The Upside of Unrequited: A Funny YA Romance About Twin Sisters, LGBTQ Love, and Body Positivity

The Upside of Unrequited is the story of seventeen-year-old serial crusher Molly who has to start finding her way on her own as her twin sister, Cass, gets a girlfriend for the first time. This was a fantastic book that I am never going to read again. Reading it was like having to sit and watch the painful awkwardness my high school self. OMG. I was Molly. I was Molly to the point that it is humiliating to contemplate and uncomfortable to read about. Maybe I am not past that high school self and her insecurities because reading this book was painful. I cried at least three times. Once at three in the morning when I got up to read again because I NEEDED to finish the book. Of course, this book is going to be compared to Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda. I know that my expectations were unreasonably high because of it. This book read completely differently to me. For lack of a better word, I found The Upside of Unrequited less cute. The tone was just as warm, and there were as many funny and touching moments, but I didn't smile the whole way through this book the way that I did with Simon. I loved the characters. This is much more of a character book than a plot book. Things happen of course, and I was invested but not as invested as I was simply in learning about who the characters are and whom they are becoming. I loved that Molly could fight with Cass without either of them being melodramatic or turning into a cartoonish villain. All the characters are beautifully subtle and real. They all seem to exist beyond the story. Yay for diversity! I loved how casual it all was. Being gay, or bi, pan, or straight is an important part of people's lives but never takes over. It isn't a tragedy waiting to happen. There is no sentence of inherent guilt or unhappiness that comes along with being gay. All the yes. The characters are from many different races, religions, and walks of life. The cast felt vibrant, and none of them seemed to have been added as a token. Moar of this, please. Molly is fat. There is so much about being fat that no one ever talks about. The whole world tells you that your body has to be this way to be acceptable. Especially when you are young. And when you are young you absorb that idea. Unless I look like the other girls, no one will ever find me worthy. No one will ever want me. I will never be loved. I wish high school me had had a chance to read this book. So much of what I was feeling is acknowledged and validated. Molly's grandmother has a way of making her feel self-conscious about her weight in a way that I related to so much. I live in China (you may know) and one of the most common ways that people greet you here is by commenting on your weight. I still react almost the same way that Molly does by shutting down and having to try not to cry. I am going to need to get over this. There is a moment near the end of the book where one of Molly's moms Nadine is talking to her about wanting a boyfriend and holy shit I needed to have that conversation with someone in high school. Becky Albertelli articulates those things that we hold back and isolate ourselves with so well. I lost track of the times that I found myself wanting to yell into the book, "Other people feel that way, too?!!" This is also a story about vulnerability. How opening yourself up to other people can be the scariest thing that you learn how to do. It is also the story of finding the balance between new parts of your life while keeping ahold of the valuable parts of your life that you already have, such as your sister, your community, and your stability. This book left me feeling a bit hollowed out. It was an unexpectedly emotional read. I didn't leave it with the same warm and fuzzy feelings that I left Simon with. But, after reading this book, I feel as if I know myself, or at least my past self, just that little bit better. That's not a bad feat for a book.

Initial thoughts: Quirky, witty and adorable. Becky Albertalli made me nostalgic for first loves and growing up. While I didn’t love it quite as much as Simon, I still absolutely recommend this touching YA coming of age story. As the synopsis states, Molly Peskin-Suso is familiar with unrequited love (or crushes, really- but aren’t all teenagers overly dramatic?). She has had many, many crushes and has never really acted on them. She is awkward, unsure about herself and often feels like she is comparing herself to her more confident twin sister, Cassie. When Cassie gets a hip, cute girlfriend Molly feels like she is being left even further behind. “I don’t entirely understand how anyone gets a boyfriend. Or a girlfriend. It just seems like the most impossible odds. You have to have a crush on the exact right person at the exact right moment. And they have to like you back. A perfect alignment of feelings and circumstances. It’s almost unfathomable that it happens as often as it does.” Honestly, for the first 40% or so of this book, I was a bit skeptical. I wasn’t in love with Molly. I can’t exactly say why- she just annoyed and frustrated me more than I usually want in a main character. But then I realized that maybe that was part of the book. Molly is a seventeen-year-old teenager. She’s emotional, insecure, growing up and her relationship with her twin sister is rapidly changing. Everything is a big deal. And you know what? It is a big deal. Change is scary and unknown and Albertalli handles it beautifully. This book is obviously about more than unrequited love, its about growing up and self-acceptance and I really appreciated the message. There were aspects of Molly’s character that I absolutely related to. The carefulness, uncertainty and anxiety. I love how Molly constantly had these internal conversations with herself, always thinking about the worst possible outcome. So, if this is a story about self-love and acceptance, why is the ending so neatly packaged with a nice love story? At first I didn’t want it end with a cutesy relationship but after thinking about it, I was happy with it. Why? Because first crushes, first kisses and first loves are such an influential part of growing up. The first time I fell in love and subsequently had my heart broken I learned so much about myself and I learned to love and feel confident in myself. Seeing Molly experience that with Reid for the first time made me so happy and I was smiling throughout all of their interactions. They were so cute! Another aspect of this story I really enjoyed is that it took place in Simon-verse. Molly is Abby Suso’s cousin from Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda. I was so happy to see that Simon is alive and well in this book! Even though its a brief cameo, I love when authors have overlap between their characters. It makes it all seem more real (Colleen Hoover and Kasie West do it as well!) This book, which I’m sure you have seen though all of the reviews, is wonderfully inclusive. It includes so many characters of different races, cultures and sexual orientations. I will admit, sometimes the diversity aspect felt a bit forced (a bit like a laundry list of everything needed in a diverse book) but in the end, I’m not complaining because we need more books like this in the YA community. This was another great book by Becky Albertalli! She is a talented author with a very relatable writing style. She does a wonderful job of capturing those very real feelings growing up- the first loves but also the many awkward moments and insecurity. I hope you all get a chance to read this book soon!

For the first few chapters, this was a borderline 2/3 star read. Molly's head was hard to get into, and the first quarter of the book felt like so much repetition about how badly she wanted a boyfriend. I understand that the whole plot is about her love life, but I think a balance of that would have been nice. Then we get to about halfway through the book - particularly the scene where Reid and Molly are in the rain and Reid sweeps her hair back. This was the turning point in the novel for me - I about melted into a pile of mush! After that it was just straight adorableness. Was it totally predictable and a little cliche? Yes. But it felt like such a realistic rendition of teen angst that it was perfect to me. Every move Molly made through her jealous arc made me simultaneously roll my eyes in frustration while at the same time relating so hard. I don't think Molly and Cassie's troubles were completely resolved, however. It felt like they'd just slapped a bandage on it and called it a day, but despite this, Reid and Molly's relationship overshadowed all the instances that could have made me drop my rating. Also, I see a lot of reviews (particularly the unfavourable ones) talking about how it took Molly's crush returning her feelings for her to love herself, and how that's Bad For Feminism™. But personally, I feel that there *are* people who need others to love them for them to see their worth, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Some people need that outside reassurance, because (for whatever VALID reason) they can't trust their own judgement. The scene where Molly feels beautiful, personally, translated to me as her seeing herself happy made her feel relaxed and not self-conscious or alone - all the things that made her insecure in the past. When I do something good, it makes me feel good, which translates to me feeling like I *look* good. The fact that it was Reid making her happy honestly felt like a coincidence, not a causation. But that's just me! Anyway, I digress. All in all, a fantastic read.

I cried nine times reading this book because I related so much to Molly's story. Perfection.

5 stars / 5 stars! This was my first Becky Albertali book, and I'm so, so glad I picked this gem of a book up :) it's just such a cute novel, that I'm currently grinning from ear to ear even thinking about it. 😁🙈 The lead protagonist, Molly, was such a relatable and hilarious character; I'd give this book a whole damn galaxy of stars if I could, for the diversity of contained in it, & mainly for how well it handled the whole scenario of melange! This book not only gives you all the feels when your feelings went unrequited (yeah, we've all been there 😂💔), but it adds up a whole new level of plot to it by focusing on not just Molly's love life, but also the family aspect, which I feel is widely ignored in the YA genre lately. The Upside of Unrequited will make you swoon, laugh, cry and cuddle, all in the span of 300 pages; the author's narrative is really impreßive as to how real the characters feel. Can't WAIT to read her future literary works! Loads of love for this book! 💙

Albertalli's newest release The Upside of Unrequited is, in my opinion, even cuter than Simon vs. the Homo sapiens Agenda while being equally as diverse and quirky. I especially loved the family dynamics and the depiction of Molly's relationship with her sister. I LOVED that this YA Contemporary had a plethora of queer characters without being the typical coming-out kind of story. I must say I loved Reid he is just such a nice, loving and funny guy and was super glad that a character like him was included in the story. The main character Molly has and underrepresented body type and has to learn to come to terms with her own body and mind. Her struggle in different groups of friends, with peer pressure, and love were depicted so refreshingly realistically and relatable. Overall, highly recommendable to anyone looking for a unique, cute, and fluffy contemporary with quite a bit of substance.

The Upside Of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli | “I'm on the toilet at the 9:30 Club and I'm wondering how mermaids pee.” | I’m a huge fan of Becky Albertalli because when I finished reading her first book, Simon VS. The Homo Sapiens Agenda, I was so happy that I felt like I needed to hug the book. This means that I went into this book looking for a cute and happy read as Simon VS. was, and with really high expectations; and let me tell you that Becky Albertalli is the Queen Of Heartwarming Books!!📚 One of the aspects that I enjoy the most of Albertalli’s books is the role the families play in her stories, unlike so many other YA books where families are completely invisible in her books they are always so supportive, funny and involved. And a plus on the family aspect of The Upside Of Unrequited is the fact that the author portrays and normalizes an unusual family type in the current YA literature. I’m not going to summarize what this book is about, because I went into it blind, and I ended up loving it! The only thing I knew before reading TUOU was who had written it and that it was surely going to be adorable, filled with wonderful friendships, quirky jokes and delicious food! If you are looking for a light and fresh read with relatable characters that will make you smile Becky’s books are a safe bet!