--- description: Find out why "Y/N" by Esther Yi is on TIME's list of the must-read books of the year. title: 'Y/N' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2023 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt391cadcc4861550b/698a41ff9d83e864e2b97d99/YN.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 14, 2023 # Y/N by Esther Yi by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  The unnamed narrator of Esther Yi’s outrageous and inventive debut novel is obsessed with a [K-pop star](https://time.com/6276243/k-pop-idols-met-gala-2023/ "undefined") named Moon. The young woman writes fanfiction about Moon, in which she plays out her wildest fantasies. She’d do anything for the celebrity, including ditching her copywriting job and abandoning her boyfriend to get closer to the man she’s never met. So when Moon suddenly retires, Yi’s protagonist feels she has no choice but to run off to Seoul and find the man of her dreams. What ensues is a hilarious and incisive narrative about the strength of fandoms and the consequences of fame in the age of the internet. —_Annabel Gutterman_ **Buy Now**: _Y/N_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9781662601538 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/3QNi9S9 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332410/y-n/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332410/y-n/"},"headline":"Y/N","datePublished":"2023-11-14T12:30:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:25:16.231Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332410/y-n/","keywords":["Books","list","best books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt391cadcc4861550b/698a41ff9d83e864e2b97d99/YN.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt391cadcc4861550b/698a41ff9d83e864e2b97d99/YN.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332410/y-n/","name":"Y/N"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME's 100 Must-Read Books of 2023","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/WppeqCEz/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-11-13T19:20:52.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/WppeqCEz.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332410/y-n/","duration":"PT1M28S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332410/y-n/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```