The Upside of Unrequited
Becky Albertalli
Rating: 4.5/5
Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love. 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. 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 a chubby Tolkien superfan with a season pass to the Ren Faire, and there’s absolutely no way Molly could fall for him.
Right?
My face hurts from smiling so much. The Upside of Unrequited is the cutest book to ever cute.
It was a fantastic coming of age story about learning to accept yourself. Filled with diverse characters, sisterhood, and concerns people go through every day, it was a terrific portrayal of real life.
Upside is Becky’s second book, her first being Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda, one of my favourites and also so ridiculously adorable. It’s hard to not compare Upside with Simon since they technically are related books. Not a sequel or prequel, but more of a side-quel. Plot-wise, I felt Simon definitely has the edge. I felt more happened overall in Simon, but that’s not to say Upside wasn’t good. It was still an adorable rollercoaster of fun.
And for the Simon fans: Simon, Abby, and Nick make perfect cameos.
With two fantastic books written, Becky Albertalli is on her way to becoming one of the defining young adult authors of this decade. I cannot wait to see what her next book brings!
Thanks so much to Penguin Random House UK Children’s for an advance copy!
Pick yours up today: (Book Depository / Amazon US / Amazon Canada / Amazon UK)
I read this recently and I loved it! Even more than Simon vs, I think it was the characters in the upside of unrequited, because I do agree that the plot was better in Simon. Something about this book just called to me though. Becky Albertalli is fast becoming one of my favourite authors! Great review
I adored Molly so much, she was so cute! I’m so curious to see what she’ll write next