On the streets of Taipei the British-Taiwanese Sean experiences the fine line between the rich and poor as well as the high costs of revenge in his misguided quest to find himself in whilst navigating this vibrant city in an intoxicated haze.

Let’s be clear though - despite a comedy of errors that Sean finds himself experiencing, he is not a good person and this journey is much about cowardly escapism as it is about finding himself.

It doesn’t often happen for me that the medium in which a story is presented feels resoundingly incorrect. With I’m New Here the rabbit hole in which our lead finds himself spiralling down accompanied by his camera feel more suited to the graphic novel format.

This story is interesting and Sean’s brand of British nonchalance and sarcasm carries the book further than it should and whilst the mileage on this will vary the second half is a bit of a slog.

Ultimately; this is a reasonably interesting story bogged down by elements of randomness that seemingly present from nowhere.

the latest addition to the young-ish alienated man drifting through life. the feverish quality of it all felt affected and the whole thing really felt been-there-done-that. maybe the author's next work will feel more original and less posey.

I’m New Here is about a young man who used to live in London with his girlfriend, but broke up with her and moves to Taiwan for a while to try and sort his head out. As a main character he is absolutely insufferable but in a deliberate and comical way. Some of the one liners in this book had me absolutely cackling. He’s a real dickhead but his personality drives the story forward at a propulsive speed, especially through the first half.

It begins to lose its way slightly in the second half of the book and I found that the narrators wittiness and humour ran out of steam quite quickly. The plot, whilst engaging, wasn’t enough to revive the whole book which is why I decided to give it a 3 instead of a 4 star which is how I felt about it at the beginning.

I think this is a book which will do well with the right audience, maybe for those who enjoy American Psycho, Bright Lights Big City etc. with male narrators who are overwhelmingly annoying but ultimately confront the nature of toxic masculinity. It’s good to see one of these books that’s not set in the US and looks at masculinity with-in Asia and another culture.

Yet another novel I've got to the end of, thoroughly enjoyed every second and yet still have no clear idea why.

The writing is effortlessly good. The story is frankly bizarre. The characters are most interchangeable but maybe that was the point. I'm still not sure but I really don't care. I do know when Ian Russell-Hsieh writes another novel I'll definitely buy it.

The story revolves around Sean who, being a bloke, has been a depressed fool for a while then blamed his girlfriend fir his own failings and, as any self-respecting egomaniac would, flounces off to Taiwan where his parents are from -- whilst not knowing the language, not knowing a single person, not liking any of the food and generally not knowing why he's there. He then meets some bizarre characters who have their own agendas and falls in with their plans.

As I said, the whole story is strange but wonderful. It deals with depression, family ties, belonging, love, friendship and death. I raced through it because the prose is excellent and I didn't want to stop.

A great debut. Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the advance review copy.

I'm New Here by Ian Russell-Hsieh is a novel set in Taiwan that explores themes of struggling with identity and relationships.

Not for me. A Taiwanese-British photographer goes to Taipei after a breakup and find himself in a surreal situation.

I'm New Here is a novel about a Taiwanese-British man who goes to Taipei looking for meaning, only to instead find a mysterious man with an unusual request. Sean has been fired from his job as a photojournalist and has split up with his girlfriend, and he's at a loss, in Taiwan even though he feels caught between his heritage and not part of Taiwan. In a doughnut shop he meets Charles, an older man who seems to take a sudden interest in him, wanting his photography and skills, and as Sean is drawn into Charles' world, things get weirder, and Sean can hardly be sure what is real.

The distinctive writing style of this book draws you in to Sean's head, not always a great place to be as he's depressed and self-loathing, full of internalised racism and a lack of belief in his own abilities. It's hazy yet fast paced, reflecting the dream-like way in which Sean experiences things and the uncertainty around what might actually be happening or not, especially as the novel draws towards its conclusion. The kind of style, which feels similar to other recent novels, isn't one that I've seen before used for this kind of caught between cultures narrative, and it works well to position Sean as an outsider who also seems to be alienated partly due to his own mindset.

In terms of the narrative, it feels almost like a film to me, with the photography element lending itself to making the book feel quite visual, and the strange events add to this. I liked this visuality, and the way that the narrative itself could almost have been a black comedy crime story at times, but also a literary exploration of alienation and depression. I'm New Here dives into the mind of a self-hating man looking for purpose, combining hazy ambiguity with internalised prejudice, and it's a great short novel that was gripping and hallucinatory.

2.5. Loved the concept of this book but for me, it unfortunately, did not deliver. The narrative needed to be tighter and there were some very obvious conveniences.

I'm New Here is a novel about a man dealing with his internalised racism, his detached parents, and his own mistakes in life. Set in Taipei, a place where on paper he is meant to finally fit in, he feels even more disconnected from the people around him. That all changes when he gets involved with a mysterious rich man, who's encounters are a little too coincidental. I loved the concept of the book, I found the prose a little repetitive (we all have phrases we repeat too often), and the ending was certainly rushed. Overall a good read, plenty to enjoy.

2.5* rounded up

An Englishman of Taiwanese parents, struggling with his identity, too Taiwanese for England but too English for Taiwan. “You’re so English, he laughs. For true, he wields that phrase like a weapon. Just like my parents.” A depressed, disillusioned, unemployed, professional photographer, he escapes to Taipei in the wake of a breakup and meets mysterious millionaire Charles. What follows is…bizarre, to say the least.

The book won’t appeal to those squeamish about bad language, and it’s generally written in a manner I didn’t really enjoy. He says “no playing” and “for true” with annoying regularity. I prefer pretty prose, and this ain’t that. Even so, it’s not without its merits, this inner dialogue. It featured a lot of internalised racism, not finding Asian women attractive, “good looking for an asian man”, offering a heartbreaking insight into the narrator’s self loathing. But it just became a bit repetitive. Sledge hammering the point. And I still don’t know what the “Other Me” was all about. I won’t make efforts to read his next, but this may be more an example of a reader being ill suited for a book, than entirely reflective of its quality.