I Was Born For This
is a novel written by Alice Oseman. It follows two characters: Angel Rahimi, a girl who is obsessed with a popular boy band called The Ark, and Jimmy Kaga-Ricci, The Ark's frontrunner. Angel's life revolves around The Ark, it's her favorite thing in the world and how she's met many of her friends. Meanwhile, Jimmy's anxiety surrounding his fame is growing, and he's beginning to wonder if following his dreams was even worth it. After unforeseen circumstances push the two of them together, they must figure out what they really want, even if it goes against everything they've previously thought about their life.
This work provides examples of...
- Ancestral Weapon: Jimmy has a knife that he inherited from his grandfather and has been in his family for generations. It's not actually good as a weapon, since the blade has long gone blunt, but it makes him fells safe and it serves as a reminder of where he comes from.
- Anger Born of Worry: After Jimmy runs away to his grandfather's house in Kent, Rowan and Lister track him down and go meet him, with Rowan making it no secret that he is angry at Jimmy for not telling them and making them worry that he'd been kidnapped.
- Ascended Fanboy: Angel starts out as a fan of The Ark, and befriends them by the end of the book.
- Boy Band: The Ark is a rock band consisting of Jimmy, Rowan and Lister, teenage heartthrobs who have found success thanks to their many adoring fangirls.
- The Atoner: Lister accidentally outed Jimmy as trans to the media prior to the events of the story, and still hasn't fully regained his trust.
- Die for Our Ship: In-Universe. Bliss is hated by a large segment of the fandom after it becomes public that she's Rowan's girlfriend. The hatred comes not only from fangirls crushing on Rowan, but also those who ship him with Jimmy.
- Fangirl: Angel and her best friend Juliet are completely obsessed with The Ark.
- Heir Club for Men: Jimmy muses how sexist it is that the knife his grandfather passed down to him is only given to the men in the family (implying he didn't get it before transitioning).
- Portmanteau Couple Name: In-Universe, as the book deals with a Boy Band and their fandom.
- Rowan and Jimmy are a popular ship in the The Ark fandom, and are called Jowan by their shippers.
- Angel comes up with Muliet to refer to her friend Juliet and Mac, who wants to get with Juliet, though Angel doesn't actually support it.
- Raised by Grandparents: Jimmy was raised by his grandparents in Kent since his parents constantly travel around the world for work. He believes his parents don't really care about him.
- What Would X Do?: Angel says she wonders what Jimmy would do when faced with a dilemma, such as when she finds herself in possession of his prized knife and wants to give it back to him, but also needs to meet Juliet to patch things up with her.
