The Upside of Unrequited

Goodreads
Author: Becky Albertalli
Find the author: Website, Twitter, Goodreads, Instagram, Tumblr
Also by this author: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, What If It's Us
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication date: April 11th 2017
Source: Edelweiss, Purchased from Audible.com
Format: eARC from publisher (thank you!), Audiobook
My rating:
Buy It: Indigo.ca | Amazon.com | The Book Depository | iBooks | Google Books | Audible

“Heart-fluttering, honest, and hilarious. I can’t stop hugging this book.” —Stephanie Perkins, New York Times bestselling author of Anna and the French Kiss
"I have such a crush on this book! Not only is this one a must read, but it's a must re-read." —Julie Murphy, New York Times bestselling author of Dumplin’
From the award-winning author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda comes a funny, authentic novel about sisterhood, love, and identity.
Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love. No matter how many times her twin sister, Cassie, tells her to woman up, Molly can’t stomach the idea of rejection. So she’s careful. Fat girls always have to be careful.
Then a cute new girl enters Cassie’s orbit, and for the first time ever, Molly’s cynical twin is a lovesick mess. Meanwhile, Molly's totally not dying of loneliness—except for the part where she is. Luckily, Cassie's new girlfriend comes with a cute hipster-boy sidekick. If Molly can win him over, she'll get her first kiss and she'll get her twin back. There's only one problem: Molly's coworker, Reid. He's a chubby Tolkien superfan with a season pass to the Ren Faire, and there's absolutely no way Molly could fall for him.
Right?

Review: The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

The Upside of Unrequited is my favorite read of 2017 so far.

You know how all the rest of you felt about Simon Vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda? That it was perfect and wonderful and so so cute? So, bookish confession here: I really liked Simon, but it didn’t completely blow me away.

I know, I know. I loved Simon and Blue, and it was really fun. But it wasn’t like, completely and totally my book.

This book, though. The Upside of Unrequited is MY Simon Vs. For me, it was utterly relateable, completely charming, adorableness personified PERFECTION.

I’m not even going to try to summarize. It’s enough to read the synopsis. And to know that I LOVE THIS BOOK.

I love Molly and her honesty and anxiety and carefulness and ability to crush without doing anything. I love how smart and cute and funny and crafty she is. I love how she just can’t deal with her feelings…until she finds a guy where she just says everything that comes to mind like word-vomit (OMG REID ).

I love Molly’s brilliantly complex relationship with her twin sister Cassie, and how it gets more complex when Cassie starts dating. I really love Cassie’s relationship with Mina and how all-consuming it was in the beginning – it’s the honeymoon period, you know? And then I loved that Cassie and Molly’s moms totally got that – especially Nadine.

I also love how Cassie and Molly’s moms understand and know everything that’s going on, but let them figure out things for themselves. And I love how messy things get with friends of friends and friends trying to set up friends.

It’s all just so damn adorable and real. This is real life, guys. This is what contemporary YA is supposed to be – messy and funny and honest and unrequited as hell. You will ache with Molly and hope with her. You will have those moments of honesty where she finds herself and keeps going. And you will tear up with joy (at least I did) when things finally come to their inevitable but oh-so-charming conclusion.

P.S. I switched between the eARC of this book as well as the audiobook – and the narration is great in the audio – just in case you’re interested!

Bonuses:

Fat Girls Represent: I’ve been dealing with people telling me to lose weight for a long time now, and it’s frustrating and exhausting, so I totally get some of what Molly is feeling. At the same time, I love the fact that while being fat affects Molly’s self-esteem, it’s not EVERYTHING to her. This isn’t a book about her being fat. It’s just a book about her trying to navigate her crushes, family, and friends.

LGBTQ Represent: Similarly, this isn’t a book about homosexual characters, but they are in the book, from Cassie, Molly’s twin, to their moms, to some of their friends. I love that it’s just accepted throughout the book and not a big deal – and yet, the characters do address their sexual orientation and gender identity when they need to – sometimes in the most amazing, smackdown-y ways.

Mental Health Representation:  Molly has anxiety, and while it comes up, I appreciated that this is a girl who deals with mental health issues, but it’s not the point of the book. And no one even acts like it’s a big deal, which is even more awesome. 

Cameos: Yes, yes, if you loved Simon Vs, you will see some of the characters in really, REALLY adorable cameos.

Crafty Goodness: Molly is my Pinterest twin – she’s totally a crafty nerd. Not only does she work in a dream of a card/gift store, but she also does all kinds of crafty things at home for her family. It’s THE BEST.

Family Ties: As I mentioned, I adored Cassie and Molly’s moms. But more than that, I adored the fact that they have issues – specifically, family issues – outside of Cassie and Molly. It was just…really well-rounded. Also, Cassie and Molly’s baby brother Xavier is adorable!

Heart-Squeezing Romance: I cannot with this romance. It’s so friggin adorable. Half of it is over text, and it’s just…*flails*

The Final Word:

Becky Albertalli has essentially made the sun shine in my heart with this book. There are moments in The Upside of Unrequited that are painful and almost cringeworthy because they’re so real and true. And then there are others that are just utter happiness personified – because to get to that feeling, you need to go through some stuff with Molly. And yes, some of those happy moments were swoony moments. But there are other moments that just made me nod and laugh and want to hug everyone, especially my husband and family. Read it now and delight in the awkwardness, honesty, and adorableness. You won’t regret it.

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THE UPSIDE OF UNREQUITED is out in bookstores now. Will you be reading it or have you read it? Are you in adorable-overload? Were you one of those people obsessed with Simon Vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda? Let me know in the comments!