Sunday 12 February 2017

BOOK REVIEW | The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

Title: The Upside of Unrequited
Author: Becky Albertalli
Series or Standalone: Companion novel to Simon Vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda
Genre: Contemporary YA
Publication Date: 11/05/17
Format: e-ARC
Source: Publisher (Balzer & Bray)/NetGalley
Star Rating: 4 stars

Synopsis ->
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?

Becky Albertalli's first book, Simon Vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, was one of my favourite books of 2015. It was hilarious, adorable, gripping and filled with Harry Potter references. I mean, what more could you possibly want in a book? When I heard that she was coming out with a companion novel I may have peed my pants a little. Not only would we get another refreshing, authentic story, but we'd also (hopefully) get a glimpse of our precious Simon. AND WE DID. *SQUEALS* Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself so allow me to further discuss the brilliance of Becky Albertalli and her delightful upcoming book, The Upside of Unrequited.

The first thing to note is that Albertalli absolutely RULES at including diversity in her books effortlessly and without making a fuss. Our main character Molly is a fat, Jewish introvert with two mums and she just happens to take Zoloft for her anxiety. This was the main thing that I loved about this book as an anxiety sufferer myself. I loved how it wasn't focused on Molly struggling with her anxiety. She was already past that and was on meds for it and the story wasn't centred around it. She just happened to have anxiety and this gives a lot of hope to readers out there struggling with anxiety, that you can still live a totally normal life and there is hope! Molly also has a twin sister who is a lesbian, one of her mums is a person of colour and there's a pansexual character included in there too! 
Becky's writing is super authentic and genuine. You can always count on her to deliver an honest and positive story. There was no fat shaming from her family and friends (except for her grandma oMG don't get me started on how angry that made me) and I loved that Molly was comfortable in her own skin. She was happy, and I think she's an excellent fictional role model for young adults out there.
Now, you can't have a Becky Albertalli book without an adorable romance, and this one certainly delivers. It was so refreshing to have a chubby love interest because NEWSFLASH - MOST TEEN BOYS DON'T HAVE ABS. The friendship and eventual romance between Molly and her love interest was SO delightful. 10/10. 
Now, you may notice that I gave this 4 stars, which might seem odd after hearing me gush about it for the last 20 years, but to me, this just wasn't AS GOOD as Simon. There was something utterly special about that book that I can't quite put my finger on, and this one fell just slightly short. There was also a little bit of really annoying drama towards the end that angered me, but overall, this was a wonderful story and if you loved Simon, chances are you'll love Molly and her story as well. 

Thanks again to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy for review! :)



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