Rating: 5 stars
Goodreads Book Description:
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 Review:
IT’S SO FLUFFY
I’M GONNA DIE
This was the
first book I’ve read by Becky Albertalli and I can’t even begin to explain how
much I loved The Upside of Unrequited. I’ve heard so many wonderful things
about her other book Simon vs. the Homo
Sapiens Agenda and therefore The Upside of Unrequited was very
hyped in the book community.
There are so many
reasons why I’ve fallen utterly in love with The Upside of Unrequited,
for example: the way Albertalli embraces the idea of diversity. It is shown not
only in sexuality, but in race as well. The beautiful thing about this book is
that the majority of characters are part of the LGBTQIA community. Mentions of
pansexual, bisexual and asexual are all acknowledged in different ways, and
Albertalli doesn’t stick to the typical stereotypes and races.
Secondly, I
admire how raw and realistic The Upside of Unrequited is, it
deals with so many issues faced by both teenagers and society nowadays. I love
how open Molly’s family is, her parents handle arising issues with ease and
both Cassie and Molly are always able to talk to them about anything at any
time. They discuss topics such as birth control, drinking, first love, anxiety,
etc. In YA, we expect these issues to be glossed over but in The
Upside of Unrequited, Albertalli brings an accurate representation of
how all these talks play out in life.
The protagonist
of this story, Molly, is not your typical stick-figure YA main character. She’s
fat. Allow me to repeat that, Molly is fat. And she’s always grown up being
larger than most girls in her town and school but she’s slowly learning to
accept that. However, her anxiety and self-doubt quite often get in the way,
making her compare herself to other girls. And she’s a virgin, unlike many of
the characters in this book, and she’s surrounded by constant conversations
about sex, love and drinking, all things a 17 year old should experience,
right? Wrong. Yes, Molly is self-conscious that she’s had barely anything
remotely close to love or let a single drop of alcohol touch her lips. But she
takes charge of her life; she tries her hardest to not let society’s standards
sway her judgement. She is her own person.
It was fluffy,
relatable and a really quick contemporary read. From Molly’s Pinterest
personality and Cassie’s sassy attitude right down to Reid’s blinding white
sneakers.
A beautiful story
about two twin sisters and how love works its way into their lives. The
Upside of Unrequited is definitely a contender for my favourite read of
2017!
Think Lovely
Thoughts xo
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