I didn’t know what to expect from this book going in, as sometimes I think introspective tales bordering on satire sometimes don’t subvert their topics as much as they hope to. As I got further into this book’s weaving of fetishistic conversations from a variety of racial and gendered perspectives, I became more and more invested in what Min (both the late Katherine and her daughter who finished the book for her, Kayla) had to say.

As a biracial daughter of a white father and an Asian mother, the discourse around fetishism, Yellow Fever, and rice kings is nothing new to me. I firmly believe my parents love each other deeply and genuinely, and thus don’t fall into these categories, but I know plenty of people who do, and either way, my family history is not the focus of this review, just extra context for what I say next, which is this:

This book is masterful. The chapter entitled, “Alma and the March of the Rice Kings” alone had me shrieking into the void over the incisive and clever commentary put forth by the author. As is, I believe, the goal of the novel, I didn’t find any of the characters overly likable, but I was invested in the vengeance narratives that a few characters were on the path of, which feels close.

Overall, I think the study of these characters allows for insightful discussion and criticism of the nastier levels of interracial WMAF relationships. I found in a few places, the novel drifted towards slightly stereotypical depictions of Asian women, and while I know the intent overall was to turn stereotypes on their heads, not every one landed. However, I truly enjoyed reading this book, and recommend it!! 4⭐️, and extra tender thoughts towards Kayla for helping to posthumously finish this novel for her mother.

*Thank you again to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

Published posthumously, it’s impossible to summarize this book without sacrificing some element of the story that is critical to understanding its beauty. To be brutally honest, I feel like this might have just been too advanced a book for me— not in themes or in plot, but in the style of the writing. However, that is not the fault of the book, so I’m still giving it 3/5 stars for a plot that I’ve never seen attempted before, and for the the writing that was beautiful, even though I wasn’t able to fully appreciate it.
If you are interested in a gripping revenge plot connected to the fetishization of asian women by white men, I would absolutely recommend this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for this eARC.

this was... a book. neither good nor bad, neither here nor there. i went into the fetishist not knowing what to expect (because really, the blurb doesn't give much away). i did walk away from it satisfied though. it is a dark, and sometimes violent, exploration into a set of characters' tendencies and thought processes and histories.

you have kyoko, who is stricken by grief, daniel and his yellow fever, and alma, who deserved better.

the fetishist is a character study above all else and had i been more prepared for that, i would've enjoyed this more. this, to me, is a darker, more twisted normal people (in a very loose sense)

I found this a book that was highly compelling, and it was hard to put down during my subway commutes. Grateful to find out about this author, that's for sure!

At times icky and cringy, The Fetishist explores how it feels to be an Asian woman desired and perhaps even fetishized by white men. I am not an Asian woman, and as such I cannot relate on the level needed to feel the outrage the author likely instills in those who do. That being said, I enjoyed the various characters' journeys in self-discovery, guilt, and forgiveness. The author masterfully interwove their relationships over the years and was able to paint all in both positive and negative lights. I also enjoyed the classical music theme as well as that which was less classical in nature. Despite this being very character-driven, there is quite a lot of action happening throughout the book... love, hate, hook-ups, infidelity, attempted murder, kidnapping, and a whole lot of music references!

Note: this is a posthumous publication facilitated by the author's daughter. What a tribute and a legacy of love!

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

The Fetishist was definitely the good kind of three-star read! This book is fun, poignant, and very well-written—I was sad to learn that this is being published posthumously, especially as (for me) Katherine Min was a local author. Her style is extremely visual and encompassing, and most of the time I felt like I was experiencing the scenes with the characters. I love it when a scene can make me want to leave a room I’m not in, and I got that experience several times while reading this one. The author manages a good balance of humor, sadness, and dark moments; she also has great character-building skills. Everyone who was introduced felt like their own person with their own motivations, voice, and well-thought-out story.

Stylistically, a lot of this book had a similar vibe to the unhinged/unwell women literary genre, and I think if you like Mona Awad/Ottessa Moshfegh style storytelling, there’s something for you in The Fetishist. The plot itself is brief, taking most of the time to delve into the characters and the world, with female rage, revenge, racial fetishization, and grief being the thematic focus. I think Katherine Min had a strong, individual voice that came through brilliantly in her writing. At no point did I know where this was going, but when it all tied up at the end, her message was clear. That was great! I think where it lost me a little was the delivery. As strong as some of the lines are, I felt that it was pretty surface-level in the exploration of the themes. I thought there was room for more and a stronger emphasis on the fetishization throughout.

In particular, I think more time was needed on what Daniel experienced while being held hostage after a suicide attempt. I don’t think there was enough time spent on his thought process there, and it made the basement scenes/the way that the entire plot wraps up so neatly come off as a lot cheesier than I think it needed to be. A lot of glossing over was done in all the places I wanted more.

I also do feel that Min played into a few stereotypes herself with Kornell and Kyoko, in particular in the sex scene that they share where we can see that it’s not just Daniel’s perspective warping things. While I believe that playing into stereotypes can be done effectively in literary fiction to serve a purpose, I didn’t feel that that was happening here, or that it was in any way subversive. I did feel a bit uncomfortable with some of the descriptions and definitely think this would have been better with one more round of editing and more depth to the themes; I was so close to four-starring this but felt slightly let down by the execution.

this was incredibly weird in a really good way.

i found the writing style evocative but focused, the pacing a little wonky but in a creative rather than disruptive way.

the characters were specific and finely wrought.

and there was literally no guessing what the hell was going to happen.

ARC copy provided by NetGalley.

The thing that strikes me most about The Fetishist is that everything in it - every masterful turn, every perfectly strung sentence - is meaningful. Doubly so, after the author's death; this book was published posthumously by her daughter. And so it seems, every story here, within and without the narrative, asks what we should make of legacy.

The characters all had unique and bracing voices, though some of them I wish we had gotten more interiority out of (Kyoko, namely). The narrative was beautifully crafted and carefully tended throughout the novel. The sense of disruption of linear time never felt out of place. It felt perfectly in sync with how each character had lost their sense of linearity and existed as every version of themselves at once.

I will admit I cried at the acknowledgements. And that something in this book genuinely moved me. What an incredible last novel from an incredible author.

This was brilliant. The Fetishist brought everything to the table: the complexity of interracial relationships, intersectional Asian feminist theory, punk rock versus classical music, kidnapping and murder - all of it brilliantly woven together with themes grief, lost love, and contradiction. It highlighted the value of commodity and identity but against the fragility of life. I was touched deeply by both the forward and afterward that breathed life into who Katherine Min was as an author: passionate, daring, and a spirit who lived every second of her life. What a well-deserved amplification of all those things she has left with us in The Fetishist.

This novel feels like a mash up of Lolita and The Girl with the Dragon tattoo. With some psychological reckoning sprinkled on top. A bit on the nose at times, but a worthwhile read.

BOOK: The Fetishist
AUTHOR: Katherine Min
PUB DATE: 1/9/24 by G.P. Putnam Sons
PAGES: 304
RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨ (rounded up)
GENRE: Drama/Literary Fiction

A BIG “Thank You” to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam Sons for gifting me this advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

FAV QUOTE: “Daniel hadn’t played it in a long time, but it hardly mattered – when you knew a thing by heart, it meant more than just by memory – it meant that it knew you, that it had found its way inside you, abiding there, and could always be reclaimed.”

SYNOPSIS: The rain has made everything cold and damp, and it's the perfect evening for Kyoko to exact her revenge. After years of rage and grief over her mother's death, Kyoko has decided who is to blame: a man named Daniel, a fellow violinist who had wooed her mother, Emi, during their time together in an orchestra, and then dropped her - driving her to her death. Kyoko follows the unsuspecting Daniel home and manages to get her rash kidnapping plot off the ground . . . and really, what could go wrong? The Fetishist is the story of three people - Kyoko, a young singer in a punk band who cannot find enough ways to channel her angry sorrow; Daniel, a seemingly hapless man who finally faces the wreckage of his past; and Alma, the love of Daniel's life, long adored for her beauty and talent, but who spends her final days examining if she was ever, truly, loved. It's a beautiful, piercing, and timely story that confronts race, ideals of femininity, complicity and visibility. Written and completed before the celebrated author's death in 2019, it's startlingly relevant and prescient, as wise and powerful as it is utterly moving.

REVIEW: This book was published posthumously by Katherine’s daughter, Kayla. I am so thankful to have been approved for this and to have read such a uniquely beautiful story! I stayed up late into the wee hours of the morning finishing this one as I couldn’t put it down, and it’s truly one that resonates. I don’t want to give anything away and think going in blind is a great idea! I highly recommend this one, and if you do, don’t forget to read the Acknowledgments at the end!

Happy Reading!

Such a strong start to the new year with Katherine Min's The Fetishist, a story of revenge and redemption that examines the fetishism of Asian women.

The book explores the past and present of three intertwined characters. Korean American cello prodigy Alma grapples with her self-worth and complicity after being cheated on by her fiancee, Daniel, an Irish American violinist who views Asian women as interchangeable. The woman he cheats with, overwhelmed by Daniel's disregard and her actions that caused the end of her own marriage, ends her life, leaving behind a daughter who grows up to be 23-year-old Japanese American punk rock musician Kyoko. It's been 20 years since Daniel and Alma separated, both still reeling from the aftermath. Daniel is ready to end his life, but Kyoko has other plans. She kidnaps the man who killed her mother and holds him hostage while she plots her ultimate revenge. Eventually, each character is forced to reckon with their own personal flaws and society's sexual stereotyping of Asian women at large.

While reading, you can feel the built-up feelings of resentment, grief, and regret coming off the page, offset by the author's touches of humor. Thank you to the author's daughter, Kayla Min Andrews, who decided to publish her mother's postmortem work, which was finished five years before her untimely death in 2019. This needed to be read.

Also, thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the advanced copy.

There's a lot going on in The Fetishist - revenge, farcical comedy, memorable characters, lots of time spent traipsing through Italy (Florence!!!), classical music and punk rock, and, oh yeah the elephant in the room, our titular fetishist.

Min's author's note begins as follows: "This is a story, a fairy tale of sorts, about three people who begin in utter despair. There is even a giant, buried treasure (a tiny one), a hero held captive, a kind of ogre (a tiny one), and a sleeping beauty." She sets the stage and delivers. It's whimsical yet biting (not to mention racy), with brilliant chapter titles such as "ALMA AND THE MIRACLE CURE" to guide you along. Min doesn't hold back.

At the onset it's not clear how the pieces fit together, and the journey is layered as the past unfolds. Unexpectedly and perfectly. I don't want to talk about the plot in any more detail, it's best to go in cold and discover this fairy tale at your own speed.

There's a backstory to this novel - Katherine Min died before it was published and her daughter Kayla Min Andrews brought it to publication. We're lucky she did.

My thanks to NetGalley and Putnam Books for the ARC.

The feitishist follows the characters Daniel as he grapples with his past indecresitions and guilt, Alma as she comes to terms with her past and her present a former musical prodigy now struggling with a degenerative disease, and Kyoko, an angry and traumatized young woman still dealing with the aftermath of her mother's death.

This book was not exactly what I was expecting based on the description, but I still enjoyed Min's storytelling. I was surprised to find that I did not hate Daniel as much as I thought I would. He's definitely my least favorite character, but I fully thought I would find him completely revolting. I do still find some aspects of him so icky, but I think that's very much the intent of the story.

Alma and Kyoko plus Kyoko's boyfriend, Kornell, are some of my favorites though. The two women, both Asian women, are two distinct perspectives on feitishization and since part of their histories do overlap, they also present unique perspectives about the same events. Alma, much older than Kyoko, is a more reflective character who has moved on from anger and resentment. In her reflections of her past, the anger is there from Daniel's betrayal and just how society in general treats her as an Asian woman with a talent/successful career, especially when she's younger. There are moments she's resentful of it, and there are moments where she truly basks in the attention, praise and lust people have for her. Kyoko, on the other hand, is angry/resentful about the early death of her mother still as the indirect result of Daniel's (and society as a whole) treatment of her mother. Kyoko's mother, Emi, had many struggles as an adult and while some of those things were her mother's own bad choices, Kyoko has an idealized version of her mother that doesn't allow reflection. Instead, Kyoko blames the world at large, and Daniel as the embodiment of the racism and fetishization her mother, even Kyoko now, experience in the larger world.

None of the moral issues at the center of this book are cut and dry. Like the real world it deals in shades of gray and it's a book that'll keep readers pondering for days after they finish.

LONG STORY SHORT:
I loved this one! I was pleasantly surprised by this ARC with the intriguing cover. It was funny, tender, insightful, and bittersweet. I thought this was fresh and interesting. I highly recommend this one!!

Themes: found family, love, revenge, cultural appropriation, racism, forgiveness

Synopsis:
On a cold, gloomy night, twenty-three-year-old Kyoko stands in the rain with a knife in her hoodie’s pocket. Her target is Daniel, who seduced Kyoko’s mother then callously dropped her, leading to her death. But tonight, there will be repercussions. Following the unsuspecting Daniel home, Kyoko manages to get a rash kidnapping plot off the ground . . . and then nothing goes as planned.

The Fetishist is the story of three people—Kyoko, a Japanese American punk-rock singer full of rage and grief; Daniel, a philandering violinist forced to confront the wreckage of his past; and Alma, the love of Daniel’s life, a Korean American cello prodigy long adored for her beauty, passion, and talent, but who spends her final days examining if she was ever, truly, loved.

The Fetishist is different, in a seriously intriguing way, and will appeal to literary fiction readers who want to read something a bit more thrilling and entertaining than usual. The novel reads like a drama-thriller in some parts while offering poignant insights on art and what it means to fetishize it, as well as the humans and socio-historical circumstances that create it... among other things. It makes you look inward and outward in equal measure, all while making you laugh (and sometimes cringe). I enjoyed how the novel seamlessly shifts from humorous moments to more touching moments to moments that force you to reflect on your own life, as well as the fundamentals of human nature and art and how they are all chaotically yet dileberately connected somehow.

4.5 rounded to 5. THE FETISHIST is a unique book told in alternating POVs and timelines. I really enjoyed this book - the pacing was just right and the plot kept me hooked. I also really enjoyed Alma's character. The chapter titles providing insight into the story and what is coming next was also a very nice touch.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the eARC.

This is such a weird, unique novel. Min has such a way with perspective and identity. There were parts of this novel that made me deeply, deeply uncomfortable. Other parts that were manic and made me laugh out loud. It doesn't shy away from the uglier thoughts of people. It was absurd and unique. I feel like I need to read at least two more Min books to feel her voice and energy, because I wasn't always sure with this one.

Overall, definitely one to read and experience.

Thanks to NetGalley and Putnam for the ARC!

As evidenced by the book’s title, Katherine Min’s "The Fetishist" is not going to be for everyone—it is graphic, violent, and often unpleasant. Beneath the novel’s stylish veneer, however, there’s a surprisingly deep reflection on sexual politics and intimacy.

Throughout the book, we see women striving for agency, power, and control, only to have it immediately undermined by how they are perceived. Female characters are almost always introduced first as infantilized bodies, a sickeningly clever rhetorical move that builds on Min’s premise without becoming heavy-handed. I understand why some readers are uncomfortable with these descriptions, and I think people will feel differently about whether or not it is justified. It works, but it begins to feel oppressive, if appropriate.

Even the “good” men in the book have an almost cannibalistic approach to sex, and Min never—to my recollection—offers us insight into how her female characters experience each encounter. Instead, we are left with disgusting, voracious appetites that see very little wrong with acting on their desire. In "The Fetishist," music is sex’s counterpoint, offering the intimacy or transcendence that is prevented by male hunger. Unfortunately, even this is co-opted by men who try to reduce art into something consumable, suggesting that their barbarism pervades every area of their lives.

And yet, despite all this, Min somehow writes with warmth that amounts to grace. I was struck by her balance of judgment and compassion—she condemns her characters’ actions and holds them accountable, but she also wants them to be better people. She wants their desires to change for their own good as well as that of the people around them. One could argue that she does so at the expense of her female characters. I’m conflicted about it.

If there are any other critiques to be made, they are likely a result of this book being edited posthumously. There are a few sections that feel slightly truncated or don’t seem to match the voice throughout the rest of the book, and while they are not major issues, the seams do show a bit. Even so, they simply made me grateful that readers get to experience this book at all, and I’m so glad Kayla Min Andrews chose to honor her mother’s legacy by seeing it to fruition. I actually wept a little while reading the acknowledgments because it’s so clear that this book’s publication matters to many people, and it’s impossible to not feel the same by the end of the novel.

I wanted to like this book, but the characters were difficult to connect with, and the story line was difficult to follow.