The Fetishist by Katherine Min was such an intriguing, thought-provoking read. I loved how Min handled the complexities of race, desire, and identity, creating characters who felt genuinely flawed and deeply human. The story pulls you right in—it's dark, nuanced, and beautifully written, keeping me engaged until the last page. Although at times uncomfortable, the book's willingness to explore the messy, often hidden realities of fetishization made it feel important and authentic. Definitely recommend if you're looking for a compelling novel that challenges perspectives and sticks with you afterward.

I had high hopes for this novel going in, but alas it just did not deliver. I loved the sound of the central revenge premise sold on the blurb, but I found Kyoko a difficult character to empathise with. I did appreciate Mins ability to deftly mix moments of comic levity with more unpleasant scenes, and there were some genuinely amusing moments in the narrative, but as a whole the story just didn't come together for me.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I liked following the difficult characters, learning about their stories and struggles, and seeing their worlds tie together. I have mixed feeling on the ending, but overall a great book.

I thought this book would be exploring the fetishisation that happens between white men and Asian women, and whilst it does that, it’s very surface level. I would say it’s way more empathetic to the character who is fetishising these women when it didn’t need to be.

Great story - really unique style of writing. I loved the POV shift. Would recommend this book to anyone, the author made even mundane details interesting

The premise of this book I found intriguing with regards the power dynamics and white males fetishizing Asian women. However I struggled to maintain interest and unfortunately did not finish.

Thank you Net Galley for the advanced e-copy.

I was drawn in by the cover, but unfortunately pushed away again by the plot. I found this book quite difficult to get into, and therefore never did finish it. Thank you too NetGalley and to the publisher for this A RC, and I wish the author the best of luck.

This was a really interesting read. I enjoyed the irreverent tone and the almost absurdist humour that took the idea of fetishisation of Asian women and pushed it to comedy in a way that felt biting and clever. I liked the complex, nuanced female characters, although the male characters felt a little more flat but this may have been part of the point. I did enjoy the sections that focused on the main relationship more than the bizarro punk band, although that did add an interesting twist and perspective on the fetishist of the title, overall a fun read.

I really enjoyed reading this book and I found Katherine Min's writing to be beautiful, engaging and immersive. Her character building and development is brilliant and and I can see how this book might not be for everyone but to me it felt original, fresh, different and kind of does its own thing and goes its own way, I fully subscribed. I also quite enjoy an unlikable character, so that was delivered in spades. I wasn't massively drawn to the overarching theme, touching upon the preference of white males towards asian women (yellow fever ie the fetishist) and maybe because I am a huge crime genre fan I was hoping for a darker turn of events. But overall I enjoyed reading the story of Alma and Daniel's love story and later his reckoning, delivered by the fiercely passionate and driven Kyoko.

So, if you enjoy beautiful writing and character development, this is a book you will enjoy.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my review copy, all opinions are my own.

Weird and intriguing, a well plotted novel that made me learn something new and I appreciated
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Fetishist was quite an interesting read.. I never knew anything about Fetishism of a white man over an Asian woman before I read this book and was delighted to be educated on fetishisation also know as Yellow fever. I liked the part of Daniel and Kyoko, I felt that was the only part that kept me moving forward in this book. Sad that this was Katherine Min’s last book before she passed away.

Thank you Netgalley and Little Brown for this ARC.

Exciting idea. Mystical and at times disconcerting.
Not my usual read but the author has accomplished a special book here.

The Fetishist is perhaps unsurprisingly a novel which tackles the topic of a white man's fetishization of asian women, pushing against the stereotypical views of what it means to be an asian woman with the main character Kyoko who plans to get revenge by kidnapping Daniel, a man who wrecked her mother's life.

A thought-provoking read about power dynamics, grief and a loss of sense of self. Thank you Netgalley and Little Brown for the e-ARC.

Beautifully written and very much a needed topic that needs to be talked more openly about!
I loved how well the characters were explored and were fleshed out.
Definetly a must read.
Rest in peace Katherine Min.

I really liked the sound of this, but I did feel that too many characters were introduced in the beginning without much attachment being created towards them.

Although I found the whole process of publishing this book posthumously praiseworthy , I haven’t really connected with the characters, especially the male protagonist whose redemption in the end I’ve found a bit disappointing.

This was my first read of 2024 and it did not disappoint. Witty, sharp, nuanced, I could go on! I have already recommended to many friends and colleagues and will be interested to read more by Katherine Min. Excellent.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my digital ARC of The Fetishist! I don’t believe I’ve read many posthumously published works but I’ve read three so far in 2024. The Fetishist does what it says on the tin - explores one white man’s fetishisation of Asian women - but it does so with impeccable wit and warmth. I loved spending time with these characters (okay, not Daniel), especially Kyoko and Kornell.
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Obviously the whole novel is a pushback against the stereotypical views of Asian and Asian-American women, but Kyoko was just the embodiment of this pushback. She’s infused with so much love and depth, the author and her intent are clear as day - but not in a ‘beat you over the head with a stick’ kind of way. I’m explaining this badly, but basically we love Kyoko and fuck the stereotype of the meek, pliable Asian/Asian-American woman.
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I won’t give too much away of the plot, but the cover is SO good. The sections we spend in Daniel’s head are tough to read but so important. It’s like I said before, Daniel’s fetishisation is clear as day but also subtle. His ‘preferences’ are all the more harmful because he genuinely doesn’t see himself as one of those guys blatantly chasing after Asian women. He *does* love Alma (another great character I haven’t even mentioned yet!) but Min doesn’t shy away from plumbing the seedier depths of his desires, prejudices and the power dynamics of such a relationship.
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And Alma! Her sections was amazing and heartbreaking. She’s a classical musician with MS, dealing with the subsequent loss of a huge part of her life. I loved her relationship with her neighbour (although I forget his name, oops), and her strength.
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I did find the timelines a little bit confusing. Usually I don’t have trouble jumping back and forth in time in books, but for some reason it took me a while to get acclimated to each new section.
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A taut, dark, funny read which makes me so sad that Katherine Min passed away before we could see more of her talent. She does have another book from 2006 though!

The Fetishist boasts a blurb all about revenge which drew me in - with Kyoko planning a kidnapping of Daniel, a man who callously dropped her mother, leading to her death.

I got 37% of the way through this book and decided to DNF it unfortunately. There are a lot of characters and they are quite similar in their backstories which muddied the story. It’s very slow moving and I was hoping it would pick up the pace once the kidnapping had happened but even that seemed quite dull. Then the flashbacks started, and I found that I just wasn’t invested in the story enough to keep reading. I understand that the book takes on the wider topic of the fetishisation of Asian women and so it may be that I’m just not the target market, but on the whole it didn’t keep me engaged.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK – Fleet for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Katherine Min's The Fetishist isn't just another tale of vengeance but a cocktail of humor, heartache, and punk rock rebellion, all shaken up with a twist of cultural introspection. Meet Kyoko, our protagonist, who's as likely to wield a witty comeback as she is her knife, all while wrestling with her Japanese American identity and a grudge list longer than a punk band's setlist. Get ready for a botched kidnapping, a love triangle that's more complicated than your Facebook relationship status, and a narrative voice that's equal parts sassy and sage.

*Thank you for the ARC!