this is very much in the vein of Emily Austin where it's a seemingly silly little story on the surface but turns out to contain layers about the human experience and what it means to love yourself and others. Definitely not for everywhere as it is more of an internal monologue and character study than anything else, but it so very much for me and I cannot get over how much the last 10% HIT

3.75 stars rounded up
Thank you NetGalley for a free digital ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.
My review is my true and honest thoughts and opinions with no outside influence.

This book is a prime example of readers needing to know the difference between a ROMANCE and a LOVE STORY. We’ll get more into that later.

So let’s talk about the first 75%. I heavily relate to Vi as a person who was awkward, anti social, neurodivergent, and unlikable as an adolescent. I tried so hard to fit in I stood out in all the worst ways. I didn’t realize the true weight of my words and actions. I lied to make myself appear one way, only to appear the opposite when my lie was discovered. So in a very painful way, I can relate to Vi.
The premise is HILARIOUS. There are many many many hilarious quotes in this book where I laughed so hard I cried. I was having a BLAST up until the 75% mark.

Then we hit the 75% mark. I, as a library worker, know the difference between a love story and a romance. It is required in literature for a romance to have a happily ever after or a happily for now for the main couple, if it doesn’t it’s a love story. Think The Fault in Our Stars. So I, knowing the difference, knew this wasn’t going to be a happily ever after. That’s not a spoiler if you know your genres, and if you don’t and you go into this thinking it’s a romance you’d be disappointed anyway so you’re welcome. Anyway, I knew this wasn’t a romance. However, I was not expecting THAT ending. I don’t quite understand that ending. I don’t.. like that ending. I don’t see the point of that ending.

I do understand the lessons: “No one else can teach you how to be human” and “You can’t force people to love you” being the biggest (among others). However those lessons wouldn’t have been compromised with a much better and well thought out ending.

3 stars for the story, .75 for the humor.

Again thank you to NetGalley for the free digital ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

Loved this. The ending wasn’t what I hoped for but it was satisfying. Vi was written in such a strange way, the reader doesn’t know whether to love or despise her. Kinda both. The girl is full of problems. But Rachel is the one to dislike here, even Vi can see why. The family bits were so uncomfortable, almost too real. Great writing.

I love a weird premise so this was totally up my alley. And I love a frazzled woman with potential maybe just as much. This book really goes into the world of one woman as she hits bottom only to figure out what she really needs and desires in life. Also she finds out she really is worthy of real love, which was nice. Overall a good later in life coming of age, with some Asian rep, and blob rep.

Okay so this book is absolutely insane and I loved it. Here are five things I enjoyed about this 5-star read:

1) The entire premise is so bizarre that it doesn’t make sense that it works - AND IT WORKS.

2) The writing is exquisite. It made me laugh and cry and think deeply about the human condition.

3) All of the characters are thoroughly described and have great depth, even the sentient blob.

4) I loved how all types of relationships were explored and I found a lot of what was shown to be very profound.

5) It’s a book about a blob man. What more do you need to know!

Thank you to Harper Books and Netgalley for this ARC. Blob: A Love Story is out 1/28!

I'm struggling to find the words to describe this one. The premise sounds wild, but what actually ensued had me feeling so many different emotions. Our main character, Vi, is unlikeable...but at many times I found her incredibly relatable. I was desperately wanting good things for her. I do think this is a love story, just not in the way most people would expect. I think this will be on my mind for a while.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper for the e-arc!

This is the weirdest book I've read in awhile.

I loved every single word.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to live inside this weird world.

When I first read the synopsis for this book a few months ago, I knew I needed to get my hands on it. This did not disappoint.
I mean, come on, girl whose life is a mess takes home a sentient blob and shapes it into her perfect man? I’m here for it.
And yes, that is exactly what happens in this book, but there’s so much more too. This deals with identity in many different forms and in a really fantastic way.
It has some amazing scenes that made me laugh out loud and the characters are all so vivid and flawed.
This is a book that I’ve been thinking about since and recommending to virtually everyone in my path.

This book was such a unique concept. It was weird and funny in the best ways. This book is character driven as the author explores Vi's life from the good to the dark. I didn't really like Vi's character but the Blob made up for that. As Blob develops more, you get to really start to understand him in ways I didn't expect. The ending was unsatisfying because not all my questions were answered.

Vi Liu is a Taiwanese American woman who always felt like an outsider. After getting dumped and dropping out of college, her life changes when she finds a blob fish next to a garbage can and takes it home.

Vi is a chaotically messy character - dealing with the life failures highlights her self-sabotage essence and her actions/behavior can feel relatable for some. In this way, she finds in blob (Bob) a sign of hope, a possible chance to take control at once and even find love. This is a wild journey of self-discovery, in which one, as if through the blob's perspective, witnesses all the flaws while the plot dissects what it means to be human.

One can feel the several expressions of love and the way this sentiment is able to impact and mold one. Mostly abstract, I thought it was challenging to follow (or rather understand) Su and the character's line of thinking, however one can also find in the outlandish vibes moments of hilarity and familiarity. Su also navigates through race. identity and belonging with a singular sense of humor. While the meandering touch might not work for everyone, the unclear direction feeds one's curiosity about what happens next.

BLOB is one of the weirdest novels out there and I found it entertaining and inventive. Read this book if you're into an unlikable character with a good dose of absurdity.

A young woman finds an unidentifiable blob in an alley behind a bar, decides to take it home and care for it, where it slowly morphs into a human male. Main character Vi is in the frustratingly relatable stage of life where her desire to be loved unconditionally is leading her to self sabotage and when the blob becomes sentient, things only get more complicated. This was funny and surprisingly emotional and I couldn’t put it down.

This book was SO WEIRD and that’s exactly what I wanted from it. The premise is simple, and it’s one of those that I wish I had come up with: a woman finds a puddle of slime in the alley behind a bar, takes it home, and nurtures it as it gradually morphs into a person.

As you can probably predict, author Maggie Su has a sense of humor. This is not a cutesy story or a spicy one, though, so don’t go in expecting a monster romance or anything like that. What you’ll get is more of a character study on the part of the narrator, Vi, and plenty of information about her backstory and motivation. (It can get sad and it can get dark, but I found parts of it relatable as well. Especially VI’s cold indifference to her customer service job.)

The thing is, Vi is not very likable. She’s kind of funny sometimes, and she’s been through some tough things, but she’s also really abrasive and kind of a jerk in general. There’s a scene about 75% in that flat out made me sick of her. If I knew Vi in real life, I would ignore her texts. But “Blob” was a very entertaining read despite or maybe even because of this, and thanks to the bizarre premise. As the blob develops more into a human man, the story only gets better. I was amused, frustrated and invested. And I’ll absolutely read whatever Maggie Su writes next!

And no spoilers, but I love the fact that things were not spelled out for us. Not all questions need to be answered in a book like this!

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Biggest TW: Mention of Animal harm/death, Racism/Hate speech, Domestic abuse, Body shaming, Alcohol abuse, Depression

Absolutely LOVED! The main character is complex and the relationships between characters was so savory. Also fantastic representation on navigating our world as a biracial asian american woman. Femme Fire Books is selecting Blob for our monthly book club in Feb and we cannot wait to peel back the layers of this book in our discussion.

OMG I LOVED THIS SO MUCH!!

I never wanted to finish (but also covet??) a book so fast!!!

The story, which follows Vi, a young woman who dropped out of college, is going through a breakup, and is overall feeling a little lost. But then she discovers a blob. A literal shapeless, lifeless (maybe??) blob.

and that blob becomes… Bob. and that’s all I will say because the book is so good, and everyone should going in without much context or background—it makes it so much more fun!

I laughed, I cringed, I kicked my feet, and maybe teared up a bit. I truly loved this book so much and it’s definitely going to be big in 2025. Hands down, one of my favorite books… maybe ever??

(Thank you, HarperCollins, HarperAudio Adult, and NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.)

This was probably the weirdest book I’ve read in a while but it was thought provoking and funny. Blob: a Love Story was not a traditional love story in the sense that we get a HEA and sweet romantic moments. There is some romance but the love story is more of an overall feeling of what is love. This is a story about being messy, self sabotage, finding oneself and being able to love yourself.

Vi the main character is a socially awkward introvert who is definitely is not a people pleaser. She has big walls around herself and often pushes people away by being abrasive and ruining relationships, situations or just plain running away. She’s one of those characters that’s just kind of a mess but you feel for her. Her life isn’t going the way she wants. She’s a college dropout and she’s still not over her last relationship. She’s living with a lot of self doubt and feels like an outsider everywhere, especially with her family. I also appreciated the authors inclusion of discussing Vi being Taiwanese American and how growing up mixed in a midwestern college town affected how she saw herself.

I loved the concept of the blob. Vi finds the blob who eventually becomes Bob. Vi feeds and molds the blob into the perfect companion. Her life is in shambles but she feels like she can control Bob. She wants to control every aspect of him but eventually Bob wants autonomy and to live his life. I thought the themes of self discovery and realizing what it means to be human and who can tell us how to live our lives were brilliant. This definitely gave me modern day Frankenstein vibes.

Overall this was a wild ride of a story. It was bizarre, enlightening, and funny. I think if you’re a fan of messy finding yourself books with flawed characters and realistic fantasy elements then I’d definitely give this a read. As a debut book I was super impressed with this and can’t wait to see what Maggie Su writes next!

Huge thank you to Harper Collins for the eARC

This was NOT a love story, but I get it. The constant dread, doom and malaise within society mixed in with anxiety and depression. Chefs kiss for Gen Z but the plot kept running in circles.

Insecure and unconfident Vi, a 24-year-old mixed race college dropout who works (when she can be bothered) at the front desk of a mediocre hotel, finds a blob after attending a drag show. She takes it home, notices that it creates an eye, and forms a bond with it, ultimately shaping it into the form of a handsome white movie-star-like being. Through her relationship with Bob and his relationships with others, Vi learns how to examine herself and create the basis for improvement. In many ways, and although he ostensibly ascends from a blobfish, Bob reminds me of a Golem, an animated anthropomorphic being in Jewish folklore, which is created entirely from inanimate matter, usually clay or mud. Su's characterization of Vi is moving and will be relatable to many readers of all ages.

This novel was so utterly weird and I love that it is a love story. It was uncomfortable, awkward, gross, and entirely relatable. It's not easy to walk the tightrope of writing an imperfect main character without them being a complete turn off. There has to be just enough to relate to or empathize with for it not to become a hate read. In this case, despite Vi being seemingly hopeless, I could find the part of her humanity that spoke to mine. The forming of a blob into the perfect white man was just... *chef's kiss* It was a beautiful way to tell this story.

If I had a nickel for every time I read a book where a female protagonist literally builds a boyfriend, I would have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.

This is messy and mean but ultimately a pretty solid read. Vi is a character that people will hate to see themselves in. She calls to the bad decisions and awful moments of life that we all have done in some way or another.

I think there's some issues with transitioning between past and present, it can feel a little choppy.

A marvel! A moving and inventive take on a (self) love story.

Vi is a young woman unsure of where she belongs and what she wants out of life. The author portrays Vi with great empathy and I was invested in her wellbeing throughout, and hoping for the best, as she makes a series of questionable decisions.

Even as a young blob who can’t do much but loll around, Bob steals the show. His earnestness and commitment to watching any/every show on television was endearing.

This is definitely one of my favorite reads of the year.

Thank you to Harper and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy of this fantastic debut.