Reviews with content warning for Racism - The Upside of Unrequited

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

13 reviews

melissafrench's review against another edition

funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I always enjoy Becky Abertalli’s books and this was no exception. I found the main character Molly difficult to like but only because she was SO much like me in the most difficult parts of my adolescence—painfully self-conscious, unsure how to be herself around other people, desperate for social approval but also terrified of rejection—basically a whole mess. But her friends love her anyway and the majority of the relationship dynamics portrayed in the book were overall supportive and healthy. And Molly herself has a reasonable amount of self-reflection and growth before the book concludes. I found it a sweet and uplifting quick read.

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nikexistiertnik's review

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emotional reflective 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

3.5

this was cute, immensely predictable and a little too set an the whole boyfriend thing, also i can't believe that none of these teens seem to have heard about masturbation - they openly talk about sex, but not once does the fact come up that you really don't need it to experience orgasms.

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stuckinatimeloop's review against another edition

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3.0

this book is infested with amatonormativity. if you take out the amatonormativity the book wouldn't exist.
it was ok i guess other than that. the writing was easy to read and the pacing was fine. really hate the amatonormativity though.

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kryskross's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

2.5

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leahbydesign's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad 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

4.5

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emmaward55's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring fast-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

4.0

Painfully heartfelt and empathetic, this was a book that I saw far too much of myself in. I don't think I've processed it enough to really review it yet, but I did love the sheer amount of Sapphic stories happening all around Molly.

The only real change I would have liked would have been to get Cassie's perspective as a dual narrative, both to bring one of the Sapphic romances into the fore and to get a better idea of how Cassie saw the events of the book. I wanted to understand her better! It's not a big deal though, I get that we're meant to feel Molly's isolation and her confusion at certain key points in the novel.

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teatales's review

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2.0

This book is like 5 years old and somehow it felt so incredibly dated. The only character I liked was Reid. Also the interactions between their grandma and Mina was so uncomfortable and unnecessary... the fact that she probably wasn't warned that the grandma is really racist? Choices were made I guess

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marcella98's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted relaxing 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

5.0

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rayne_1906's review against another edition

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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

3.75

Audiobook 5 hours 36 minutes - I enjoyed listening to this book quite a lot. I liked all the characters, and I didn't find the plot overly unrealistic, which is quite rare for contemporary YA books - they usually contain huge, unrealistic coincidences that the reader is forced to just accept, but this book felt like it could just happen in real life for the most part. I absolutely loved that the characters tied in from Albertalli's other books - I didn't expect it and I was so excited when I realised that the Abby in this book is the same Abby as in Simon vs. the Homosapien's Agenda, and Leah on the Offbeat. One issue I did have with this book however, was sometimes, the same problems were just talked about too much, with too much time until they got resolved, which made it slightly boring in parts. Also, sometimes the language the author used was simply just cringy, and while I realise it is an attempt at humour, just felt more like second-hand embarrassment. All in all though, this was a good book about teenage relationships of all kinds, and I did enjoy it.

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libss's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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