nonyevazubogu 's review for:

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

4.0

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this is one of my favorite books that i’ve read this year. this felt like reading a book about myself. it made me look around and see if someone was watching me through the cameras lol. it introduced a character that i have never read about before in this organic way- an “unconventionally unattractive” young woman who has a undying yearning for romance and a pretty bad perception of life and herself because of it. i am that girl and i have never seen it done that way. the harsh criticism for the main lead being “lame” and “flat” more-so a problem with the readers than it is with the author’s writing. the exact problem that people like Molly face is feeling so abnormal that your entire personality deflates on itself. you spend so much time watching others, wondering why they just seem to like..get it. get everything? anyways, i feel like this story does a good job at showing that- the yearning, the uncertainty, and even the self-righteous (annoying) people that tell you “your time will come” “you just have to put yourself out there” blah blah blah. i will admit though that this story is lacking something. i feel like a lot of good conversations come out of it, but it wasn’t expanded upon? Molly talked about what her fatness meant to other people, but what did it mean to her? why wasn’t there any development there? What about her know-it-all sister Cassie? Why wasn’t there a conversation about how Cassie was also a 17 yo girl with little knowledge about the world too? Why were we just to believe that Cassie was wise beyond her years? Why weren’t we able to see her cracks? Molly often calls herself a bad person, so why was there no development concerning the other character’s bad moments? i know we are seeing from Molly’s point of view and her thoughts but idk…i just wish there was more. and she gets the guy in the end so what was the point of any of it y’know? lol. anyways, an overall good read. i’ll definitely be reading it again to capture some moments i might’ve missed.