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A review by ruth24
The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli
4.0
I love when YA books have:
1) relatable characters
2) a juicy love story
3) a plot that keeps me turning the pages way past my bedtime
For me, The Upside of Unrequited had all three.
The characters seemed pretty realistic. Often in these type of books, some girl we're supposed to believe is ugly/awkward is suddenly hounded by hot dudes and it really grinds my gears. That wasn't the case with this book. Diverse characters (POC, LGBTQ) were also well-represented. From the blurb, I got the impression that Albertalli would focus a lot on Molly's weight, but actually it was more subtle than that, which I liked.
The love story was relatively predictable but that didn't matter to me much. It was still interesting and fun, I mean - who doesn't like living vicariously through love-struck teenagers? I related a lot to Molly's tendency to crush hard on boys without actually making any moves or talking to them. Been there!
The plot kept moving and I was into it, staying up late and devouring the book in a couple of days. I'm interested to see if I'll enjoy Simon and the Homosapien Agenda, which is also coming out (no pun intended) as a movie this March.
I recommend this book for people who:
1) like reading YA
2) can tolerate teen love without vomiting (sometimes this does not include me)
3) who appreciate reading about diverse characters
4) who want a quick read (maybe you've just finished War and Peace and need a break?)
5) and anyone who is dorky/awkward around people of the opposite sex
1) relatable characters
2) a juicy love story
3) a plot that keeps me turning the pages way past my bedtime
For me, The Upside of Unrequited had all three.
The characters seemed pretty realistic. Often in these type of books, some girl we're supposed to believe is ugly/awkward is suddenly hounded by hot dudes and it really grinds my gears. That wasn't the case with this book. Diverse characters (POC, LGBTQ) were also well-represented. From the blurb, I got the impression that Albertalli would focus a lot on Molly's weight, but actually it was more subtle than that, which I liked.
The love story was relatively predictable but that didn't matter to me much. It was still interesting and fun, I mean - who doesn't like living vicariously through love-struck teenagers? I related a lot to Molly's tendency to crush hard on boys without actually making any moves or talking to them. Been there!
The plot kept moving and I was into it, staying up late and devouring the book in a couple of days. I'm interested to see if I'll enjoy Simon and the Homosapien Agenda, which is also coming out (no pun intended) as a movie this March.
I recommend this book for people who:
1) like reading YA
2) can tolerate teen love without vomiting (sometimes this does not include me)
3) who appreciate reading about diverse characters
4) who want a quick read (maybe you've just finished War and Peace and need a break?)
5) and anyone who is dorky/awkward around people of the opposite sex