The Upside of Unrequited, Becky Albertalli – Book Review

Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love—she’s lived through it twenty-six times. She crushes hard and crushes often, but always in secret. Because no matter how many times her twin sister, Cassie, tells her to woman up, Molly can’t stomach the idea of rejection. So she’s careful. Fat girls always have to be careful.

Then a cute new girl enters Cassie’s orbit, and for the first time ever, Molly’s cynical twin is a lovesick mess. Meanwhile, Molly’s totally not dying of loneliness—except for the part where she is. Luckily, Cassie’s new girlfriend comes with a cute hipster-boy sidekick. Will is funny and flirtatious and just might be perfect crush material. Maybe more than crush material. And if Molly can win him over, she’ll get her first kiss and she’ll get her twin back.

There’s only one problem: Molly’s coworker Reid. He’s an awkward Tolkien superfan with a season pass to the Ren Faire, and there’s absolutely no way Molly could fall for him. Right?

*ARC received in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley. The thoughts are entirely my own and in no way biased.*

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. This may take a while, cause there are so many! Firstly, I love the fat rep, okay? Okay. It is important to me as a person who is fat herself. We’re always made to feel less about ourselves everywhere. About how maybe we should eat less or give up desserts or maybe start exercising. Ever think of the fact that maybe we’re doing all that and we’re still fat? Or the fact that we don’t want to do that stuff cause we’re happy just the way we are? And, not just outsiders, our own family members do this so many times. I loved how it was handled in this story. Molly’s grandma has issues with the fact that she is fat and she’s always telling her to get thin. That scene was where I felt the most represented. Those 5 minutes of reading that one scene made me tear up because then, it wasn’t Molly who was being spoken to. It was me. Like, being thin was so much more important than being a nice human being, a person with hopes and dreams and wishes. Everything about me was just reduced to the fact that I’m fat and my grandma thought that that wouldn’t do. I actually have no words to describe how much that one scene meant to me. Thank you, Becky, for writing this.

Okay. Moving on, now that I have blabbered about my love for fat rep in this book, the next thing I adored was the friendships! There’s sibling friendship and long distance friendship and just friendship in general and I adored it. One of my best friends stays in another city, so I totally get the struggle. And, of course, there’s my hoard of internet friends who actually live across the world in America. Don’t get me started on how difficult it is juggling different time zones. Anywho, Molly is such a good friend. I love that despite whatever is going on in her life, she’s always there for her friends and listening to them. It’s important. All these YAs where the main leads just forget about their friends after they meet each other make me so mad. I mean, I would never forget my friends because of one boy (or girl) who might not even be in my life next month. So, I loved the portrayal of friendships in this. So good. I need to thank Becky again for writing such beautiful friendships! ❤

Okay. Now the characters. Molly is just so amazing. I really identify with her on a lot of levels. Apart from the fat rep that I talked about earlier, there are so many other things. She’s had so many crushes but she hasn’t ever been in a relationship or even been kissed. She’s sweet and cute and really awkward. I love that. She’s happy in the happiness of those around her and that is really commendable. It is one of the things that I love most about her. And that she’s a Pinterest Queen. I aspire to achieve Molly Peskin – Suso level of amaze when it comes to Pinterest. One day, I shall achieve it.

Then, there’s Reed. GOD! The love I have for that boy. He is so cute! And with his fandom tees and his white sneakers, he just stole my heart. I love him! He’s a great, great love interest. I love how he’s always making Molly laugh and how he always tries his best to make her comfortable, right from the first time they meet. That’s a good thing. And, he’s obsessed with chocolate. Lots of brownie points for this guy for everything he does. He’s so sweet. And he’s this insecure cinnamon roll at times but I love how Molly is always there to reassure him. That’s what friends are for!

Will. He was a good character and he made me laugh plenty, but I didn’t really like him as a love interest for Molly, mainly because I thought they had zero chemistry. It might have been because so much of their interaction was forced, because their best friends were dating and they were thrown together in the hopes that if they started dating too, things would be awesome for said best friends. It was handled really delicately throughout the book and I loved how the whole thing was brought to it’s conclusion.

And, Cassie. Okay, let me tell you that for the longest time, I hated Cassie. Her and Molly were so good in the beginning, but the minute Cassie started dating Mina, it was like she changed. Molly had such a hard time adjusting after that because her twin didn’t seem to care about her anymore. Cassie pushed Will on Molly at every chance she got without even asking Molly if Molly liked him. She seemed to have decided that being with Will would be great for Molly and she thought that Will was someone who was actually a good match for her. She didn’t spend much time with Molly after that happened either and I didn’t like that at all. But, in the end when Molly and Cassie finally had the heart to heart and apologized for a fight which had happened days before, I understood Cassie a lot better and it was just great.

The moms were so awesome. I absolutely adored them! They’re so cool and just amaze! I want parents like that. Gosh, they’re the best! <33333

Okay, so yes. Bottom line. Awesome story, awesome writing and awesome characters. Go read this ASAP because you need this in your life!

 

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Becky Albertalli is the author of the acclaimed novels Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (film: Love, Simon), The Upside of Unrequited, and Leah on the Offbeat. She is also the co-author of What If It’s Us with Adam Silvera. A former clinical psychologist who specialized in working with children and teens, Becky lives with her family in Atlanta.

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