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.

Reading the summary of this book, I bet you think that it is about a girl trying to get her first boyfriend, right? Well, not so fast, That may happen in the book, but that's not what the book is about. A cynical person might call this a bait and switch, but I see it as a delightful surprise. So what is this book actually about? It's a beautiful story of how our relationships change as we grow up. Yes, there are Young Adult Relationships here, but the real relationship is between Molly and Cassie. As twins, they've always been close but they are at a turning point as they start to differentiate from each other and find their own ways. It's bittersweet and authentic, and something with which everyone, even non-twins, can sympathize. Molly is a complex but realistic character. She isn't wholly likable, but what seventeen year old is? She struggles with her circumstances, her emotions, and her anxiety and it is all painfully true. But she also grows as the story progresses, and does so in a way that makes sense. At no point did I ever feel like her transformation skipped a step or went a direction it shouldn't. The romance feature of this book is well-done and satisfying. Albertalli expertly captures Molly's angst, not only with her desire to be in a relationship, but also watching her twin sister forge ahead with her own relationship. I'm not sure how accurate the depiction of modern teen life is (because I'm old, um, older) but I didn't feel as though I needed to question it. Another feature that I loved about this book is that it is set during the summer of 2015, when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage. While it was heartwarming to read of Molly's moms finally being able to get married, what really got me was that feeling of a world where things were more optimistic and inclusive. I call this the Obama-feels and this book had it spades....and I really need that right now. This book was such a delight that I feel like I should buy a bunch of copies just to hand out to everyone. I hadn't heard of Becky Albertalli before this, but I will definitely be reading her books in the future.

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! 💙

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!

The book is amazing. I loved it from the beginning. Becky surprised me agin with this book. I already loved Simon and now Molly has a place in my heart. Becky makes characters that speak with us. They are just human. Molly makes mistakes, she’s jealous, she thinks bad things, she has struggles, lots of mixed emotions, just like everyone. It gives you a warm feeling to read something so real, beautiful and well written. And there’s a thing Becky does that makes me really happy. She writes all kinds of love. She shows us that we can love anyone we want to love e that’s wonderful. If you want to read something beautiful that makes you feel things, don’t think twice, The upside of unrequited is amazing.