The Upside of Unrequitted by Becky Albertalli

Summary from Goodreads:

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?

Review:

I have to admit that I have not read Simon Vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda yet. I came across this book in London (I did read a British paperback version). And now, I have the author’s first book waiting for me at the library. I can see why everyone loves this author. This book was fantastic.

I loved the main character. I loved how realistic she felt. She really read like an honest teen of today –with a little bit of anxiety. I totally related to her series of crushes. And I also related to her inability to get a boyfriend. That was me in high school. It was nice feeling represented in YA.

I loved Molly’s family too. I loved how different her twin was. I loved how diverse everyone was. This kind of reminded me of the diverse cast of the tv show, The Fosters (which I love). This was definitely a more character driven story than plot driven one. It was all about the characters, particularly Molly. And I loved that. I can see some people having trouble with it though. Not a tone happens. So much of it is in Molly’s head.

I love that there was a love triangle, but not really. It was always clear to the reader who the right guy was. And it was fun watching Molly learn it too. It also wasn’t just about crushes and the right guy. It was about growing apart from family, learning to deal with change, and just plain old growing up. Its simplicity was special and unlike a lot of other YA contemporaries that sometimes feel like authors just throw random plot arcs in for drama and not for any fluidity of the story.

This is the book I took with me when I traveled, and I read it while waiting in line places at ALA. I’m so glad I had this book with me. It felt like a friend who tagged along at all the right moments. Seriously, I can’t quite put words to it, but there’s something special and different here. And I can’t wait to see what everyone is talking about in her first book. I give this one a 9/10.