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evitaveda 's review for:
Amelia, If Only
by Becky Albertalli
“I’m not completely delusional, right? I know how parasocial relationships work. Watching someone’s videos isn’t the same as actually knowing them. It’s not a real conversation, even if they answer all your unspoken questions. Feeling seen doesn’t mean they actually see you.”
Amelia Applebaum happens to love Walter Holland. She’s not IN LOVE with him though. He’s just her favourite bisexual Youtuber. When he announces a meet-and-greet only a short road trip away she could finally meet her parasocial infatuation in real life. If only she can get all her friends to join. If only they could understand. If only. If only. If only.
I loved how this book explored parasocial relationships. Amelia really went on a journey of discovery with her parasocial infatuation. The book also delved into the dark side of fandoms and how people can become super toxic about their favourites. I liked how the story included snapshots of comments, online posts, and video descriptions in amongst the plot.
The friend group dynamics in this book were a lot of fun. I liked all their strange banter and that they were there for each other all the way. I also have to mention that I loved the little cameos from “Imogen, Obviously.” Imogen and her friends being part of the story was a nice touch and made me so happy.
This is a great one if you want to read about road trips, queer weirdoes and obvious-but-not-so-obvious-to-the-characters realisations, mixed in with some pretty serious internet etiquette discourse.
Finally, a quote that resonated with me:
“I had to be queer, because no straight girl would be this hung up on the question. But then again, I had to be straight. After all, no queer girl would be this unsure of the answer.”
Amelia Applebaum happens to love Walter Holland. She’s not IN LOVE with him though. He’s just her favourite bisexual Youtuber. When he announces a meet-and-greet only a short road trip away she could finally meet her parasocial infatuation in real life. If only she can get all her friends to join. If only they could understand. If only. If only. If only.
I loved how this book explored parasocial relationships. Amelia really went on a journey of discovery with her parasocial infatuation. The book also delved into the dark side of fandoms and how people can become super toxic about their favourites. I liked how the story included snapshots of comments, online posts, and video descriptions in amongst the plot.
The friend group dynamics in this book were a lot of fun. I liked all their strange banter and that they were there for each other all the way. I also have to mention that I loved the little cameos from “Imogen, Obviously.” Imogen and her friends being part of the story was a nice touch and made me so happy.
This is a great one if you want to read about road trips, queer weirdoes and obvious-but-not-so-obvious-to-the-characters realisations, mixed in with some pretty serious internet etiquette discourse.
Finally, a quote that resonated with me:
“I had to be queer, because no straight girl would be this hung up on the question. But then again, I had to be straight. After all, no queer girl would be this unsure of the answer.”