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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
While Amelia, If Only is certainly well written (it's a Becky Albertalli book, after all) and offers an important dialogue on what it means to be bisexual (it's a Becky Albertalli book, after all), I didn't really enjoy any part of this book. It just made me cringe. A lot.
At 31 years old, maybe I'm just not the target demographic for a book about a parasocial relationship with a YouTuber. Missed me by about 15 years. I was never a Dan and Phil stan, and the closest I got to being a #Walden or a #Hayter was thinking that there was something fruity about Harry and Louis back in One Direction's hey day, but I've never been one to take to Reddit or anything like that. I don't know how Reddit works at all if I'm being perfectly honest.
So when the chapters where split up by Reddit forums and Twitter threads where 'fans' (creepers) discussed the love lives of the YouTubers they followed I just felt uncomfortable over hope deeply cringe that kind of behaviour is. I think maybe I'm just too old too be reading about this kind of stuff.
A more appropriate name for the Imogenverse series might be 'Discourseverse', because it’s just become about discourse at this point. It was only in the last hour of this audiobook that it switched pace to a romance of any kind, and even then it was only in the last 15 or so minutes that anything of a romantic nature happened. Really misleading that this book was marketed as a romance. It's a book about YouTuber discourse with a bit of kissing tacked on at the end. It's just young adult contemporary, let's be honest.
If you're into parasocial relationships, or if you're in high school or about to start university you might love this book. But if you're looking for Imogen, Obviously part 2, this isn't that book. Though the cameos from Imogen, Tessa, and Edith were lovely!
At 31 years old, maybe I'm just not the target demographic for a book about a parasocial relationship with a YouTuber. Missed me by about 15 years. I was never a Dan and Phil stan, and the closest I got to being a #Walden or a #Hayter was thinking that there was something fruity about Harry and Louis back in One Direction's hey day, but I've never been one to take to Reddit or anything like that. I don't know how Reddit works at all if I'm being perfectly honest.
So when the chapters where split up by Reddit forums and Twitter threads where 'fans' (creepers) discussed the love lives of the YouTubers they followed I just felt uncomfortable over hope deeply cringe that kind of behaviour is. I think maybe I'm just too old too be reading about this kind of stuff.
A more appropriate name for the Imogenverse series might be 'Discourseverse', because it’s just become about discourse at this point. It was only in the last hour of this audiobook that it switched pace to a romance of any kind, and even then it was only in the last 15 or so minutes that anything of a romantic nature happened. Really misleading that this book was marketed as a romance. It's a book about YouTuber discourse with a bit of kissing tacked on at the end. It's just young adult contemporary, let's be honest.
If you're into parasocial relationships, or if you're in high school or about to start university you might love this book. But if you're looking for Imogen, Obviously part 2, this isn't that book. Though the cameos from Imogen, Tessa, and Edith were lovely!
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-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
emotional
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
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-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:
No
"When you've been in love for so long, it's like breathing. When you're in love, present tense."
Well, once again, to no one's surprise, Becky Albertalli did a phenomenal job of creating a story that is so realistic, so entertaining, and so deeply relevant I can barely wrap my head around it. There's a reason Becky Albertalli has continued to be one of my favorite authors for years, and this book is yet another reason why.
To start, I love how this book perfectly captures a teenage friend group. The teasing, the banter, the love, everything is so accurate. The road trip aspect was even more fun, and I loved every second. Plus, seeing Tessa and Imogen (the couple from my favorite Becky book) was such a pleasant surprise!
To the romance itself, it was such a sweet, friends-to-lovers slow-burn. Amelia really is a useless bisexual, but girl, we've all been there. I get it. There were so many moments where you really want to shake her a little bit because how on earth does she not realize she's in love?! The ending was absolutely so sweet.
And onto the part that has nothing to do with romance. This book does a great job of exploring the parasocial relationships many people have with celebrities. Being part of several fandoms myself, I've seen a lot of this toxicity play out in real life, and seeing it in this book with input from the celebrity was really impactful. Speculating and projecting your own opinions on the life of someone you don't know personally is just not the vibe.
I wish this one would have been a little bit longer, but seriously, Becky doesn't miss. I loved it.
Well, once again, to no one's surprise, Becky Albertalli did a phenomenal job of creating a story that is so realistic, so entertaining, and so deeply relevant I can barely wrap my head around it. There's a reason Becky Albertalli has continued to be one of my favorite authors for years, and this book is yet another reason why.
To start, I love how this book perfectly captures a teenage friend group. The teasing, the banter, the love, everything is so accurate. The road trip aspect was even more fun, and I loved every second. Plus, seeing Tessa and Imogen (the couple from my favorite Becky book) was such a pleasant surprise!
To the romance itself, it was such a sweet, friends-to-lovers slow-burn. Amelia really is a useless bisexual, but girl, we've all been there. I get it. There were so many moments where you really want to shake her a little bit because how on earth does she not realize she's in love?! The ending was absolutely so sweet.
And onto the part that has nothing to do with romance. This book does a great job of exploring the parasocial relationships many people have with celebrities. Being part of several fandoms myself, I've seen a lot of this toxicity play out in real life, and seeing it in this book with input from the celebrity was really impactful. Speculating and projecting your own opinions on the life of someone you don't know personally is just not the vibe.
I wish this one would have been a little bit longer, but seriously, Becky doesn't miss. I loved it.
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
This concept felt similar to "I was born for this" by Alice Oseman, and i loved that one
I usually love Becky Albertalli books, and this gave me that same lighthearted, fun feeling, but i was a bit disappointed in a few things:
-this could have been longer
-Amelia seemed a bit selfish and annoying at first, but the annoying part was explained later, and it made sense that humour is a way she copes with more serious topics
-The gen-z slang and banter was a bit too much for me, sometimes it was hard to understand
-The meeting with Walter was a little underwhelming
-I have problem with only using jealousy as a tool to show that people like each other, and not showing their actual chemistry or interactions
-I wanted more of Mark and Walter!!
I usually love Becky Albertalli books, and this gave me that same lighthearted, fun feeling, but i was a bit disappointed in a few things:
-this could have been longer
-Amelia seemed a bit selfish and annoying at first, but the annoying part was explained later, and it made sense that humour is a way she copes with more serious topics
-The gen-z slang and banter was a bit too much for me, sometimes it was hard to understand
-The meeting with Walter was a little underwhelming
-I have problem with only using jealousy as a tool to show that people like each other, and not showing their actual chemistry or interactions
funny
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
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No