The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli Published by Balzer + Bray (4.11.2017)
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Format: Hardcover, 336 pages
Source: I own it
Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love—she’s lived through it twenty-six times. She crushes hard and crushes often, but always in secret. Because 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. Will is funny and flirtatious and just might be perfect crush material. Maybe more than crush material. And 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 an awkward Tolkien superfan with a season pass to the Ren Faire, and there’s absolutely no way Molly could fall for him. Right?
My thoughts
I feel very, very alive.
It’s been an embarrassingly long time since I read this book, so it’s hard to review it! I’d forgotten a lot of it so I had to skim the book to remember. I did really enjoy it while I was reading though! The story is super cute.
“But you know, there’s an upside here. Because when you spend so much time intensely wanting something, and then you actually get the thing? It’s magic.”
There’s something about the way Becky Albertalli describes things that is just perfect and makes you feel things. It’s totally relatable and resonates with you. Her prose is absolutely brilliant, and engaging – even when there was nothing happening I was interested in the story!
I loved Molly! She’s such a relatable main character. I found myself invested in her in a way I never expected to! She’s overweight, and has anxiety. She has a hard time talking to guys. AND IS THAT NOT THE MOST RELATABLE THING EVER. Okay well it is for me at least. When I was growing up I felt exactly like Molly did. Thank you Becky for writing an imperfect character! I can’t relate to main characters who are pretty, or thin, or seem to attract all the smokin’ hot dudes in the universe even though they’re “plain.” Gag me with a spoon. This book was so perfectly honest!
I don’t read contemp very often, but I’m really glad I picked this one up! It was a cute and fluffy feel good book with a good message (and awesome diversity!) and I definitely recommend giving it a try!
Overall Assessment
Plot: 3.5/5
Premise: 4/5
Writing style: 4.5/5
Originality: 3.5/5
Characters: 4/5
Pace: 4/5
Feels: 4.5/5
Cover: 3.5/5
Overall rating: 4/5
Leave a Reply