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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is lucky it got two stars. It was so problematic in so many ways!
Firstly, let's start with the characters. There were some good characters and there were some bad characters.
Molly - The protagonist of the book who is portrayed as being fat and who struggles with anxiety. She has had about 26 unrequited crushes, or something ridiculous like that. However, most of them are not crushes in my opinion - they are just random people she doesn't know, who she deems attractive. The fact that they're called unrequited is a little far fetched in my opinion, as the 26 people did not know Molly existed and didn't return her feelings due to a) not knowing she had any and b) due to her physical appearance or personality.
That brings us on to Molly's self-doubt. Throughout the entire book, we are reminded that Molly hates the way she looks, Molly thinks she's ugly and that no one likes her because she is fat. It is understandable in some aspects, as we all have self-doubt and self-love is something that takes time. I myself am self-conscious about my body, but not to the extent where I constantly tell myself that the whole world thinks I'm a chubby loser and no one can love me. Not to the extent where I think I need a boy to make me feel beautiful?!
It was clear what messages Albertalli was trying to put across, but she really missed the mark here. The constant self-doubt from Molly was extremely toxic and never challenged. There were even some questionable lines in the book that I personally consider as fat shaming - which is pretty ironic since Albertalli was trying to do the complete opposite.
It wasn't until Molly got a boyfriend that she started to see herself as beautiful - which is the most fucked up message ever! I can't even begin to describe how messed up that is...
Now we look at her personality. Molly was a bitch if I'm being straightforward. She treated people like shit because she didn't have a boyfriend and when people were trying to be nice to her, she assumed the worst in them. I hated the way she treated her 'best friend', Olivia.
Towards the end of the book, she said some pretty messed up things about her twin sister, Cassie, and this was never challenged. Cassie found out Molly had a boyfriend and all was forgotten, ta-da, magic!
Cassie - Cassie is the twin sister of Molly. I could not stand her one bit. She was so hypocritical, for example, she didn't feel she could tell Molly about her relationships but got angry that Molly couldn't tell her about her relationships. She got mad at Molly for asking about her relationships but was always playing Match Up with Molly and this random guy. Cassie was so self-absorbed and selfish when it came to Molly and her feelings. Her attitude was nasty and she annoyed me throughout the entire book.
Cassie also said a lot of problematic and messed up things that were never challenged - what a common theme. She never apologised or realised she was wrong. It was just brushed over.
Nadine and Patty - The mums of Cassie and Molly. I thought they did an alright parenting job, except when they let Cassie get away with saying some pretty messed up things. I also really liked the family dynamic and the LGBTQ rep with the same sex parenting. I thought that was handled and portrayed very well.
The grandmother: I would have liked her character to be challenged more by the family for her racist comments and the other weird shit she said. I think the parents handled the fat shaming well, but the family just laugh and roll their eyes about the rest.
Representation:
Mental illness: The representation of mental illness was very poor in my opinion. We are told Molly deals with anxiety and that she takes Zoloft...and that's it. There was no further representation and to be honest, it felt like an extra that was shoved in to prove the book was representational.
LGBTQ: This representation was handled very well in my opinion. Same sex parenting isn't something we often get to see in YA and I thought Albertalli portrayed it very well. We also have Cassie who identifies as lesbian and Mina who identifies as pansexual - again, something we don't see often in YA.
Religion: Molly and her family are Jewish and another character named Reid is also Jewish. It was nice to see this rep for religion, as it is not often done in YA. I think this was also portrayed very well.
Body image: I really appreciated the fat girl rep as it isn't something we get a lot of in YA and if we do, they are rarely ever the protagonist. However, it wasn't handled in the right way and became very problematic. The book gave out the wrong messages and it just didn't work for me.
Plot:
Not much happened in this book...at all. We follow Molly for the entire story as she struggles with not having a boyfriend, as if that is the most important thing. We follow Molly as she tries to decide between two boys, one she has some chemistry with and the other she has nothing in common with whatsoever. But yet...it's still so hard to choose between the two?
However, it was really nice to see the characters from Simon VS included in the book, one of the only highlights.
It took me about a week and a half to read this...if not more. It was very problematic and quite lacklustre in my opinion.
Firstly, let's start with the characters. There were some good characters and there were some bad characters.
Molly - The protagonist of the book who is portrayed as being fat and who struggles with anxiety. She has had about 26 unrequited crushes, or something ridiculous like that. However, most of them are not crushes in my opinion - they are just random people she doesn't know, who she deems attractive. The fact that they're called unrequited is a little far fetched in my opinion, as the 26 people did not know Molly existed and didn't return her feelings due to a) not knowing she had any and b) due to her physical appearance or personality.
That brings us on to Molly's self-doubt. Throughout the entire book, we are reminded that Molly hates the way she looks, Molly thinks she's ugly and that no one likes her because she is fat. It is understandable in some aspects, as we all have self-doubt and self-love is something that takes time. I myself am self-conscious about my body, but not to the extent where I constantly tell myself that the whole world thinks I'm a chubby loser and no one can love me. Not to the extent where I think I need a boy to make me feel beautiful?!
It was clear what messages Albertalli was trying to put across, but she really missed the mark here. The constant self-doubt from Molly was extremely toxic and never challenged. There were even some questionable lines in the book that I personally consider as fat shaming - which is pretty ironic since Albertalli was trying to do the complete opposite.
It wasn't until Molly got a boyfriend that she started to see herself as beautiful - which is the most fucked up message ever! I can't even begin to describe how messed up that is...
Now we look at her personality. Molly was a bitch if I'm being straightforward. She treated people like shit because she didn't have a boyfriend and when people were trying to be nice to her, she assumed the worst in them. I hated the way she treated her 'best friend', Olivia.
Towards the end of the book, she said some pretty messed up things about her twin sister, Cassie, and this was never challenged. Cassie found out Molly had a boyfriend and all was forgotten, ta-da, magic!
Cassie - Cassie is the twin sister of Molly. I could not stand her one bit. She was so hypocritical, for example, she didn't feel she could tell Molly about her relationships but got angry that Molly couldn't tell her about her relationships. She got mad at Molly for asking about her relationships but was always playing Match Up with Molly and this random guy. Cassie was so self-absorbed and selfish when it came to Molly and her feelings. Her attitude was nasty and she annoyed me throughout the entire book.
Cassie also said a lot of problematic and messed up things that were never challenged - what a common theme. She never apologised or realised she was wrong. It was just brushed over.
Nadine and Patty - The mums of Cassie and Molly. I thought they did an alright parenting job, except when they let Cassie get away with saying some pretty messed up things. I also really liked the family dynamic and the LGBTQ rep with the same sex parenting. I thought that was handled and portrayed very well.
The grandmother: I would have liked her character to be challenged more by the family for her racist comments and the other weird shit she said. I think the parents handled the fat shaming well, but the family just laugh and roll their eyes about the rest.
Representation:
Mental illness: The representation of mental illness was very poor in my opinion. We are told Molly deals with anxiety and that she takes Zoloft...and that's it. There was no further representation and to be honest, it felt like an extra that was shoved in to prove the book was representational.
LGBTQ: This representation was handled very well in my opinion. Same sex parenting isn't something we often get to see in YA and I thought Albertalli portrayed it very well. We also have Cassie who identifies as lesbian and Mina who identifies as pansexual - again, something we don't see often in YA.
Religion: Molly and her family are Jewish and another character named Reid is also Jewish. It was nice to see this rep for religion, as it is not often done in YA. I think this was also portrayed very well.
Body image: I really appreciated the fat girl rep as it isn't something we get a lot of in YA and if we do, they are rarely ever the protagonist. However, it wasn't handled in the right way and became very problematic. The book gave out the wrong messages and it just didn't work for me.
Plot:
Not much happened in this book...at all. We follow Molly for the entire story as she struggles with not having a boyfriend, as if that is the most important thing. We follow Molly as she tries to decide between two boys, one she has some chemistry with and the other she has nothing in common with whatsoever. But yet...it's still so hard to choose between the two?
However, it was really nice to see the characters from Simon VS included in the book, one of the only highlights.
It took me about a week and a half to read this...if not more. It was very problematic and quite lacklustre in my opinion.
1st book of Becky Albertelli’s that I read and it far exceeded my expectations!!! Loved the character development and loved reading about a place/world so different from my own. Such a great book!!
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
As readable as her other work. I only disliked one thing which wasn't even in the story but rather in the "credits" at the end of the text. She wrote something like: To the fat kids. You're beautiful. Yeah, see, I may not be a fat "kid" but I'm certainly fat and I think there's a lot more to me as a person than just my fat, my weight, or even my beauty. None of us is just one thing, let alone just one bodily thing. Her entire book argues that she knows this; nevertheless, her shorthand comment at the end got my hackles rising.
Just what I needed to put me out of my reading funk. I couldn't help identifying so much with Molly, of course... It was really cute and well-written.
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes