Char Talks About ‘The Blob: A Love Story’
What would you do if you found a blob-like creature outside of a bar one night? Would you save it or leave it? Vi in Blob: A Love Story by Maggie Su finds a blob creature and decides to take it with her and care for it. The problem is, how do you take care of it?
The daughter of a Taiwanese father and white mother, Vi Liu has never quite fit into her Midwestern college town. Now at twenty-three, after getting dumped and dropping out of college, Vi works as a front desk attendant at a hotel where she refills cucumber water samovars and fends off overtures of friendship from her bubbly blond coworker, Rachel. But when Vi decides to accompany Rachel to a local drag show, her life changes forever. In the alley outside the bar, next to a trash can, is a blob with beady black eyes. Unable to leave it behind, Vi picks up the creature and, in a moment of drunken desperation, takes it home with her. As her pet blob becomes sentient, Vi realizes it obeys her commands, and she decides to mold the blob into her ideal partner. She feeds it sugary cereal and a stream of pop culture, and soon the creature transforms into a movie-star handsome white man. But as Vi’s desire to be loved unconditionally threatens to spiral out of control, she is forced to confront her lonely childhood, the ex-boyfriend who has unfriended her, and the racial marginalization that has defined her relationships. This journey of self-discovery is a central theme of the book, as Vi learns that it’s impossible to control those you love.
I have a friend who loves finding interesting books and reading them, so I naturally try to read any books she recommends. I love the random books she comes across and enjoys discussing them with her. So it was no surprise when she told me about this book and said that I had to read it. So I did. Vi is so annoying but also so truthful when it comes to someone who feels like they have hit rock bottom and was dumped. Finding life after a boyfriend can be tough, and making friends as an adult is also challenging. This book shows the messy and dirty side of life, but also how someone can go from the ground up. I loved Bob as he evolved. However, the ending was so abrupt that I crave more. Unfortunately, there isn’t more, but I still found this story intriguing and would recommend it.
