At 23 years of age, Vi’s life is a mess, she is in a dead-end job, has no boyfriend, no friends, her apartment is a pigsty, she has dropped out of college and lies to her family. Life is looking pretty bleak for Vi. Invited out one night by her work colleague Rachel to a drag show. Vi discovers in the back alley of the club. next to rubbish bin, a blob with black eyes. In a drunken moment Vi feels a connection to the blob and takes it home. The blob morphs into Bob, who is well-endowed and with a set of abs. With all this perfection forming in her living room, life should become peachy for Vi, but no, things manage to go astray.

This is not a long novel but there is a lot packed in. The central character, Vi is beautifully crafted. For she is everyone at 23 years of age, a complete disaster. That age where everyone thinks you have your life planned out, but really you are faking it until you can make it. It is not just the lack of a life plan that has Vi in a quandary, she is socially awkward and she is instantly relatable through her imperfections. I mean how many of us have just wanted to slip out from a gathering unnoticed or had to deal with social encounters where you would rather hide under a rock? With the discovery of Bob, it gives Vi an opportunity to reflect on where her life is at and how she got to this position. This could have become a slog with a lot of introspection, but no. Maggie Su is able to cleverly use these moments to give Vi more depth and dimension. Allowing you to understand the weight of expectation from Vi’s family, her former boyfriend and the reasons for her reactions. Vi’s interactions with Bob are an interesting set of dynamics. Her treatment as the blob develops, becomes Bob are really intriguing and will make great book club discussion as to her motivations.
What I like is that you think you know where this love story is going but captain obvious is not part of this story.
Maggie Su has created a quirky, imaginative story that at its heart is the problem of trying to be the best version of yourself when everyone has an opinion as to who and what you should be.

I am a lover of the weird book. This is a weird book. There are a couple of lessons I think we are being taught by ‘Bob’, but I don’t want to spoil that for you.

Vi is a college drop-out, working in a dead-end job and recently single. She is a downer, pessimistic and seems to only do ‘enough’ and nothing more. One night her friend organises a night out and Vi finds a blob in the alley. She takes the blob home. Over time the blob takes on human attributes. Vi tries to mold him into what she considers the perfect man, but he resists, which in turn has an effect on shaping and teaching Vi.

This is a surprisingly funny and unique story about the human condition.