Fan Club follows a millennial who's just doing though the motions of life. She feels trapped in a boring job that over works her. As an escape from her monotonous life she becomes obsess with a new celebrity. She falls in to a dark hole of online fandoms and obsession. She eventually joins a group all the Ivies who worship Adriana. She falls into a world of cult celeb worship and starts to blend the lines of reality. Fan Club is an interesting and unique idea but for me it never really played out. I was never fully into this story. I know that things like this exist but I was so unamused by the narrator that I never connected to the story. The writing was good but I think the narrator was unlikable.

In this raucous psychological thriller, a millennial office worker finds relief from her crippling ennui in the embrace of a cliquey fan club, until she discovers the group of women is bound together by something darker than devotion.

The first thing I want to say is this isn’t a psychological thriller. But if you are into super fans and celebrity worship, this may be for you.

Our narrator is yet another gloomy millennial looking for something other than the life she has. She has a job at an online website for women. Basically data entry. She is bored. Until one night at a bar, she hears something in the latest child actor turned pop star. And all of a sudden she is obsessed. Almost stalkerish.

When a like-minded colleague finds out, she is invited to be part of a group of supposed adults who worship her music. And so begins her tenuous hold on reality.

These women are Mean Girls. Of course, they do horrible things and the ending left me with more questions than answers.

NetGalley/ October 26th, 2021 by Mira

Wow, I am loving the cover of Fan Club by Erin Mayer! This caught my interest immediately!

Day after day our narrator searches for meaning beyond her vacuous job at a women’s lifestyle website—entering text into a computer system while she watches their beauty editor unwrap box after box of perfectly packaged bits of happiness. Then, one night at a dive bar, she hears a message in the newest single by international pop star Adriana Argento, and she is struck. Soon she loses herself to the online fandom, a community whose members feverishly track Adriana’s every move.

When a colleague notices her obsession, she’s invited to join an enigmatic group of adult Adriana superfans who call themselves the Ivies and worship her music in witchy candlelit listening parties. As the narrator becomes more entrenched in the group, she gets closer to uncovering the sinister secrets that bind them together—while simultaneously losing her grip on reality.

This comes out on October 26.

The narrator has a boring dead-end job at a women’s lifestyle website and no friends. But when she hears the new song by Adriana Aregento, she immediately is hooked. And then finds online fandom and a community there.

From there it goes off the rails. She’s invited to join a group of adult superfans called the Ivies who really take hero worship a bit too far and starts to get cult-like.

It’s obvious the pop singer is supposed to be Ariana Grande (the name isn’t that different) and the story is obviously a hard look at the cult of celebrity, pop culture and social media. It was little much for me, but I could see its appeal to other readers, especially as a jumping off point for a discussion on celebrity pop culture for a book club.

This was reasonably enjoyable; that is to say I was engaged enough to keep reading to the end and I wanted to know what happened, though I didn't find the main character very interesting. Several others have already said this, but I did find it odd that the pop star character was so transparently based on Ariana Grande - not particularly because it's lazy but because it seems strange to use analogues of the tragedy that happened at one of her concerts, and also her relationships, as the basis for a conspiracy thriller-type plot. However, there is more than enough here to keep readers interested and I can already think of several people I know who'd love it. As long as you don't think too deeply about anything it's a lot of fun.

Although I liked the concept of the book, I found it slow. It just didn't keep my interest at times and the ending was just okay. I'm giving it three stars because I enjoyed the premise and the commentary about stan culture felt unique. I actually liked the fact that the pop star mentioned in the book is based on Ariana Grande. That fact allowed me to visualize the character in the book more.

I didn't love this book. It started off slow, and after 100 pages was in no way, shape, or form a psychological thriller. So I skipped ahead a few pages and wasn't shocked but let down by the "twist." There are other books that probably do this concept better, but I think if you are into celebrity life style you may like this one.

I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am someone who's the ultimate fan girl, often lives out my life being totally absorbed in one fandom or another, currently still spends hours of time daily searching, posting, watching, listening, reading and talking about my latest celebrity/ social media/ obsession. Therefore I totally get the line "The most efficient way to lose yourself is to idolize somebody else" and I wouldn't want to change that.

Also, the author describes the mudane, repetitive make busy routine of the office job so accurately, I found myself chuckling at scenes in the office.

WOW! This one is very hard to review, but I will say I highly, highly recommend it! Unique, fun, and unputdownable! Absolutely mind blowing! Full of twisty turns, chills, thrills, and shocks! Extremely well written, with some of the best character development I’ve seen in a book! What more can I say, you should read it, I highly recommend!

Will make sure to buzz around and use top Amazon reviewer number on release!

I have to admit at first I was just caught by the super cool cover of this book and the blurb on the back sounded somewhat interesting. Once I opened this book however my jaw dropped to the floor and I couldn't get enough. This is the exact type of book that keeps a reader hooked. The book starts out with our main character who is a producer for a large magazine. Her life is alright but she doesn't seem to get pleasure out of anything anymore. She sees her life passing her by in a cloudy haze of depression. It isn't until she comes across a new pop artist called Adriana Argento. Things start to look up suddenly however what should be just an interest soon crosses the line to obsession as our narrator becomes more detached from reality and sinks further into the secrets and compulsion that the new group brings her over their mutual desire for Adriana Argento. Our main character was super interesting and you really wanted to learn more about her. I super enjoyed watched the little ways that she lost touch of reality because the author wrote it so well that you can see how this happens to people in real life. This thriller had me hooked from the beginning and while I had to know how it was going to end I never wanted it to at the same time. This is the type of book that gets a reader hooked on a genre for the rest of their lives. Great read and the only negative thing that I am able to say about this one is it set the bar awfully high for future thrillers and I will never be able to experience reading this again for the first time. If all of Erin Mayer's books are as good as this one I can't wait to see what she comes out with next.

DNF - Did not finish. I decided not to keep reading this title because I did not connect with the writing or plot. Thank you, NetGalley and publisher for the early copy!

Parts of FAN CLUB really spoke to me, as someone who definitely is passionate about several things and is part of a few fandoms. Mayer perfectly captures the emptiness that can cause people to obsess about something, or in this case, someone. You are looking for something to fill the gaps left by disappointments in your own life— a job you hate, a relationship you don’t have, or whatever it is that you crave but can’t attain. As she writes, “the easiest way to lose yourself is to idolize someone else”. She is also spot on about the joy you get from “finding your people”, realizing that there are others who see what you see or hear what you hear. Lastly, the author accurately conveys the jealousy that develops between fans regarding access to whomever is the object of the “affection”, and the sometimes tragic consequences that jealousy can bring.

Luckily, all my fandom experiences have been positive, so the very creepy and unsettling parts of the book are not part of my experience, though obviously there are fans who clearly cross the line, as the “Ivies” do in this book

I found it very telling that the narrator remains unnamed, which is a way of saying that this kind of obsession can happen to anyone, often to people who don’t even want to admit it.

The pop singer in the novel, Adriana Argento is clearly modeled after Arianna Grande, a little too closely, in fact. I also was a little confused by the ending. But, if you are familiar with the culture of fandom, you’ll find FAN CLUB simultaneously comforting and terrifying.

I was really disappointed with this. The writing was okay, but everything else was a mess. So much promise, such poor execution.

Not quite spooky enough. I liked how true to life it was. But fandom is more scary, and I thought this was missing in the book. I really liked it tho.

"The most efficient way to lose yourself is to idolize someone else."

Our narrator is a content producer for an online magazine, and she's so bored and disconnected that it sounds like depression. She counts the ten minutes of sunshine she sees before work, she schedules in coffee breaks where she makes a cup then just stands in a bathroom stall looking at the graffiti, and her one friend is more of a habit than a confidante. It's bleak. But when she hears the new single by pop star Adriana Argento, she finds a new obsession, and eventually a group of super-fans who accept her. As she falls deeper into fandom, and the fan group, she becomes more alive and animated, but also more disconnected from reality. The fan group is more than a club, their secrets and their sense of ownership of the object of their admiration are frightening.

What sets this apart from other thrillers to me was some of the really beautiful language. I was ready for a page turner, and while it was certainly fast-paced and definitely kept my interest, I found myself rereading passages because they were just really gorgeous. I'd call it a literary thriller, perhaps? Looking forward to more from this author! This is a top ten of the year for me.

Thank you to MIRA and Netgalley for a digital copy in exchange for review.

I was excited to read this given the premise and protagonists in the book, two strong females with very different lives. The story writing was good BUT hated the ending and the book dragged in many places. I found myself skimming some chapters and reading others. Just not for me, which is disappointing. Sorry but not sorry, this book falls into the mediocre category for and cannot recommend it.

Thanks to Netgalley, Erin Mayer and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 10/26/21

I have always been a fan of trying out new authors. Doesn't everyone deserve to have the light shined on them after completing their first novel? Erin Mayer, is going to be a household name after this one! I absolutely loved the cover . Yes, I am totally one of those "judge a book by the cover" , people.

This novel read like a tabloid, filled with juicy gossip and some well developed characters, this book is nothing short of ADDICTING! I could not stop reading! I picked this book out because the cover but I walked away with a lot more than that. This is a made for tv novel, and I am sure Netflix is going to gobble this one up.

This needs to be added to everyone's pre-order pile! Do not miss this one!

I was intrigued by the premise of this novel, but it just didn't deliver for me. I can see how the obsession with social media and celebrities is compelling, but there were a fair number of times that I had to make myself go back to the story. I just wasn't feeling the tension or suspense. Also, the celebrity is modelled too closely on Ariana Grande, which felt a bit lazy.
Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the advance copy to read and review. All opinions are my own.

I really wanted to like this book. The topic of celebrity stalking is so intriguing but unfortunately this book fell flat for me.

This book is written like a fever dream and you end up feeling just as unhinged as the main character while reading.

The topic of celebrity and obsession is really compelling and not something I’ve read before. It delves deep into the idolization of celebrities and that feeling like we know them despite only seeing their Instagram posts.

My problem with this book is that the celebrity character Adriana is Ariana Grande. It got to the point where I would stop reading to compare the real life of Ariana to the fake life of Adriana and they were practically identical down to the smallest details. It was a bit too much.

Ultimately, this book is a wild ride. I was left a bit stupefied by the end. If celebrity fandom culture is intriguing to you, I’d recommend it.

I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.