Christine Ma-Kellams’s whip-smart, darkly funny, and biting debut, The Band, follows a psychologist with a savior complex who offers shelter to a recently cancelled K-pop idol on the run.

This book was completely unexpected! I’m not sure what I expected though–perhaps a literary drama. This is much more of a satire, which delighted me. I love that biting, dry humor that layered just under the surface. I am actually not a huge K-Pop fan, though I find the popularity of K-Pop to be fascinating. I think this book could replace K-Pop with [celebrity] and still work, and the story is only about K-Pop on the surface and speaks much more about how celebrity “talent” is used like a piece rather than a person.

The story reads a bit like fan fiction, in a fun way. It felt like a love letter to K-Pop fans. It seems to me like the author and narrator blend together at certain points in the story, as though Ma-Kellams wrote herself into the K-Pop world and imagined playing a small part in it. The story centers around Sang Duri, a cancelled Korean boy band member who caused an uproar among the public after releasing a controversial solo.

Duri hides from the public outcry in the mansion of a Chinese-American woman he meets in Los Angeles. Ma-Kellams writes the narrator as a psychologist with a savior complex (and I’ll say as a psychologist myself, this type of unhinged savior complex is sadly not uncommon in our field). The relationship between the narrator and Duri is at the center of the book, but it’s also only one small piece of the broader story. The book weaves together many related stories—the Band’s producer and his attempts to work with a girl group, the other members of the Band dealing with the fallout from Duri’s departure and cancellation.

The narrator is a bizarre character, and I do love a character that is boldly strange. Her relationship with Duri is unclear—the book hints heavily at a sexual relationship between the two. The spotlight is on the narrator but also on the reader. Aren’t we all guilty of being too interested in the salacious and private details of celebrities’ lives? Don’t we all sometimes feel entitled to know intimate things about these idols, as though they don’t deserve privacy because of their career?

The book is written in a freeform style that was exactly what a story like this needs, but also may not appeal to every reader. I think in part that’s because it’s hard to get a concrete grasp on the story. It’s very dream-like in the way it unfolds across the page. There isn’t a dull or extraneous moment—for such a loosely flowing narrative, Ma-Kellams kept it tight in presentation.

Duri’s struggles with mental health in the wake of his scandal felt authentic. This is a man whose entire identity for years became what the public saw him to be, and not who he truly was. The very same public and fandom cancelling him begs the question if Duri can find himself again and not take on what others think of him. Fellow people pleasers out there will have a small moment of comradery with this aspect. How do we learn to not see ourselves by someone else’s definition of who we are?

A book for the K-Pop fans out there, but really for anyone who appreciates a novel approach to storytelling and a broader message about obsession, celebrity, and fandom, and the toll those can take on the person at the center of it.

Thank you to Atria Books for my copy. Opinions are my own.

I think this book was too dense for me. It had a literary bent to it that I wasnt expecting so it took me a bit too connect with the plot and characters. But once I did, i was full on board. I like famous people who struggle book this is certainly that with a good dose wit to make reading a breeze

An eccentric look into K-pop and how much power their fandoms have over the members of a group, the industry, and mental health.

I was excited to get an early look at the book because I thought the synopsis was very intriguing. I am sad to admit that as much as I wanted to enjoy this debut, it wasn't for me. I think the book had the right parts to make a great story but it just fell flat for me. It did read like a memoir from the perspective of a psychologist trying to help a former K-pop idol who was canceled find himself again, but it was hard to follow. It was only around 200 pages and I read every page hoping it would come together. The ending was a bit predictable for a plot twist and again I hoped that would help me get into the story and that didn't happen.

If you are a fan of K-pop maybe you will find more things to enjoy about this book.

I’ll be honest up front – this wasn’t the book for me. I’m sure there are many people who will enjoy it, it just wasn’t my personal favorite.

One thing I did like about it though was the level of detail included about the KPop industry. While I’m not a massive KPop fan, I have friends who are and they have taught me so much about it. And based on what they’ve shared with me Christine Ma-Kellams does an excellent job of including authentic detail about that industry.

That being said, this book is VERY literary and at times I had no idea what was happening because the prose was so dense and hard to comprehend. Maybe I’m just not smart enough, but a lot of what happened went over my head and I can’t say this is a novel that will stay with me.

The Band is out now. Thanks to Atria and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review

This is not your typical novel, which will likely be a turnoff for a lot of readers, but made me appreciate it even more. There is not a ton of characterization, 4 members of the band are mostly referred to as their role in this pop group and not given much time to know them as their true selves.

Our narrator for the majority of the story is a psychologist and while there was some characterization related to her character, she mainly serves as a vessel to psychoanalyze fandom culture and parasocial relationships. I liked this a lot more than I thought I would at first. This has a hint of a plot which we do see through to the end but this isn’t the point either.

Strange, funny and smart - I don’t know how well this will be received but for the right reader I think it will strike the right notes.

THE BAND
Christine Ma-Kellams

A snapshot of pop culture, a lesson on the usage of the eggplant emoji, and the difference between an “Epicanthoplasty” and a “Lateral canthoplasty.” All that and a lot more in Christine Ma-Kellams’, THE BAND

THE BAND stars Duri. Duri is a Korean pop star with a lot of fans and even more pressure. Pressure to look good, sound amazing, and keep everything personal under wraps and behind closed doors.

If it sounds hard to maintain it’s because it is. And Duri cannot hold every ball in the air at the same time and after a personal incident goes public, he gets “canceled.” The book picks up from there.

The focus of THE BAND is a little all over the place. But you can tell that by reading the synopsis. Reading the book felt like spending the afternoon with rowdy teenagers and it’s not exactly what I’m looking for in my reading sessions.

I gave THE BAND two stars. I did not enjoy it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read and provide feedback!

THE BAND…⭐⭐

The Band by Christine Ma-Kellams

I loved the idea of The Band but I'm concerned that the topic (a K-pop band whose lead singer gets cancelled) is an unlikely match for the experimental narrative style (which reads a little like a rambling academic paper, complete with footnotes.)

I LOVE a writer who takes chances and I wish I were the perfect reader for this. I think a scholar of K-pop might appreciate it more; I am just a casual fan.

I feel like this review needs a footnote. Note: Happiness Falls by Angie Kim had a similar narrative structure, but for some reason I found that easier to read and in fact, really liked it.

A satirical look at K-Pop and fan culture, The Band will definitely have you thinking of BTS. I couldn't really get into this but it does get more interesting as it goes along. Basically, Cancel Culture comes for the "Visual" of this boy band and he ends up hiding out in LA w/ a Chinese/American wife and mother, until it blows over.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for this e-arc.*

This had all the elements to be a good book. Triumph, success, drama and turmoil. However, some othe characterization was a little flat and and there was wayyyy too much background story that took away what was happening in the present. Plus the ending was a little predictable. I finished this book feeling underwhelemed but at I least I have a new understanding of Korean culture and the appeal of KPop music.

Mediocre overall. Either give or take on recommending this to other readers.

Thanks to Netgallet, Christine Ma-Kellams and Atria Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 4/16/2024

I tried a few times to get into this book, but I couldn’t seem to grasp on to the different threads long enough to see them come together by the end of the book (I hope?). I read a lot of books with multiple narrators and multiple timelines, but with this one, I just couldn’t seem to figure out what was going on or to care enough to put more mental effort into figuring it out. I did find the premise intriguing and wanted to immerse myself into the K-pop world a bit.

A satirical, literary take on the K-pop, idol making industry, The Band pleasantly surprised me because it turns out to be not at all the straightforward drama I was expecting—its characters larger-than-life, the humor brutally dry and self-deprecating, and it really hones in on the objectification of performers (they are replaceable parts, not people), how media scrutiny, industry demand, and pressure from fans result in an individual's emotional crisis.

I can see this being a polarizing read because of its free-form format and metafiction. While I find some of the fragmentation to be a little overdone (the footnote doesn't really add much to the core narrative), overall I greatly appreciate the unfiltered juxtaposition of East (many Korean dialogs/slang are left phonetically transcribed) and West (The humor is VERY American—I get Park and Recreation vibe), the fever dream of a plot, and how it manages to hit me emotionally by the end. I'll also add it is at a near-perfect length just tipping over the 200-page mark.

The Band is unabashedly written for a niche audience, someone with basic knowledge of how the K-pop industry functions (such as trainee debt), who appreciate the pop culture phenomenon but not intentionally shying away from its problems, AND also love literary fiction. It is a challenging cross section to hit, but I do hope it will find its way to the right audience, as overall I find it to be a atypical, refreshing and sharply written read.

This was more like 2.5 stars. loved the concept of this, but the execution just didn't do it for me. It was a little too sterile and detached for my taste.

I'm going to be the odd one out. This felt like two separate books to me- the first half reads almost like a Rolling Stone article and the second feels like fiction. That said, it's an intriguing look at toxic fan culture as well as cancel culture. Those who are familiar with KPOP will no doubt appreciate this more than I did as there are comments and asides which felt insiderish. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This wasn't for me but I'm sure others will appreciate it.

I prefer my non-fiction to read like fiction, but I really hate a novel that reads like a textbook. That was strike number one against The Band, a novel that pulled me in with the promise of K-Pop-themed commentary on fame culture. Strike two was a narrator prone to tangents that offered nothing to the story and strikes three through 57 were paper-thin characters, uneven pacing, annoying, faux cliffhangers at the end of each chapter and the complete abandonment of the only semi-interesting plotline only to be resolved in dialogue a hundred pages later.

If it wasn’t so short, I wouldn’t have finished.

I really liked this book. It wasn't at all what I was expecting but I couldn't stop reading it to find out what the heck. It follows a k-pop boy band, mostly, it's leader. For some reason, he goes home with a woman who is a therapist and her husband is fine(ish) with him living in the house. It was just weird. But good.

I'm not really familiar with the Kpop world but I was able to read the Arc on netgally. Let me just say that I was blown away by this author and her writing was stunning.

DNF @ 55%

The primary story was good. The background and inconsequential commentary on pop culture didn’t add anything to the story, and was super distracting from the purported main story. I’m sure others will very much appreciate this book and the story-behind-the-story, but it wasn’t for me.

As an Asian American psychologist who is also a fan of K-Pop, it pains me how much I did not enjoy this book. A part of this may have been down to style of writing as well as narrative choice. I largely found most of the author's decisions such as the extensive usage of footnotes as well as the numerous allusions to BTS distracting. I can understand the pull to model the book's K-Pop group after the biggest K-Pop group to so far ever exist. But at the some point the many shared facts and histories between the Band's members and the members of BTS made the book feel like a work of fan fiction. A self-insert fan fiction at that with the narrator being an Asian American psychologist like the author. It also felt like the author was trying to make a point about the dark sides of stardom, parasocial relationships, and the particular type of obsessive, possessive love K-pop fans in particular are always accused of having. But the commentary on these things felt fairly superficial and nothing that hasn't already been touched upon in other novels such as Idol, Burning. All in all, I really did want to like this book and thought it had an interesting premise. However, it failed for me on execution.

I went into this book expecting one thing - and it definitely wasn't that, but I'm glad I read it. I was expecting a softer fiction piece heavily based on what we often see publicized (and filtered) for K-pop celebrities - and certainly there were some linkages. Christine Ma-Kellams takes us through a fictional lens of past groups, trauma, what a current celebrity would go through, and how some time away- all culminates with a surprising event. If you're reading it and don't see how it all comes together yet, give it time. It was a harsher but more realistic lens than what is often portrayed.

This was an interesting story filled with unnecessary content.

The Band is about a kpop boy group that has experienced some trouble. Sang During, the visual of the group, has written a song that causes strife between Japan, Korea, and China. He is laying low while the group’s image goes back to normal and decides to hide out at a woman’s house that he meets in a grocery store. But amongst his disappearance things get even worse for The Band.

I thought the actual story was really interesting. I'm a kpop fan, so I enjoyed following this group and learning more about fandoms, celebrity life, and celebrity expectations.

However, this book was filled with crude, sexual statements that left a bad taste in my mouth. It was not needed at all in the story and made me uncomfortable. There was also a lot of skewed Christian statements. This is a book about a kpop band. Neither the character's opinion about the Bible or her sexual lifestyle was needed here.

I also felt the first quarter of the book was filler. It took a while to get into the story as we learn a little about a 90s kpop band before jumping into The Band.

This book has some fun suspense in the latter half of the book. I enjoyed seeing the story from the point of view of the band manager, fans, members of the band, and the woman who takes the band member in. I also enjoyed learning more about Korean culture.