What a strange and lovely novel. The Fetishist gives us a glimpse into the lives of the fetished and those that fetishize them. With a focus on Asian women and an amusing and empathetic glimpse into the life of a young woman seeking revenge for her mother's death and ends up on a (somewhat) epic journey of discovery and forgiveness.

I wholeheartedly enjoyed this strange, dream-like novel. It's one of those rare books for me which achieve five stars without even trying--Min's craft is impeccable, the plot engaging, the scenes immersive, and the subject matter captivating. Her writing is so beautifully balanced and evocative, and she wields language with skill and precision. Her characters jump off the page. It's no small task to make this look effortless, and yet she does so with grace. This book feels both raw and somehow nostalgic; this melancholy view of anger and revenge is both refreshing and familiar.

At the outset, I was baffled as to why Kyoko would have wanted to kill Daniel so badly, but after experiencing his POV I understood her desire. His internal monologue is the written equivalent of touching a cum tissue, and I found him repugnant. Min reproduces this slimy, off-putting, fetishistic male gaze with so much verisimilitude I had to put the book down and remind myself that he wasn't real more than once. I am slightly disappointed that he made out (relatively) scot-free in the end--I wanted a more complete revenge enacted. This is the only complaint I have about this novel, and it's not a particularly strong one.

I was shocked and saddened to discover upon reaching the acknowledgements section that the author had passed away. This is a beautiful last work, and it's clear that the team bringing it to publication put a lot of care into it. Bravo.

Despite having already read the galley, I plan to purchase a physical copy of this book on release!

A note for the publisher--when reading on dark mode on the Netgalley Shelf app, characters with a macron appear surrounded by a white box instead of matching the rest of the text. I'm sure this will be fixed before ebook publication, but I wanted to mention it nonetheless.

Holy Guacamole!

this is zany, this is quirky, this is incredible....this is...one of my favorites of the year? im speechless

The Fetishist is the story of three people, a young punk rocker named Kyoko; Daniel, a now-middle-aged violinist who finally reconciles with his past; and Alma, a superb cellist, the love of Daniel’s life, who feels she was never truly loved as a young woman. Kyoko’s mother had an affair with Daniel that broke up her marriage and led to her suicide. Kyoko has carried her anger over her mother’s death for years—and blames Daniel. He is now playing music for the dying while mourning the breakup of his own marriage.

The author’s note to The Fetishist state that it is a “fairy tale of sorts, about three people who begin in utter despair.” As the reader delves into the novel, they readily identify the treasure, the hero, the ogre, and the sleeping beauty. Like many fairy tales, there is a thread of darkness and often a happy ending. The novel looks deeply at our culture, its racism, its tendency toward colonialism, and the dynamics in which men wield power and some of those men fetishize Asian women. A fascinating own-voices read.

Katherine Min parted the world too soon, but left one hell of a book before doing so. I've been silenced by the emotions I've felt from this. Please read it!

The title of this book is very fitting. The author's depiction of the way society fetishizes Asian women is spot on. We all know someone who fits at least one of the stereotypes that Min describes. There are a lot of uncomfortable moments but I think that's the point.

The primary male character, Daniel, is obsessed with Asian women. Despite his terrible personality and unhealthy infatuation with every Asian woman he comes across, he gets most of them to sleep with him. He doesn't seem to be particular good at pleasing them or have anything to offer them but they still go for him. He is a handsome, talented musician but his reputation should, at some point, keep him from getting lucky. The author gives this character too much power. Women's lives are never the same after being with him. He becomes the object of their obsession.

At the beginning of the book it looks like Daniel is going to get what he deserves. The story of Daniel's undoing is woven between flashbacks of how awful he has been to women throughout his life. This successfully makes the reader not feel sorry for him and wish for his demise. The story builds to what you hope is Daniel's end but, of course, it doesn't happen. Not only does Daniel not suffer but he gets what he wants in the end. So disappointing that all that time was wasted without a satisfying conclusion.

There is also a stereotypical big, dumb black guy who blindly does his girlfriend's bidding. But of course the girlfriend is a petite Asian woman who he physically injures during sex but he can't help himself but that's okay because she likes it. Seriously. It reads like a bad adult film. I would never guess that an Asian woman wrote this book. It feels like this was written from the perspective of a white male obsessed with Asian women who gets everything he can't get in real life in his fantasy world.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book!!
Read if you are a fan of.. interweaving stories, a horrible man, forgiveness, possibilities, strong female characters

I just reviewed The Fetishist by Katherine Min. #TheFetishist #NetGalley

I thought this book would be a little more satisfying but it actually left me feeling... annoyed. Perhaps Min was going for something a little more realistic with the ending but I was here for one thing (murder) and I didn't get it!! However I will say that I appreciated the discussion of Asian fetishization and how it impacts Asian-American women. A single encounter with a fetishizer can leave lingering disgust and culminate into trauma further down the line.

Also this book was labeled as a black comedy but where was the comedy? I didn't find this to be very comedic and it was more sick than anything. The graphic descriptions, the abundance of sex, call me a prude but all of it was just too much for me. But I think Min might have been doing this to show that Asian fetishization is harmful because of how Asian people are viewed as sexual objects who provide nothing more than carnal comforts. In this light, I can appreciate it but still, not my thing for sure.

didn't know that the author died until i read the acknowledgments by her daughter, now i feel hella sad... this book was so fcking good. one of the few books i've read where there's a relatively large main cast (all with their own povs) who are so fleshed out and realistic in their strengths and faults to the point where it feels like you're living in their skin. kyoko and kornell, particularly, stood out to me, but all of the characters are so interesting in their own ways. the only thing i didn't really like was how rushed and unrealistic the ending seemed, especially after the majority of the book had been very well-paced.

4.75/5 stars!

oh, how to review such a unique story?
honestly, i'm not sure but i'll try.

firstly, i was very sad to learn that this novel will be published posthumously by katherine's daughter, kayla. thank you to kayla for helping this story find its way into my hands and the rest of the world. i am very impressed by this and will definitely be looking into other work by katherine min!

the fetishist follows daniel and his struggles with his past and aspects of his own personality, alma and her struggles with the state of her life presently, and kyoko and her struggles with anger, expression, and the relationship with her boyfriend, kornell.

this book never failed to keep me on my toes. mostly because it has a very unique cast of characters, all of whom are explored thoroughly and never condensed for the sake of simplicity. clearly it's very characterization heavy, which was very interesting and enjoyable to me.
the characters are fully developed and multifaceted in a way that i'm unable to fully express here, but i still can't say if they were right or wrong in what they did, what they felt. i can't really say if i like them or dislike them because that's too definitive for something with so many shades of grey. it's difficult, but that's what really makes this book beautiful.

a major theme in this was also the fetishization of asian women (a theme that i loved). honestly, up until about 70% i felt that that was the primary message in this book and didn't really understand how the blurb emphasized regret and revenge and rebuilding because although present, these topics didn't feel as impactful to me.
but i had this really lovely moment later in the story when i felt that everything sort of clicked into place and it really felt like an entire story and i understood the blurb.
also, i loved the ending and how it was wrapped up.

there is a noticeable element of music, considering the cast are all musicians, that felt very real and atmospheric and deserves a round of applause.

the writing was also so beautiful! the use of figurative and descriptive language was masterful: vivid and capturing my attention.

thank you to penguin group putnam and netgalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

Let me first start off by saying it is beyond touching that this author's work was posthumously brought into the world by her daughter. It is a humbling gift of honor and respect. With that being said, I must also say that I am not the intended audience for this book. The writing and the voice are so very authentic, and it's me who is the issue. I am not cultured enough or "woke" enough to understand a great deal of the subtleties within these pages. I will just take with me the happy feelings that seeing this gift brought into the world by this author's daughter stirred in me.

I appreciate what went into the publication of this book, and the concepts at its heart. Unfortunately, for me, this just wasn't a good fit. I found the writing difficult to engage with consistently. There were brilliant moments of delightful dark prose, but these were often followed by a series of pages where it felt like I just couldn't catch and hold on to the threads of the story. Kyoko was a fabulous character and I loved her story arc, but I got so frustrated with Daniel so early on and he was such a big part of the book that it was really difficult for me to keep reading a lot of the time. Unfortunately I really struggled with this one...

It was...okay.

It was a little too rom-com for me. Some of the characters were two-dimensional: the gentle giant, the devoted gay male best friend. The author left the book unfinished when she was diagnosed with cancer in 2014, and started writing memoir. She died in 2019.

I think the bones of a better book are in here. What was published is in need of editing and revision. The plot is intriguing, the main characters are interesting people. I just don't buy into the far-fetched coincidences, and tragicomedic situations of romantic drama. If that is your bag, you might like it.

thank you for the opportunity to read and review the book !

I found this to be a unique and silly way to examine fetishization of Asian women . However the writing felt a little flat to me and I didn’t find myself enjoying the book . Overall decent but nothing exciting.

This book was enthralling. It is about Asian fetishization and the ways in which men, white men in particular, are drawn to Asian women and why (e.g., colonialism, power, stereotypes around submission and sex.)

However, it was about so much more than that. Far from being all one thing - this book was nuanced and beautiful, never telling the reader what to think or how to feel.

Daniel, for all his flaws (and there are many) is not all bad. I found myself grappling with my thoughts on Daniel throughout. Does he have redemption (or what passes for it) by the end?

As many characters did throughout the story, I found myself falling in love with Alma - her strength, her talent, and her enigmatic personality. She was described as someone you would want to orbit around and to spend a life with — which made me feel for Daniel, even if he alone was responsible for the events that transpired. The acute loss of her, I imagine, would be life-altering.

Kyoko, her grief, anger, and need for revenge was so well-written. The climax of that story arc had me in tears.

A story about culture, who has power and how that power is wielded, consequences, sexism, classism, racism, the toll of mental illness, chronic disease, of passions altered - it’s all there in this short novel. The story, told from multiple perspectives and characters, was well-paced and kept my attention. The prose, was breathtaking— I highlighted so much of my copy, often reading passages aloud to my wife in rapture and awe.

I was deeply saddened to learn of the author’s passing. Katherine Min’s daughter worked to get this book published posthumously and for that, I am so grateful. This will be a favorite book of the year for me. Striking and poignant.

Look for The Fetishist when it comes out on Jan 30 2024.

Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for an ARC of this title.

The story seemed to take place mostly in the past through memories. Two former lovers find themselves going through difficult times. These events lead them to ruminate over their past life together, although separately. Eventually they are brought back together, and they finally have the discussion that should have happened decades before.
At some points I felt that the author was being over descriptive as if trying to add filler instead of adding to the actual story. I felt that the last couple of chapters could possibly be written in at an earlier point in the story.
While the story seems drawn out, the end brings it all together. The lovers recall their history that has led them down the paths of their respective lives, which eventually leads to not only forgiveness of others but of themselves as well.

Small Asian woman attacks Big Irish Man? This book was interesting and hit on all sorts of things that let you into how passionate these characters were about their talents. I liked that different POV and Time Lines it kept things interesting. Overall this was just a decent read for me, not bad, not great.

I was excited about this book because I had heard a lot about it but I was disappointed. It was written in a way that went past being spare to being childlike and I found it hard to get into. It felt like a book written for much younger readers but the content and subject matter wasn't. It wasn't horrible but I don't like reading books that feel like they are written at a fourth grade level and my mind kept drifting.

Also, Baltimore does not have brownstones, much less downtown, we have a harbor and rowhouses.

this book is amazingggggg. easily in my top 5 of the year so far.

i love everything min did here - i loved the complicated, utterly REAL and lovable and diverse characters, i loved the way the story jumped around in time and perspective, i loved the exploration of love, intimacy, infidelity, fetishization, race/racism, vengeance and so much more. i loved the length of the story - it didn't feel too short or too long, and it had me hooked from start to finish. and lastly, i loved that i even learned to empathize w/ the fetishizing 'antagonist' a bit over time -- this book just served such a gut-punch reminder that we all have ugly parts inside of us, and min portrayed the complicated messiness of being a human so dang well.

made me laugh, reflect, and even tear up a little. plus there were several lines/paragraphs i had to re-read because GOD they were gorgeous.

i was especially sad to know that min passed away, as she is an insanely talented writer and i wish she had been able to create more incredible work like this before her time here was over. i'm so grateful that this is being published posthumously, and that we get to enjoy her impeccable talent even after her passing.

thank you netgalley and penguin group <3

I didn't have a concept of a "fetishist" before I read this book. Is it actually a "thing"?

The Fetishist is about how the lives of 3 people come together from a very troubled root, and proceeds to offer a beautiful flower of an ending. I've never encountered a story like this one, about man with Irish ancestry who from adolescence was attracted to small Asian women. All the main characters in this story are musicians, and they are all incredibly passionate in their music, and their lives. The story moves between past and present, with a lot of love and hate, and is compelling to read.

The characters seem well developed, and I felt like I was living in their lives for several days. It is complex, and the all threads seem to be tied together nicely by the end.

Thank you, NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review The Fetishist.