Idol, Burning

A Novel

by Rin Usami

eBook, 144 pages

English language

Published Dec. 18, 2022 by HarperCollins Publishers.

ISBN:: 978-0-06-321328-9

(4 reviews)

Akari is a high school junior obsessed with "oshi" Masaki Ueno, a member of the popular J-Pop group Maza Maza. She writes a blog devoted to him, and spends hours addictively scrolling for information about him and his life. Desperate to analyze and understand him, Akari hopes to eventually see the world through his eyes. It is a devotion that borders on the religious: Masaki is her savior, her backbone, someone she believes she cannot survive without--even though she's never actually met him.

When rumors surface that her idol assaulted a female fan, social media explodes. Akari immediately begins sifting through everything she can find about the scandal, and shares every detail to her blog--including Masaki's denials and pleas to his fans--drawing numerous readers eager for her updates.

But the organized, knowledgeable persona Akari presents online is totally different from the socially awkward, unfocused teenager she is in real life. …

But the organized, knowledgeable persona Akari presents online is totally different from the socially awkward, unfocused teenager she is in real life. As Masaki's situation spirals, his troubles threaten to tear apart her life too. Instead of finding a way to break free to save herself, Akari becomes even more fanatical about Masaki, still believing her idol is the only person who understands her.

A blistering novel of fame, disconnection, obsession, and disillusion by a young writer not much older than the novel's heroine, Idol, Burning shines a white-hot spotlight on fandom and "stan" culture, the money-making schemes of the pop idol industry, the seductive power of social media, and the powerful emotional void that opens when an idol falls from grace, only to become a real--and very flawed--person.

6 editions

Erin reviewed Idol, Burning by Rin Usami

Review of 'Idol, Burning' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Weird little book. Just long enough, though I could have read more.

I appreciated the Afterword a lot, though maybe it makes the messaging of the book too clear. For having an agenda, it didn’t feel like the book was too didactic about it. I got out of it what the author wanted me to. While public wrongdoing should be called out, parasocial relationships and feeling like you’re owed an explanation from a stranger is not so healthy.

I also loved the acknowledgments! “Learning disability” and/or “ADHD” aren’t mentioned, but something along those lines is represented here with compassion, from the POV of someone who might have those diagnoses. The impatience of the family is both understandable and unfair.

The “Idol” phenomenon is explored well and concisely here!