Review: The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

  The Upside of Unrequited | Becky Albertalli | Published April 11, 2017
Rating:
Source: I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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I loved this book SO much. I don't read a lot of contemporaries these days but if they were all written like this then I would never stop.

The diversity in this book is unreal. There are so many different types of people and none of them feel like they are there for the sake of it. They all have their own story and are fleshed out so well. This is what we need more of in books! It reflects real life so well. The main character, Molly, is fat and negotiating her way through teenage life wondering if she'll ever have a boyfriend. Her twin sister is gay and starts a new relationship at the beginning of the book with Mina, a pansexual Korean-American. They have two mothers and are sperm-donor babies. There are other gay characters, Jewish characters, black characters, bisexuality and anxiety controlled with medication. The representation of all of these things was just so well done and it's exactly what I want to see being incorporated more.

The romance brought me so much joy. Reid is utterly cute and I was rooting for him throughout the entire book. I love all of his interactions with Molly and looked forward to their conversations the most. I also found the sibling relationship between Molly and Cassie really interesting. I like that the romances weren't always the main focus of the story. Their relationship as sisters was very important to both of them and I appreciated their struggle to keep that alive whilst also manoeuvring the changes in other parts of their lives.

I spent the entirety of this book either smiling or nodding along to Molly's comments about the doubts and feelings she was experiencing. It was completely relatable. I related and connected to Molly the way I always connect with Rainbow Rowell's characters. Becky Albertalli is firmly at the top of my contemporary go-to list alongside Rowell and I honesty can't wait to see what she writes next.

This book is special and deserves the hype. I loved it even more than Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. It's real, funny, highly relatable and you need to read it immediately.


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