women who share her same interest - obsession, really. However, things take a very dark turn.

Following the singer on social media soon takes over her life. Finding out this other group of fans are absorbed in every aspect of the singer's life soon becomes something our protagonist does as well. Will the fan club change an otherwise mundane life? Or will things take dramatic turns to the point that there will literally be no turning back?

Who is our main character and why is she unnamed in this story? Author Erin Mayer keeps her name from us perhaps so the focus is turned to the source of the fandom in this story - the pop singer. Our protagonist had already felt invisible. Immersing herself into the life of the singer only exacerbates that situation. Do pop stars and other celebrities really change who we are? They did for this character - completely consumed from beginning to end, to the point where it might not be known where she ended and the pop star began.

It is almost without doubt who this greatest pop star would be if the story was real - Ariana Grande. Would this intense fan club go above and beyond - and in the worst ways possible - to pulling themselves into the star's circle? I am not into fandoms, so I can't really imagine how far some reach when it comes to the lives of some celebrities.

From beginning to end, Fan Club was a very interesting read. I enjoyed seeing the story in the mind of the main character, no matter how twisted things became. Obsession is real, no doubt about that. This book shows how extreme such obsession begins and how it might never end. However, the ending, at least in this case, sort of didn't. The story certainly could have continued.

Many thanks to MIRA and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Love or hate them, celebs are here to stay and social media just makes it easier to follow them. Some wannabe's post constantly where they are, what they are doing, what they eating, who with. But most celebs, once they make the grade are very secretive about their whereabouts. And yet with paparazzi and people and their camera phones we are almost able to know their whereabouts before they even reach their destination.

Fan Club is about that kind of obsession, stalking almost. We are mobile phone obsessed, constantly wanting more, more updates, quicker delivery, but at what cost?

Our protagonist, who is never named and though not unheard of, it does make it awkward to review, unless I refer to her as 'She'. Becomes obsessed with Adriana Argento, she works in website creation, so can surf the net at work and quickly finds herself watching YouTube and surfing for news on her. She joins a super fan group and together their more or less worship Adriana.

At times the book has a darker premise and becomes fairly intense. Having a fairly mundane everyday life intensifies the feelings of adoration for 'her'. And drives her to delve deeper, the fan club though has a dark side and even for the newly obsessed, its too dark.

Fan Club highlights the lengths and extremes some fans will go too. And how scary the world is becoming with eyes and ears everywhere.

The world of fandom is bizzare and a bit obsessive if you look at it from the outside. People is there because they share a common passion and some can go further as they are totally obsessed.
This story is about an unnamed person that becomes obsessed with a singer and the bizzarre simil cult she joins.
It's a gripping story even if it drags a bit at time. The ennui of the characters, the descriptions of her life are bit depressing but they are a good representation of her state of mind.
The plot is twisty and the last part surprised me.
It's the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Are you wearing something pink today?
If you are, I have a book for you…
On Wednesdays, I don’t wear pink. But if you do, you might like this book.
If you always remember and repost that meme on October 3, you might like this book.
If you had/have a burn book, you might like this book.
Jokes. All jokes…
It's not exactly Mean Girls, but it's close. Our main character works for a women’s lifestyle blog surrounded by catty co-workers. She uses her well-timed coffee breaks to relieve the monotony of her day-to-day life.
She is obsessed with a pop star, Adriana.
And a man named Tom, with a sketchy situation is obsessed with her.
So, what does she do?
She seeks out all of that obsession. And finds ways to create multiple triangular relationships. She joins a fangirl group, of more women obsessed with Adriana, and has several conflicting interactions with Tom, all of this she knows is bad, yet feels so good.
Or does it?!
As I’m getting closer to the end of the book, I’m realizing there is no character arc here. And that might have pissed me off a little bit.
I’m wondering when she’s going to realize that obsession is not love, is not adoration and being someone’s obsession is not what you want to be?
I’m wondering when she’s going to wake up and decide to start living her life for herself and become obsessed with her own life?
Can you tell I have been reading romance novels?
I’ve got to stop that!
Overall, I enjoyed the author's ability to capture a loathsome atmosphere. But felt something was held back on this book. One of those “scarier in the dark” situations but I am interested in what the author might do next.
The rating for me is somewhere around a 3.5 and I’m rounding down to 3. Mostly because I feel the whole thing lacked teeth.

The Review

This was such an intense, emotional, and heartbreaking yet moving read. The author brilliantly captured the tone and psychological concept of many millennial today, both the popularized “selfie-obsessed” millennial that appear in shows and films in today’s pop culture, and the more heartfelt, directionless, and depressive millennial who have inherited so many problems from previous generations and have a harder time making their schooling and degrees match up with the jobs that are available in our current market. It added depth and really challenged the notion people have of the millennial generation.

What was so fascinating about this narrative was twofold: the protagonists’ mystery identity and the comparison of intense fandoms to cults. The lack of personalized identity to the protagonist was so interesting to read, as it allowed the reader to feel like they could either step into the protagonist's shoes or witness her actions with somewhat of familiarity after knowing someone who has lost themselves to an obsession with pop culture. The comparison between fandoms and cults was so deeply felt in this narrative, as the protagonist and the other members of this group found themselves losing themselves more and more to this idea of having a deeper connection to this individual than they actually had.

The Verdict

Intense, mind-bending, and shocking to watch unfold on the page, author Erin Mayer’s “Fan Club” is a must-read novel. The perfect read for fans of psychological thrillers that focus on more modern themes, the author brilliantly touches upon the more intimate nature of celebrities and the access their fans have to them thanks to social media. With an emotional finale, this is one book readers will not want to miss this fall.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing for my gifted eARC.

This book is truly a wild ride, and I really enjoyed it. But I am going to preface this review with this: I do not think this is a book everyone will enjoy.

This one sentence from the author’s website best sums up this book: “… a millennial office worker finds relief from her crippling ennui in the embrace of a cliquey fan club.”

Our narrator works at a digital news site that wants to become “the millennial woman’s living room.” One day at the office, a coworker notices the unnamed narrator’s obsession with pop star Adriana Argento and invites her to join the Ivies, an Adriana fan club.

“Millennial ennui” is the overarching theme in “Fan Club,” and Mayer really nails it. The publisher describes her voice as “caustic wit and hypnotic writing,” and I fully agree (and am 100 percent here for caustic wit!!) I will be eagerly anticipating Mayer’s next book; I loved her voice and found it unique.

You will like this book if:

💘 You liked “A Special Place for Women” by Laura Hankin
💘 You’re OK with a slow burn
💘 You appreciate dark humor and observations
💘 You don’t have any trouble suspending disbelief
💘 You have worked in or are familiar with digital media organizations