Title: Kill The Boyband
Author: Goldy Moldavsky
Year Published: 2016
Source: Owned copy!
Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29008643-kill-the-boy-band

Synopsis:

“Okay, so just know from the start that it wasn’t supposed to go like this. All we wanted was to get near The Ruperts, our favorite boy band.
We didn’t mean to kidnap one of the guys. It kind of, sort of happened that way. But now he’s tied up in our hotel room. And the worst part of all, it’s Rupert P. All four members of The Ruperts might have the same first name, but they couldn’t be more different. And Rupert P. is the biggest flop out of the whole group.
We didn’t mean to hold hostage a member of The Ruperts, I swear. At least, I didn’t. We are fans. Okay, superfans who spend all of our free time tweeting about the boys and updating our fan tumblrs. But so what, that’s what you do when you love a group so much it hurts.
How did it get this far? Who knows. I mean midterms are coming up. I really do not have time to go to hell.”

If you are engrossed in fandom culture & social media and like a good thriller, then this is definitely an incredible book to sink your teeth into. I flew through this book in two days and I couldn’t put it down. Kill The Boyband is an intense, brilliant & suspenseful thriller for those who grew up in the midst of fandom culture and the digital age.

From the age of 12 I basically grew up on the internet, dipping in and out of various fandoms. But the first fandom I encountered was the Jonas Brothers fandom. And the average age of the people I knew in that fandom were also around fifteen years old, like the main characters, which I could identify with. Between the four main characters, I could recognise people in them that I knew back then as well as now. There’s always one who practically runs the fandom just from their mobile phone. There’s always one who is only envisioned by their infatuation. There’s always one who is willing to do the outrageous to gain the attention of their favourites.  And there’s always one who wants a happy ever after. I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing, but the book is an exploration of the effect being a fan of something has on a person, whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing. And this is what made the book all the more interesting to me.

It’s towards the middle the book takes a darker turn. 60 pages in I realised that I didn’t know the main character’s name. But throughout the book I realised, you never find out her name. Which adds to the ambiguity of the situation she is explaining. I am all for unreliable narrators and placing one in a world I was familiar with was such a clever move and what makes the book a psychological thriller for me.

The boyband, themselves, were really interesting to read about. I interpreted ‘The Ruperts’ as a mix of One Direction and the Jonas Brothers and suddenly I was thrown back to 2010.  I really enjoyed reading about them and what makes them so irresistible to the girls.

I really, really loved this book. And I hope I’ve persuaded you to read it!

You will like this book if you liked:

• Fangirl – Rainbow Rowell. While Kill The Boyband is at the darker end of the spectrum, Fangirl is at the lighter end. And both are explorations of how a fandom can affect a person.
• Kiss Me First – Lottie Moggach is a fantastic book about a girl who takes over someone’s online social media presence.

Thanks for reading & until next time!

Hayley.