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Holy Boy
Not yet published
Expected 5 Feb 26One idol.
Four fans.
Worship’s never been bloodier.
Yosep is a K-pop idol with millions of adoring fans. But for four of them, a poster on the wall just won't cut it. They have a plan—a perfect, foolproof plan—to get their idol all to themselves.
Kidnapping Yosep seemed like the ultimate act of love. But inside a secluded mansion, plagued by paranoia and with their grip on reality slowly loosening, the women use increasingly disturbing strategies to keep Yosep in their possession. As their angel's halo slips and their perfect plan unravels, the women must fight not only to keep him, but to keep their secret buried - at all costs.
More than a little unhinged, Holy Boy is an exhilarating descent into the dark side of devotion.
Translated from the Korean by Joheun Lee.
Four fans.
Worship’s never been bloodier.
Yosep is a K-pop idol with millions of adoring fans. But for four of them, a poster on the wall just won't cut it. They have a plan—a perfect, foolproof plan—to get their idol all to themselves.
Kidnapping Yosep seemed like the ultimate act of love. But inside a secluded mansion, plagued by paranoia and with their grip on reality slowly loosening, the women use increasingly disturbing strategies to keep Yosep in their possession. As their angel's halo slips and their perfect plan unravels, the women must fight not only to keep him, but to keep their secret buried - at all costs.
More than a little unhinged, Holy Boy is an exhilarating descent into the dark side of devotion.
Translated from the Korean by Joheun Lee.
304 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication February 17, 2026
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October 22, 2025
Some people fall in love with a figure in an old painting while strolling through an art gallery . . . Compared to them, I would say I’m lucky. I dipped my feet in the same water as him, if only for a moment.
미술관을 걷다 불현듯 오래된 그림 속 인물과 사랑에 빠지는…… 그에 비하면 나는 운이 좋은 셈이지요. 적어도 한순간은 그애와 같은 강물에 발을 담갔으니까요.
Holy Boy (2025) is the translation by Joheun Lee of 성소년 (2021) by 이희주.
The figure, or perhaps the void, at the centre of the novel is Josep, a K-pop idol. The narrator, whose identity is clearer at the novel's end, opens by telling us that, as per the quote above, she was fortunate that her life overlapped with his, if only briefly, and, writing after his death, tells us that she is imagining more details of the story that 'that remains untold between those women and him'.
The story, which comprises much of the novel, has four women obsessed with Josep, some as pure fans, others for deeper reasons (their connection to Josep becoming clearer as the novel progresses): Ahnna, Nami, Mihee, and Heeae. Saju of the four women was under the strong influence of metal, earth, fire, and wood, respectively. Since Yosep’s had water, the five of them were destined to help each other.
Ahnna decides that the only logical outcome of her obsession is to kidnap Josep, concealing him in a remote and abandoned mansion, on the north-east coast close to the Korean border, and recruits the others to help her: After wandering the streets for a while, Ahnna went to the river. On an excessively wide and long bridge, she had only one thought. That she wanted to die. That she wanted to throw herself into the gray, gloomy water. She felt like she could be reborn if she could immerse herself in the rolling stream. She might become milky-white again like a lamb pulled out of a boiling cauldron. But she didn’t let herself fall to the river bottom. Yosep held her back at the last moment. Even if she were to go, she had to embrace him, Yosep, one last time. When she reached that thought, Ahnna scoffed at herself. Embrace Yosep? There was no way she could achieve that unless she kidnapped him or something. Yes, unless she kidnapped him ...
Much of the novel is the story of them holding Josep captive - he has lost his memory, and is convinced by the women that he has also lost the use of his legs in a car accident. Even as someone who has neither read the book, nor seen the movie, it's hard not to think of Stephen King's Misery, but the book acknowledges that by having one of his captors draw the same parallel:
Yosep might have lost his memory, but he hadn’t gone deaf. He might grow suspicious if he learned that the women were driving around when he believed they were marooned in the mansion. What if his memory came back? They wouldn’t be able to keep scaring him and bandaging him up like they were now. They might have to resort to breaking his leg, like in Misery. “That can’t happen. He needs to dance,” Nami said to herself loudly.
As the story progresses, the rivalries between the women come to the surface, each believing Josep's true fate is to be with them and the others are merely helping this destiny, and the level of violence, both to those who might interfere with their plan and between each other, cranks up to somewhat extreme levels, with the K-pop idol himself almost incidental to their machinations.
And the narrator concludes the story by revealing her identity, telling us the aftermath of the incident but perhaps also calling the story she's told us into question.
An effective, and rather different (the Misery link notwithstanding) K-novel. 3.5 stars rounded to 4
Thanks to the publisher via Netgalley for the ARC.
Some selected quotes:
A nod to a real-life hostage situation from Korean in 1988 that mirrors that in the novel (the song referred to The Bees Gees's Holiday, which the hostage-taker was playing as the siege ended)
When Mihee turned on the system and set the radio station, a familiar pop song started to play. “I haven’t heard this in a while,” she said. In a gleeful voice unbecoming of the tragic melody, Ahnna asked, “How do you know this song?” “I heard it on TV.” “Weren’t you only in grade school back when the incident happened? You remember all sorts of things, don’t you?” Ahnna started to hum excitedly. Filthy, unkempt heads began to barge into Mihee’s mind. The criminals who broke into a family’s home and took them hostage in a standoff against the police.
The real-life hostage situation is also famous for the phrase 유전무죄 무전유죄 - “If you have money, innocent. If you don't have money, guilty.” - shouted by the lead hostage-taker. The novel also draws on the Asama-Sansō hostage situation at a remote mountain lodge in Japan in 1972.
The CEO of Josep's talent agency, who is both horrified and impressed by the obsessive K-pop bands, comparing their efforts to those of the generation that rebuilt the country after the Korean War:
“How did we make it all this way from the devastated battlefield using only our bare hands? That’s all our people’s doing. That’s how relentless we are. Smart, diligent, persevering. Where do you think all that blood went to?” The CEO heaved a deep sigh, his admiration and disgust blending together.
“In my opinion, those girls are talented. It takes a special kind of patience to live on the street, stay up all night stalking, and use your brain to send things like these. If they’d been born under the Japanese occupation, they would have fought for independence. If they’d been born just a decade earlier, they would have made their name in pro-democracy protests. The problem is, why are these girls wasting their talent doing this? It’s just amazing. Amazing, but gross.”
“걔들은 말이다. 내가 봤을 때 보통 인재가 아니다. 웬만한 인내심으로는 밤새우면서 쫓아다니고, 길에서 살고, 머리 굴려서 이런 거 보내는 짓 못한다. 일제강점기 같은 때 태어났으면 독립운동했을 거다. 십 년만 일찍 태어났어도 운동으로 날렸을 거다. 문제는 인재들이 왜 이딴 짓을 하고 있느냐 이거다. 하여간 정말 대단하다. 대단한데 징그럽다.”
Ahnna's obsessive view of the need to preserve Yosep's beauty:
The shape of his head deserved to be preserved for generations to come. Along with the Happy Prince’s sapphire eyes, a green emerald plucked from a lion’s heart, and a blood-stained red ruby and a fist-sized white diamond that once sat on top of the mightiest tyrant on earth, Yosep’s smooth chin and cheekbones needed to be displayed under subdued indirect lighting, shrouded in the sweet dust of a museum. And one day, they would get shot by bullets, pouring down like rain at the heart of war, and crumble away along with the glittering blue beetles a model of an evolving human. Such sorrow was the pinnacle of Yosep’s beauty. But all of that was to happen after Ahnna died. She couldn’t let anyone else have Yosep before then.
The quote from the narrator that gives rise to the title, the author herself inspired by Yumiko Kurahashi’s Holy Girl(聖少女/Seisho-jo)
The moment I saw Father’s face—tinged with pity, loneliness, slight affection, and a peculiar sadness for mortal beings—I realized that, unlike those women, his body had meant nothing to him. Father had resigned himself to distributing his meaningless, bound-to-decay body to wretched women who could only satisfy their hunger with his flesh and their thirst with his blood. After this epiphany, I felt at peace, as if enveloped in a massive body of light. My father was a saint. A Holy Boy, who resolved to love no one yet loved everyone.
미술관을 걷다 불현듯 오래된 그림 속 인물과 사랑에 빠지는…… 그에 비하면 나는 운이 좋은 셈이지요. 적어도 한순간은 그애와 같은 강물에 발을 담갔으니까요.
Holy Boy (2025) is the translation by Joheun Lee of 성소년 (2021) by 이희주.
The figure, or perhaps the void, at the centre of the novel is Josep, a K-pop idol. The narrator, whose identity is clearer at the novel's end, opens by telling us that, as per the quote above, she was fortunate that her life overlapped with his, if only briefly, and, writing after his death, tells us that she is imagining more details of the story that 'that remains untold between those women and him'.
The story, which comprises much of the novel, has four women obsessed with Josep, some as pure fans, others for deeper reasons (their connection to Josep becoming clearer as the novel progresses): Ahnna, Nami, Mihee, and Heeae. Saju of the four women was under the strong influence of metal, earth, fire, and wood, respectively. Since Yosep’s had water, the five of them were destined to help each other.
Ahnna decides that the only logical outcome of her obsession is to kidnap Josep, concealing him in a remote and abandoned mansion, on the north-east coast close to the Korean border, and recruits the others to help her: After wandering the streets for a while, Ahnna went to the river. On an excessively wide and long bridge, she had only one thought. That she wanted to die. That she wanted to throw herself into the gray, gloomy water. She felt like she could be reborn if she could immerse herself in the rolling stream. She might become milky-white again like a lamb pulled out of a boiling cauldron. But she didn’t let herself fall to the river bottom. Yosep held her back at the last moment. Even if she were to go, she had to embrace him, Yosep, one last time. When she reached that thought, Ahnna scoffed at herself. Embrace Yosep? There was no way she could achieve that unless she kidnapped him or something. Yes, unless she kidnapped him ...
Much of the novel is the story of them holding Josep captive - he has lost his memory, and is convinced by the women that he has also lost the use of his legs in a car accident. Even as someone who has neither read the book, nor seen the movie, it's hard not to think of Stephen King's Misery, but the book acknowledges that by having one of his captors draw the same parallel:
Yosep might have lost his memory, but he hadn’t gone deaf. He might grow suspicious if he learned that the women were driving around when he believed they were marooned in the mansion. What if his memory came back? They wouldn’t be able to keep scaring him and bandaging him up like they were now. They might have to resort to breaking his leg, like in Misery. “That can’t happen. He needs to dance,” Nami said to herself loudly.
As the story progresses, the rivalries between the women come to the surface, each believing Josep's true fate is to be with them and the others are merely helping this destiny, and the level of violence, both to those who might interfere with their plan and between each other, cranks up to somewhat extreme levels, with the K-pop idol himself almost incidental to their machinations.
And the narrator concludes the story by revealing her identity, telling us the aftermath of the incident but perhaps also calling the story she's told us into question.
An effective, and rather different (the Misery link notwithstanding) K-novel. 3.5 stars rounded to 4
Thanks to the publisher via Netgalley for the ARC.
Some selected quotes:
A nod to a real-life hostage situation from Korean in 1988 that mirrors that in the novel (the song referred to The Bees Gees's Holiday, which the hostage-taker was playing as the siege ended)
When Mihee turned on the system and set the radio station, a familiar pop song started to play. “I haven’t heard this in a while,” she said. In a gleeful voice unbecoming of the tragic melody, Ahnna asked, “How do you know this song?” “I heard it on TV.” “Weren’t you only in grade school back when the incident happened? You remember all sorts of things, don’t you?” Ahnna started to hum excitedly. Filthy, unkempt heads began to barge into Mihee’s mind. The criminals who broke into a family’s home and took them hostage in a standoff against the police.
The real-life hostage situation is also famous for the phrase 유전무죄 무전유죄 - “If you have money, innocent. If you don't have money, guilty.” - shouted by the lead hostage-taker. The novel also draws on the Asama-Sansō hostage situation at a remote mountain lodge in Japan in 1972.
The CEO of Josep's talent agency, who is both horrified and impressed by the obsessive K-pop bands, comparing their efforts to those of the generation that rebuilt the country after the Korean War:
“How did we make it all this way from the devastated battlefield using only our bare hands? That’s all our people’s doing. That’s how relentless we are. Smart, diligent, persevering. Where do you think all that blood went to?” The CEO heaved a deep sigh, his admiration and disgust blending together.
“In my opinion, those girls are talented. It takes a special kind of patience to live on the street, stay up all night stalking, and use your brain to send things like these. If they’d been born under the Japanese occupation, they would have fought for independence. If they’d been born just a decade earlier, they would have made their name in pro-democracy protests. The problem is, why are these girls wasting their talent doing this? It’s just amazing. Amazing, but gross.”
“걔들은 말이다. 내가 봤을 때 보통 인재가 아니다. 웬만한 인내심으로는 밤새우면서 쫓아다니고, 길에서 살고, 머리 굴려서 이런 거 보내는 짓 못한다. 일제강점기 같은 때 태어났으면 독립운동했을 거다. 십 년만 일찍 태어났어도 운동으로 날렸을 거다. 문제는 인재들이 왜 이딴 짓을 하고 있느냐 이거다. 하여간 정말 대단하다. 대단한데 징그럽다.”
Ahnna's obsessive view of the need to preserve Yosep's beauty:
The shape of his head deserved to be preserved for generations to come. Along with the Happy Prince’s sapphire eyes, a green emerald plucked from a lion’s heart, and a blood-stained red ruby and a fist-sized white diamond that once sat on top of the mightiest tyrant on earth, Yosep’s smooth chin and cheekbones needed to be displayed under subdued indirect lighting, shrouded in the sweet dust of a museum. And one day, they would get shot by bullets, pouring down like rain at the heart of war, and crumble away along with the glittering blue beetles a model of an evolving human. Such sorrow was the pinnacle of Yosep’s beauty. But all of that was to happen after Ahnna died. She couldn’t let anyone else have Yosep before then.
The quote from the narrator that gives rise to the title, the author herself inspired by Yumiko Kurahashi’s Holy Girl(聖少女/Seisho-jo)
The moment I saw Father’s face—tinged with pity, loneliness, slight affection, and a peculiar sadness for mortal beings—I realized that, unlike those women, his body had meant nothing to him. Father had resigned himself to distributing his meaningless, bound-to-decay body to wretched women who could only satisfy their hunger with his flesh and their thirst with his blood. After this epiphany, I felt at peace, as if enveloped in a massive body of light. My father was a saint. A Holy Boy, who resolved to love no one yet loved everyone.
December 12, 2025
2.5 Sad to say this was hard to get through. I appreciate the eARC from NetGalley and HarperVia though, so I felt I needed to finish it. I thought this was going to be a wild and fun ride where four women team up to kidnap a K-pop idol, who they’re all obsessed with and obviously have parasocial relationships with. But there was nearly no action or character development. We hardly hear from the Holy Boy himself. And I was bored for most of the book. The very ending picked up, and I wish that ending had been expanded as the crux of the book instead of what it is. I read that this book started as a story published with weekly installments. Maybe that’s why it seems disjointed with overlapping parts, and having difficulty to get to its point. I think the description and cover don’t set the right tone. Pub date Feb 17, 2026.
dnf
November 14, 2025DNF’d @ 60%
The writing was honestly impossible to get through. This book should have been an edgy thriller, delving into parasocial relationships, but instead I was bored out of my mind. The four women were severely underwritten and Yosep himself was as stiff as cardboard. There were also abrupt parts of the book that were overtly sexual and misogynistic for no reason. A let down.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for kindly providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. #HolyBoy #NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
The writing was honestly impossible to get through. This book should have been an edgy thriller, delving into parasocial relationships, but instead I was bored out of my mind. The four women were severely underwritten and Yosep himself was as stiff as cardboard. There were also abrupt parts of the book that were overtly sexual and misogynistic for no reason. A let down.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for kindly providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. #HolyBoy #NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
December 21, 2025
Thanks Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for my advanced reader copy!
Actual rating: 3.25 stars.
As a K-pop fan of nearly 20 years, the synopsis of Holy Boy stood out to me: four saeseng K-pop fans kidnap their idol, Yosep, to keep him all to themselves. Framed as the ultimate act of love, Yosep is entrapped in a secluded mansion as his kidnappers slowly lose their grip on reality.
I really enjoyed this unhinged thriller for a few reasons: the concept was hilarious to me as somebody that got into K-pop during its second-generation and saeseng fans were a dime a dozen, and the slow unfurl of the four women’s character really stood out. While a little unevenly told in parts (and I believe this is because the story was originally published in weekly instalments, a bit like a webtoon), I found it fascinating to try and unpick what was happening, to add more story to the characters myself. Yosep wasn’t very well developed as a character, which I was a bit gutted about, and, in hindsight, neither were the women. But, this added a layer to the mystery of it all, and I found it to be a pacey, twisting look at par asocial relationships and celebrity worship.
Actual rating: 3.25 stars.
As a K-pop fan of nearly 20 years, the synopsis of Holy Boy stood out to me: four saeseng K-pop fans kidnap their idol, Yosep, to keep him all to themselves. Framed as the ultimate act of love, Yosep is entrapped in a secluded mansion as his kidnappers slowly lose their grip on reality.
I really enjoyed this unhinged thriller for a few reasons: the concept was hilarious to me as somebody that got into K-pop during its second-generation and saeseng fans were a dime a dozen, and the slow unfurl of the four women’s character really stood out. While a little unevenly told in parts (and I believe this is because the story was originally published in weekly instalments, a bit like a webtoon), I found it fascinating to try and unpick what was happening, to add more story to the characters myself. Yosep wasn’t very well developed as a character, which I was a bit gutted about, and, in hindsight, neither were the women. But, this added a layer to the mystery of it all, and I found it to be a pacey, twisting look at par asocial relationships and celebrity worship.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early review copy.
This is a quirky little novel, and it will definitely appeal to the right reader. But that reader was not me.
This was a very odd book. It felt like a fanfic version of The Hole, with the caregiver figures attracted to the patient instead of hating him. I think it’s probably a lot more powerful than I realized, and I missed a lot of nuance that would be obvious to a Korean reader.
The blurb and many reviews give away a lot of information that is not made clear to the reader until well into the novel, which surprised me.
I struggled to stay focused on this one. Partly it might be a translation issue (there are some really weird phrases in here, and that's probably a product of both the author and the translator - the word “saliva,” for example, is used seventeen times), but mostly it's the characters and the pacing. The characters are not very interesting or likeable - they SHOULD be interesting, but they just aren't. Even the "holy boy" himself had all the personality of a store mannequin. And the pacing is all over the place, key information is deliberately withheld from the reader until later in the book. Perhaps that was an attempt to have a Big Reveal, but instead it just caused me to not care very much.
Each time a new character is introduced, we are treated to their FULL back story, most of it completely irrelevant to this book's plot. I don't understand that choice. Despite all this extraneous information, it can still be very confusing to know who each character is and how they are related to THIS story.
The first half of this vaguely written novel moves slower than a turtle in a snowstorm. FINALLY halfway through, things start to happen (but slowly).
I am really sad that I did not enjoy reading this more. Buried within it is an amazing and powerful novel. I should feel shook.
This is a quirky little novel, and it will definitely appeal to the right reader. But that reader was not me.
This was a very odd book. It felt like a fanfic version of The Hole, with the caregiver figures attracted to the patient instead of hating him. I think it’s probably a lot more powerful than I realized, and I missed a lot of nuance that would be obvious to a Korean reader.
The blurb and many reviews give away a lot of information that is not made clear to the reader until well into the novel, which surprised me.
I struggled to stay focused on this one. Partly it might be a translation issue (there are some really weird phrases in here, and that's probably a product of both the author and the translator - the word “saliva,” for example, is used seventeen times), but mostly it's the characters and the pacing. The characters are not very interesting or likeable - they SHOULD be interesting, but they just aren't. Even the "holy boy" himself had all the personality of a store mannequin. And the pacing is all over the place, key information is deliberately withheld from the reader until later in the book. Perhaps that was an attempt to have a Big Reveal, but instead it just caused me to not care very much.
Each time a new character is introduced, we are treated to their FULL back story, most of it completely irrelevant to this book's plot. I don't understand that choice. Despite all this extraneous information, it can still be very confusing to know who each character is and how they are related to THIS story.
The first half of this vaguely written novel moves slower than a turtle in a snowstorm. FINALLY halfway through, things start to happen (but slowly).
I am really sad that I did not enjoy reading this more. Buried within it is an amazing and powerful novel. I should feel shook.
December 2, 2025
Thank you Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for the ARC!
Holy Boy follows four women who kidnap Yosep, a K-pop idol. Hiding themselves in a secluded mansion, the women start to unravel and their plan falls apart. But they will do whatever it takes to keep Yosep for themselves...
I was completely intrigued by the premise of this book, I'm much more familiar with Western pop culture so I was looking forward to reading something based on Korean pop culture. This book definitely didn't live up to my expectations, but what I got was something so dark and unsettling and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
"It didn't matter whether it was love or not. What did matter was that Yosep would appear before their eyes the moment boredom nearly drove them mad. No stimulation felt better than wholly devoting themselves to another person."
I really loved that we experience the majority of this story through each of the women despite it being so uncomfortable. We understand their motives, which are all different and personal, yet ultimately lead to obsession. I did find myself wanting to know more about Yosep but I appreciate that we mostly view him through the women, which encapsulates one-sided celebrity obsessions.
There were moments that felt a bit disjointed, but I did like that not every scene was in chronological order as it meant we gained context to certain scenes. I enjoyed how slowly everything unraveled, however the end felt very quick in comparison and I would have loved more time during those scenes.
"Despite the fact she had just hidden a dead man, she somehow couldn't feel a thing. She tried to swallow but couldn't. It was as though she had become a mummy. Her thoughts and youth had shriveled like dried intestines. If she were to sit inside a burning pit, she would surely crackle."
TWs:
Kidnapping
Child grooming
Attempted SA (on page)
Holy Boy follows four women who kidnap Yosep, a K-pop idol. Hiding themselves in a secluded mansion, the women start to unravel and their plan falls apart. But they will do whatever it takes to keep Yosep for themselves...
I was completely intrigued by the premise of this book, I'm much more familiar with Western pop culture so I was looking forward to reading something based on Korean pop culture. This book definitely didn't live up to my expectations, but what I got was something so dark and unsettling and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
"It didn't matter whether it was love or not. What did matter was that Yosep would appear before their eyes the moment boredom nearly drove them mad. No stimulation felt better than wholly devoting themselves to another person."
I really loved that we experience the majority of this story through each of the women despite it being so uncomfortable. We understand their motives, which are all different and personal, yet ultimately lead to obsession. I did find myself wanting to know more about Yosep but I appreciate that we mostly view him through the women, which encapsulates one-sided celebrity obsessions.
There were moments that felt a bit disjointed, but I did like that not every scene was in chronological order as it meant we gained context to certain scenes. I enjoyed how slowly everything unraveled, however the end felt very quick in comparison and I would have loved more time during those scenes.
"Despite the fact she had just hidden a dead man, she somehow couldn't feel a thing. She tried to swallow but couldn't. It was as though she had become a mummy. Her thoughts and youth had shriveled like dried intestines. If she were to sit inside a burning pit, she would surely crackle."
TWs:
Kidnapping
Child grooming
Attempted SA (on page)
December 10, 2025
Thank you NetGalley and HarperVia for the ARC!
In the world of celebrities and idols, one particular young man, Yosep, stood out to a group of desperate and delusional women. Like most fans, they loved and adored him, but perhaps a bit too much. These four women are in some way connected to each other, so they devise the ultimate plan to take their holy boy and keep him to themselves.
This book was quite bonkers. The author had no issue going hard with difficult topics like sexual assault, including that of minors. I find that realistic, because people be doing all types of crazy shit in the world anyway. The characters each had their own backstory and their connection really was the perfect recipe for a terrible plan. I did wish we had more insight into our holy boy though.
The story progressed pretty logically to me. People who are cooped up and high strung probably don’t make the best choices, so for their plan to go sideways multiple times isn’t entirely shocking. The ending was slightly confusing to me. Writing wise, it’s important to keep in mind the translation aspect. Sometimes it just translates to a way you aren’t used to, but I don’t think it affects the story telling at all.
This is a timely story in my opinion, as we see these idols and celebrities pop up left and right all the time, people forming a parasocial relationship, and the overall toxic fandom we see across the internet. It’s concerning and honestly terrifying the lengths people will go. And people will never not surprise you.
In the world of celebrities and idols, one particular young man, Yosep, stood out to a group of desperate and delusional women. Like most fans, they loved and adored him, but perhaps a bit too much. These four women are in some way connected to each other, so they devise the ultimate plan to take their holy boy and keep him to themselves.
This book was quite bonkers. The author had no issue going hard with difficult topics like sexual assault, including that of minors. I find that realistic, because people be doing all types of crazy shit in the world anyway. The characters each had their own backstory and their connection really was the perfect recipe for a terrible plan. I did wish we had more insight into our holy boy though.
The story progressed pretty logically to me. People who are cooped up and high strung probably don’t make the best choices, so for their plan to go sideways multiple times isn’t entirely shocking. The ending was slightly confusing to me. Writing wise, it’s important to keep in mind the translation aspect. Sometimes it just translates to a way you aren’t used to, but I don’t think it affects the story telling at all.
This is a timely story in my opinion, as we see these idols and celebrities pop up left and right all the time, people forming a parasocial relationship, and the overall toxic fandom we see across the internet. It’s concerning and honestly terrifying the lengths people will go. And people will never not surprise you.
October 17, 2025
Depraved. Deranged. Unhinged.
Holy Boy has a striking and unsettling concept, combining psychological thriller tropes with themes like fandom, celebrity worship and obsession.
Four very different women abduct a K-Pop idol. The character’s motivations are extreme but uniquely personal to them. They have a cult-like devotion, which alongside the isolated setting (mansion house) helps sustain the tension. This book explores how people project desire onto public figures and how devotion can cross the line into coercion and violence.
Holy Boy may not appeal to everyone - there are some disturbing themes such as kidnapping, child grooming, sexual assault, dark emotional stakes. And because the character’s actions cross moral lines frequently, it is a struggle to sympathise or understand them - this is not a safe read emotionally.
For readers unfamiliar with Korean social or pop culture norms, some details may feel alien, but the translator has done a good job of keeping that strangeness in line with the book’s premise and author’s intention.
Overall, Holy Boy will appeal if you enjoy literary thrillers that unsettle you, explore obsession in unconventional ways, and raise questions about desire and power.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an e-arc of this book.
Holy Boy has a striking and unsettling concept, combining psychological thriller tropes with themes like fandom, celebrity worship and obsession.
Four very different women abduct a K-Pop idol. The character’s motivations are extreme but uniquely personal to them. They have a cult-like devotion, which alongside the isolated setting (mansion house) helps sustain the tension. This book explores how people project desire onto public figures and how devotion can cross the line into coercion and violence.
Holy Boy may not appeal to everyone - there are some disturbing themes such as kidnapping, child grooming, sexual assault, dark emotional stakes. And because the character’s actions cross moral lines frequently, it is a struggle to sympathise or understand them - this is not a safe read emotionally.
For readers unfamiliar with Korean social or pop culture norms, some details may feel alien, but the translator has done a good job of keeping that strangeness in line with the book’s premise and author’s intention.
Overall, Holy Boy will appeal if you enjoy literary thrillers that unsettle you, explore obsession in unconventional ways, and raise questions about desire and power.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an e-arc of this book.
November 26, 2025
Holy Boy was unhinged for sure! Maybe more so than the description leads on. It's more of a psychological effect than an actual thriller. And that's ok when it works to your advantage.
The premise is hilarious...... 4 women obsessed kidnap a K Pop Idol... C'mon..... that's a little funny.
All I can picture is 4 moms hot from the PTA meeting kidnapping Jinu from the SAJA BOYS.
I feel like the book was enjoyable for what it was but I would have loved to see more character development. The characters felt more like the characters instead of actually leading and carrying the story, they served more as background. I mean that in the sense that the characters were more of an image / vessel to carry out the true star of the book; the obsession, the morals, the unhinged parts of obsession that lead you down a dark and dangerous path.
Some of the messages, or rather the full weight of the messages may have been lost in translation but I did enjoy the story and if you can sit back and read without being overly critical and just want to have a good time,..... why not?
If you enjoy stories that are unhinged and out there, give this one a try.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Via for the advanced copy .
The premise is hilarious...... 4 women obsessed kidnap a K Pop Idol... C'mon..... that's a little funny.
All I can picture is 4 moms hot from the PTA meeting kidnapping Jinu from the SAJA BOYS.
I feel like the book was enjoyable for what it was but I would have loved to see more character development. The characters felt more like the characters instead of actually leading and carrying the story, they served more as background. I mean that in the sense that the characters were more of an image / vessel to carry out the true star of the book; the obsession, the morals, the unhinged parts of obsession that lead you down a dark and dangerous path.
Some of the messages, or rather the full weight of the messages may have been lost in translation but I did enjoy the story and if you can sit back and read without being overly critical and just want to have a good time,..... why not?
If you enjoy stories that are unhinged and out there, give this one a try.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Via for the advanced copy .
November 21, 2025
I went in expecting something twisty and thriller-esque, but the book turned out to be far more unhinged than the blurb suggests. It leans heavily into psychological tension rather than clean, conventional suspense, which makes for an atmospheric (if occasionally disorienting) reading experience. There’s a certain brilliance to that commitment, yet it also means some characters feel more like ideas in motion than people you fully grasp or grow attached to.
What really stood out to me was the way it handles the nature of parasocial obsession. The premise sets the stage, but the book’s real strength lies in how it probes the emotional and moral murkiness behind devotion, longing, and the need to be seen. There’s a subtle twistiness to the narrative, not in loud, shocking reveals, but in the sense that perspectives might not be entirely trustworthy.
That ambiguity adds intrigue, even when the structure wobbles a bit. I also felt that a few nuances may have slipped through the cracks in translation... nothing deal-breaking, but occasionally the prose tilts into heaviness or metaphor in ways that feel slightly less natural in English.
What really stood out to me was the way it handles the nature of parasocial obsession. The premise sets the stage, but the book’s real strength lies in how it probes the emotional and moral murkiness behind devotion, longing, and the need to be seen. There’s a subtle twistiness to the narrative, not in loud, shocking reveals, but in the sense that perspectives might not be entirely trustworthy.
That ambiguity adds intrigue, even when the structure wobbles a bit. I also felt that a few nuances may have slipped through the cracks in translation... nothing deal-breaking, but occasionally the prose tilts into heaviness or metaphor in ways that feel slightly less natural in English.
November 27, 2025
Holy Boy is a novel about a K-pop idol who is kidnapped by four women, each with their own motivation for being involved. Yosep is kidnapped by four very different women with a plan to get him for themselves, but as things start to unravel, maybe pinning their hopes on this plan wasn't such a good idea after all.
I enjoyed the concept of this book, with its look at how parasocial relationships and one-sided desire turn into actual violence, and the way the narrative keeps escalating as it goes on works well, feeling similar to dark comedy films. However, I did find reading it was sometimes a struggle, with the book feeling quite disjointed at points and making it quite difficult to distinguish more about the individual characters. The book feels like an onion, with each layer questioning what you read in the previous part, but this does mean that it can be difficult to piece together.
I enjoyed the concept of this book, with its look at how parasocial relationships and one-sided desire turn into actual violence, and the way the narrative keeps escalating as it goes on works well, feeling similar to dark comedy films. However, I did find reading it was sometimes a struggle, with the book feeling quite disjointed at points and making it quite difficult to distinguish more about the individual characters. The book feels like an onion, with each layer questioning what you read in the previous part, but this does mean that it can be difficult to piece together.
December 11, 2025
Holy Boy was a crazy ride. It has an interesting premise of 4 adult women kidnapping a K-Pop star and the lengths they go to keep him. The first prologue really sets the stage and makes you realize a lot is gonna go down. I’ve read a few translated works before and it’s always something to keep in mind while reading because it flows differently. This one fell a little flat because at times it dragged on. The chapters were very long and that’s something that hurts the pacing for me because I don’t know where to take a break and I’m waiting for an easy pause. Also, the characters lacked depth, but that might be lost in translation. It was an interesting read and I’d recommend it to fans of K-pop. There are some triggering events so that’s something else to be aware of.
Thank you, NetGalley and HarperVia for allowing me to read this early. The opinion in this review is my own.
Thank you, NetGalley and HarperVia for allowing me to read this early. The opinion in this review is my own.
November 29, 2025
Three hard core fans and a mother kidnap a k-pop boy idol. This boy Yosep/Yohan becomes their obsession.
We deep dive into the three fans and mother's lives, and why they desperately want Yosep in their own lives. There's a plot against a plot, and then some unspected happenings that disrupt those plots.
The last third of the book was a bit rushed to close the loop, but enjoyed the fascination of a fan's deep obsession over a k-pop idol. I love k-pop too, but not to the extent of wanting of what these fans were up to.
Thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan | Picador for a copy of this book.
We deep dive into the three fans and mother's lives, and why they desperately want Yosep in their own lives. There's a plot against a plot, and then some unspected happenings that disrupt those plots.
The last third of the book was a bit rushed to close the loop, but enjoyed the fascination of a fan's deep obsession over a k-pop idol. I love k-pop too, but not to the extent of wanting of what these fans were up to.
Thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan | Picador for a copy of this book.
December 15, 2025
I’m not sure what to say about this book other than it was bad. There is very little about ‘the boy’ and the entire story revolves around these four women who are absolutely, certifiably, insane. No one in this book has any redeeming qualities and I wouldn’t even say that their obsession was main the main focus of the book. It was more about the dynamic between the women and their own motivations for doing the things they did. There are way too many different points of view thrown in and the ending gives a sort of fabricated speculation about all the events prior. The writing is meandering. By the end, I not only didn’t care what happened to anyone but I also found it hard to suspend my disbelief any further.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
November 10, 2025
A bit of a disappointing read. The pacing felt very clunky, perhaps because the book was originally published in weekly instalments online. I also felt the character development of the four women was unbalanced, with Ahnna receiving a lot of focus, leaving the others neglected. I would have loved to understand them a bit better, particularly Nami, who I felt quite distant from.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
While I enjoyed this book, there were some things that simply did not work for me. The writing style was very hard for me to get into, as it was written in a way that was not immersive to me. The ending wasn't very satisfying either and I was left with questions.What I did like were the characters and their motivations. I thought that was so well done!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Struggled with this one a bit. A very interesting topic - the parasocial relationships that develop between stars and their fans, and what it can lead those fans to do. But ultimately this was bleak and depressing and not an easy read. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This was just not for me, sadly.
December 21, 2025
"Human minds are like rooms behind thick, closed curtains. What happens inside them forever remains a mystery"
Celebrities, especially idols, are often viewed through a veneer, with their lives being romanticized and glamorized and it shapes these celebrities into two dimensional beings, like the Barbie one plays with as a child. Or it leads into a parasocial relationship as is the case for the characters of this novel, where one believes that they know them for who they truly are.
This novel covers a lot of topics, such as celebrity culture, obsession, and parasocial relationships. It also tackles topics such as class disparity in Korea, sexism, and other dark topics. I would have loved to see some of these topics discussed even further and at higher degree of depth.
The discussion of perception, which is illustrated by the quote i chose above, was one of my favourite aspects of this novel:
-Flipping the usual narrative and having the antagonists of the novel be women provided an interesting analysis for how humans view each other and how violence and obsession is not gender based. Wanted more character exploration for antagonists aside from their leader.
-Portraying the idol as an enigma through the lens of his fanatic kidnappers but then stripping away the glamour in the parts that we see him in private or when we were in his mind.
The writing was engaging and there were some quotes that makes one pause. Special shoutout to the translation by Joheun Lee, who did a beautiful job with evoking the eerie feeling of the novel while maintaining the cohesiveness for English readers.
The biggest thank you to Net Galley & the publisher for the ARC, it is a true joy to be able to read a book that you are excited for ahead of its release.
3.75/5 stars (rounded up to 4 stars)
Celebrities, especially idols, are often viewed through a veneer, with their lives being romanticized and glamorized and it shapes these celebrities into two dimensional beings, like the Barbie one plays with as a child. Or it leads into a parasocial relationship as is the case for the characters of this novel, where one believes that they know them for who they truly are.
This novel covers a lot of topics, such as celebrity culture, obsession, and parasocial relationships. It also tackles topics such as class disparity in Korea, sexism, and other dark topics. I would have loved to see some of these topics discussed even further and at higher degree of depth.
The discussion of perception, which is illustrated by the quote i chose above, was one of my favourite aspects of this novel:
-Flipping the usual narrative and having the antagonists of the novel be women provided an interesting analysis for how humans view each other and how violence and obsession is not gender based. Wanted more character exploration for antagonists aside from their leader.
-Portraying the idol as an enigma through the lens of his fanatic kidnappers but then stripping away the glamour in the parts that we see him in private or when we were in his mind.
The writing was engaging and there were some quotes that makes one pause. Special shoutout to the translation by Joheun Lee, who did a beautiful job with evoking the eerie feeling of the novel while maintaining the cohesiveness for English readers.
The biggest thank you to Net Galley & the publisher for the ARC, it is a true joy to be able to read a book that you are excited for ahead of its release.
3.75/5 stars (rounded up to 4 stars)
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars
this is one of those novels that makes you recoil and then forces you to examine why you’re recoiling. it is absolutely horrifying, not because of graphic violence alone, but because of how calmly, even lovingly, obsession is rationalised.
reading this as someone who is part of fandom culture is unsettling, to say the least. Heejoo taps directly into the darker undercurrents of idol worship, the illusion of intimacy, the fantasy of access, the belief that love justifies transgression. some moments are uncomfortably recognisable. i’ve seen fans, often younger ones, cross boundaries at fan signs, asking invasive or inappropriate questions. in real life, idols end up being the ones who must step in, set rules, and publicly explain why such behaviour makes others uncomfortable.
what makes Holy Boy even more disturbing is that its most dangerous characters are not naïve teenagers, but middle-aged women who should know better. their maturity does not temper their desire; it sharpens it, arms it with money, experience, and self-justification. the story asks a question: when obsession is dressed up as care, devotion, or even maternal love, is it still so wrong?
structurally, the novel’s intertwined perspectives are ambitious and effective, though at times disorienting. certain chapter breaks feel like puzzles, intentionally fragmented, but occasionally slowing the emotional momentum. still, this fractured storytelling mirrors the splintering psychology of the characters themselves, and the tension steadily tightens as their holy mission collapses into rivalry and brutality.
this one is fierce, unapologetic, and deeply disturbing in its exploration of objectification, female desire, and the precarity of love when it is stripped of boundaries. whether you once screamed over One Direction or are currently chasing your K-pop idols across time zones and tour schedules, this book will hit close to home, and it might scare you precisely because of that.
-------
to-read:
i used to be an enthusiastic fan girl
*thank you to HarperVia for the ARC*
this is one of those novels that makes you recoil and then forces you to examine why you’re recoiling. it is absolutely horrifying, not because of graphic violence alone, but because of how calmly, even lovingly, obsession is rationalised.
reading this as someone who is part of fandom culture is unsettling, to say the least. Heejoo taps directly into the darker undercurrents of idol worship, the illusion of intimacy, the fantasy of access, the belief that love justifies transgression. some moments are uncomfortably recognisable. i’ve seen fans, often younger ones, cross boundaries at fan signs, asking invasive or inappropriate questions. in real life, idols end up being the ones who must step in, set rules, and publicly explain why such behaviour makes others uncomfortable.
what makes Holy Boy even more disturbing is that its most dangerous characters are not naïve teenagers, but middle-aged women who should know better. their maturity does not temper their desire; it sharpens it, arms it with money, experience, and self-justification. the story asks a question: when obsession is dressed up as care, devotion, or even maternal love, is it still so wrong?
structurally, the novel’s intertwined perspectives are ambitious and effective, though at times disorienting. certain chapter breaks feel like puzzles, intentionally fragmented, but occasionally slowing the emotional momentum. still, this fractured storytelling mirrors the splintering psychology of the characters themselves, and the tension steadily tightens as their holy mission collapses into rivalry and brutality.
this one is fierce, unapologetic, and deeply disturbing in its exploration of objectification, female desire, and the precarity of love when it is stripped of boundaries. whether you once screamed over One Direction or are currently chasing your K-pop idols across time zones and tour schedules, this book will hit close to home, and it might scare you precisely because of that.
-------
to-read:
i used to be an enthusiastic fan girl
*thank you to HarperVia for the ARC*
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