Blue Velour has made her name in the music industry for doing, and saying, pretty much whatever she wants. This has often gotten her into trouble but also makes her fans salivate.
Rose is a super fan who loves decoding Blue's music and is obsessed with her secret (probably) relationship with her producer, Sasha. When Rose gets a chance to become Blue's assistant she jumps at it with all of her obsessive heart. What she doesn't know that this job will change her life forever, and not always in ways she was hoping.

American Spirits covers a whole lot but in such a great way. Fame and fan culture at the root of this novel. How people can become so obsessed with celebrity that they think they own the person. This is a very real thing that, as we've seen, can become quite scary. The book also covers addiction and sobriety in a very real way. The thin line that sober people are always walking to not tip back into addiction. It was well done. Then there is the love aspect of the book. It's not a romance, though there is some of that in here. It explores more versions of love than romantic love. There's the love of work, of pouring your soul into what you do. There's sisterhood, friendship, obsession. There is a ton of toxic love in many forms.

This book is messy in a fun way. It's toxic and dramatic.
I loved the switching of POV interlaced with Reddit posts. It made it fun and easy to read.
The ending too? How freaking meta was that?!

This is a great book for anyone who loves messy and toxic characters just trying to figure out their lives.

I guess you could say I was foaming at the mouth a little bit while reading this book and that is a good sign, friends. I just love a good story about fame gone wrong and this is a book that tells it from someone else’s daydream. It was suspenseful and interesting, with moments revealed from different points of view which added to the tension between the three main characters, Rose, Blue, and Sasha. I could get Team Rose and Team Blue out of my head (literally, Red vs. Blue) and then things got…complicated to say the least. I was disappointed when I was disturbed from my reading ritual, because I wanted to know whose daydreams are this messy and formulated with the dark side.

The novel is well-written, perfect for fictional fame fanatics (like me) and is for lovers of Neon Demon, the worlds of St. Vincent, and drama and high stakes.

Anna Dorn has written my favorite book of the year and it’s not even out yet. I need an a24/HBO series adaptation of this with a full original album ASAP PLZ💎🩵 Lana Del Rey in the acknowledgments and the dedication? Hello… that’s all you need to know. I am obsessed with this book and will be telling everyone and their mother about it for the foreseeable future. I can’t wait to get a physical copy in my hands! Thank you NetGalley for the eARC!!

This was my first Anna Dorn book I’ve read. I know a few people who really enjoyed perfume and pain. I think I might like that book a little bit more based on the premise. I did really enjoyed the overall vibe of the book, as well as the inclusion of Internet culture, which was done very well in my opinion. I usually don’t enjoy books that use blog posts/texting as chapters, but I thought this story used it very intentionally and in an entertaining way. There are very few books about fandom and internet culture that can really grab my attention, so the fact that this one did is really saying something! While this book was entertaining, the characters and writing style were a little bit annoying sometimes. I think that was the point of these characters though, so as a reader, i was willing to look past that. I really disliked Blue and her attitude towards her assistant. all in all i look forward to hearing more from this author. This was entertaining but not a favorite!

American Spirits by Anna Dorn is the literary equivalent of a 350-page tabloid article—entertaining but lacking substance.

American Spirits centers around a cult pop star named Blue Velour defined by her brash (some might say problematic) public persona and grungy, hyper-feminine aesthetic. Many of Blue’s fans are convinced that she’s in a sapphic relationship with her producer, Sasha. One superfan named Rose creates a subreddit called r/BlueBeards dedicated to uncovering hints that Blue and Sasha are deeply in love. Rose’s obsessiveness pays off when she learns that Blue is hiring a personal assistant. She gets the job and soon finds herself enmeshed in Blue’s life. When the pandemic leads Blue, Sasha, and Rose to isolate together in a luxury cabin in northern California, their unmitigated desires and ambitions lead to explosive results.

Anna Dorn loves to write about toxic, obsessive sapphics. American Spirits takes that theme and dials it to 100. This book is nonstop toxic female drama nestled in the context of obsessive fan subreddits like r/GaylorSwift, a subreddit dedicated to uncovering “hints” and “Easter eggs” that Taylor Swift is actually a lesbian. I’ll admit that the story drew me in; it’s propulsive and pulpy in Dorn’s signature style.

But at the end of the day, I grew tired of the drama, especially in the absence of deeper thematic exploration. Much like the devoted fans of Blue Velour who dissect her lyrics to shreds for supposed hints at sapphic love, one could spend considerable time analyzing how American Spirits comments on fame and fan culture—but does such commentary really exist? Or would we be fabricating deeper meanings out of what is ultimately just a fun, aestheticized piece of entertainment?

In American Spirits, Blue Velour’s unfiltered, self-absorbed, and out-of-touch nonsense (describing Ayn Rand as “the original girl boss”, for example) is part of her charm. These qualities, however, draw ire during the height of the pandemic and George Floyd protests. Blue could not care less about stopping the spread or standing in solidarity with black Americans. She’s casually racist in an ignorant sort of way. Dorn has enough plausible deniability here to deflect accusations of being problematic herself. Blue’s racism is obviously meant to poke fun at how clueless celebrities become lightning rods for scrutiny in culture wars. There is also a frame-narrative, meta-element to the book that further removes Dorn from the story and possible criticisms of it. I noticed a similar pattern in Perfume and Pain, and it makes me somewhat uneasy. I think white authors who write racist characters have a greater responsibility to address and critique that racism, whereas Dorn seems to use it merely as adornment for her protagonists’ royally problematic crowns.

Those who love toxic drama will probably love American Spirits. It kept me entertained for a day or so. However, I’m not convinced that much literary value exists behind the colorful, dynamic smoke show.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Out April 14th, 2026
American Spirits by Anna Dorn is a darkly comic and genre-bending novel that follows Summer, a disillusioned writer in Los Angeles who gets swept into the world of ghost-hunting influencers. After a breakup and a stalled career, Summer agrees to join a reality show called American Spirits, which investigates haunted locations under the guise of spiritual healing. What begins as a cynical gig quickly turns into a surreal journey as Summer confronts both literal ghosts and the figurative ones haunting her psyche.

As Summer navigates the absurdities of influencer culture and the commodified wellness scene, she begins to unravel emotionally. The show’s cast includes eccentric personalities who blur the line between performance and belief, forcing Summer to question her own skepticism. At one point, she muses, “I don’t believe in ghosts, but I do believe in trauma,” a line that encapsulates the novel’s central tension between spectacle and sincerity. The haunted locations become metaphors for unresolved pain, and Summer’s encounters with the supernatural mirror her internal reckoning.

By the end, American Spirits becomes less about ghost-hunting and more about identity, grief, and the search for authenticity in a world obsessed with appearances. Dorn’s prose is sharp and self-aware, laced with biting humor and emotional vulnerability. As Summer reflects, “Everyone’s haunted. Some of us just make better content out of it,” the novel leaves readers with a lingering question: can healing ever be genuine when it’s packaged for consumption? It’s a satirical yet poignant exploration of what it means to be truly seen.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this ARC!

Devoured in 2 days. Beautiful cover. Thank you Netgalley.

A fast paced joy ride like a best friend vomit gossip to you. Copious amount of vaping, smoking, fucking men. I’m Gen Z with some Gaylor knowledge from my teen years so I love the chronically online Reddit stuff but might appear cringe to older reader.

American Spirits is a sharp, witty novel that perfectly captures the messiness of modern life and self-discovery. Dorn’s writing is fast-paced and slyly funny, with a voice that feels fresh and unfiltered. I loved how the book blends biting satire with moments of surprising vulnerability, making the characters both outrageous and relatable. It’s the kind of story that makes you laugh one minute and stop to think the next. Bold, clever, and thoroughly entertaining, American Spirits is a standout read.

4 stars
Anna dorn does it again. Every single one of her books draws me in and just gets at the weirdness and intensity and complexities of relationships. This story is about Blue, a famous singer, and Sasha, her lover and producer, and the journey they take as Rose, a huge fan and Blue's assistant, joins them during the pandemic. The way Anna Dorn writes about mental health is powerful and the different ways each characters responds to that is varied and relatable.

The very last part, the ending, I did not like. It felt random and sudden and out of place - hence why Im giving 4 stars instead of 5.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster via NetGalley for this ARC!

Boy howdy, what a ride! This was my first book by Anna Dorn and I’m hooked to the writing style. I felt like the story was a compulsive read and the narrative was a whirlwind look into fandom and the border between passion and obsession that creatives can experience.

I can’t wait to read more of Anna Dorn’s other novels to see what other subreddit cultures I’ll be afraid to see on my rare travels of the internet.

Anna Dorn's American Spirits is a mediation on fame, love, and obsession. This book demanded my attention in order to fully ingest the material. It's not an easy read as its somewhat of a mood read. Thoroughly enjoyed.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

dorn is someone i've followed on the periphery as a cal alum (although we didn't go there around the same time; i just like to support berkeley folks) because her career pivot is something that a lot of us dream of. this is something you can feel in her voice when she writes as the obsessiveness but also the care seeps into the characters she writes about. with american spirits, i was a little apprehensive as i don't usually read fictionalized accounts about famous people. however, dorn captures the jealousy and confusion of all the three main women in this novel so well with special attention to how certain pockets of the internet (r/gaylorswift comes to mind as an inspiration) distort reality. the lana del rey inspiration for blue helped as well with celebrities who don't match the political consciousness that we want from them as intelligent women who make interesting observations. the ending was a happy surprise as well and maybe the start of a bigger dorn universe.

Anna Dorn has quickly become one of my favourite writers and I loved this book just as I've enjoyed her other novels! I love books set in LA and I love complex characters like both Blue and Rose. I thought it was clever to intersect worlds (shout out Vagablonde!) and the ending was a bit of a twist I didn't see coming. Would recommend!

I have read Anna Dorn's Perfume & Pain, and Exalted, and i enjoy when her characters overlap, like the reddit user who mention "Asterix". This book really explored how some fans can become super obsessed with artists seeing as the narratives that were being built around the main characters wasn't matching the reddit's. Although i'm not a fan of faux pop star books/movie. I liked the storyline of this one and I feel like People who do enjoy those storylines will really like this book also. I do believe the characters were a little flat but this wasn't a huge issue. The book was fun, crazy, gay and original,

American Spirits has all the elements of a novel I’d love, but it missed the mark for me in the end. The story was compelling and the writing flowed nicely, but it never felt as dark and twisted as the story actually was. At its core, American Spirits is about how obsession, addiction, and ambition are one and the same, and the events in the novel reflect this, but there is a distinct lack of intensity within the writing itself, so the twisted events in the novel are not as hard hitting as they could be. Still, I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever been a part of - or on the outskirts of - stan culture.

A messy sapphic pop star? Sign me up!
This book explores themes of art, fandom, and the blurry line between admiration and exploitation. Readers who enjoy messy, combustible character dynamics and a behind-the-curtain look at the music world will likely find plenty to unpack here. I can't say that I connected with the main characters that much, I found some of the plot lines to be messy for messy's sake. But this was a quick read with great pacing.

I recently devoured Perfume and Pain, so I was ecstatic to get a first look at American Spirits. Having just familiarized myself with Dorn's voice—via her most autobiographical work of fiction—I suppose I had slanted expectations for this one. While I’m fairly well-versed in Lana Del Rey lore (though less so in the “Gaylor Swift” discourse), this novel felt overwhelmingly cringey. I recognize that it's a stylistic choice and the ending sheds light on it, but I fear it was extremely grating at times. The biker bars, the vaping, the song references.... mega overkill. Like if I want to read fanfiction, I'll just read fanfiction. Idk!

Furthermore, none of these characters really made sense and so much of the story was told instead of shown. I just wasn't sold on any of it and had I not been invested (since I looooved P&P), I probably would have DNFed. I love parasocial relationships and I love music but this just did not land for me. I also think the recent Lana Del Rey discourse has clouded my judgement too—I simply can't find it in me to care about something centered around a MAGA wife right now lmao. Still rooting for Dorn though—while this one wasn't for me, I commend the way she comes at unhinged and chronically online fiction with reckless abandon.

Anna Dorn has done it again! Perfume and Pain was one of my top reads from last year, so I was extremely grateful to have received this arc.

As someone who has been immersed in stan culture for most of my life, this was EVERYTHING. The characters felt so real to me, and I loved the reddit posts between chapters. I was pleasantly surprised by not just the pacing, but how the story unfolded. The conclusion too, my goodness!!!!!! What a rollercoaster this was, so so glad to have had the chance to read!

Simultaneously a love letter to fandom and a cheeky nudge to examine our parasocial relationships, American Spirits captures the lives of two messy, Sapphic narrators - popstar Blue Velour and ultimate fangirl Rose Lutz. Dorn tells the story of these two women, and producer Sasha Harlow, the crux of their love triangle, over six years. The book is full of pop culture references and written with an obvious love for the chaos of pop music. Immersive and atmospheric, I found myself entrenched in Blue and Rose's stories. Dorn is a master of problematic Sapphics, and American Spirits is an absolute must-read.

★★★★★ Just finished American Spirits by Anna Dorn and… I’m not okay (in the best way). This book is pure chaos—queer obsession, fame rot, and a pop star who feels more like a hallucination than a person. Rose Lutz is spiraling and I was right there with her, vape in hand, questioning reality.

It’s sharp, surreal, and totally unhinged. If you’ve ever been consumed by a parasocial crush or felt like the internet was rewiring your brain—this one’s for you.