The book tells the story of the 16 y/o Molly. She's 'big' and doesn't like that about herself. She introvert and will not ever be seen dancing on a table at a party - or at a party in general. I have to admit that I found Molly hard to understand at first. She was super insecure, doubted literally everything and doubter everything forever. Her thoughts were a bit depressive and her stream of thoughts never stopped. I gave me a bad feeling: Becky, please, I was so hopeful about this book! You now may wonder why I gave this title four stars while I really struggled with the first couple of pages. Well... let me explain this.

In the beginning of the book I had a really hard time identifying with Molly. I'm super tall (5"11) and 'skinny', I'm always do before I think (except from when I have to choose a chocolate flavor) and I do like dancing on tables (even when I'm sober). So no, I couldn't really identify with Molly, but I now know that that's okay. I just have to get over it and open up my mind to the book. And that worked. I tried seeing the world through Molly's eyes and started to understand why she's so doubtful and why some things weren't as easy for her as they were for other people. Yes, I wanted to kick her in the butt sometimes, but I started to appreciate her more. I noticed a strong character development as well, so that's a good thing. Molly grew and she got more confident on the go.

So even though I couldn't identify with Molly which caused me to struggle through the first few chapters, Becky's writing style was still very well done. I've been a fan of her since Simon and now even more. She's grown as well. Her writing style is even better than in the first book. Combine that with me finally understanding Molly, and there you have it: a book to binge!

The storyline was one of the stronger points of the books. Even though the story isn't very original (girl and two crushes), it was still written from an interesting POV and I was looking forward to what would happen next all the time while reading it. Everything seemed logical, except for a few 'coincidental' things, but that is a characteristic for YA books. In the beginning it seemed like Molly's driving through life by the people around her, but that took a term at the end of the book and Molly came out a stronger person. I liked that. I cheered for Molly!

On social media, Becky explained that The Upside is a story she wrote from her own experiences and noted that that could be different for every person. Everybody has their own experiences and handles them differently. I thought it was great for Becky to post that on social media. I feel like she has a great point. Becky has always been good at discussing issues, and she did that in The Upside as well. Ze introduces her readers to subject they may have never really thought of.

The Upside of Unrequited is a surprising fresh story. It took some time to get into it, but it was worth it. Becky is getting better at writing and the book made me laugh out loud a thousand times. It reminded me of my own high school classes. The Upside is a MUST READ and it will stay with you for a while.

'The Upside of Unrequited' is, for me, a comfort book. When a person is feeling low and they need a shoulder to cry on or a hand to hold, but we have no one to provide them for us, we eat 'comfort food' and let that sedate us for as long as we possibly can until we find content once again. 'Unrequited' was this, for me, for two months. I took my time with this book, only reading it one day for every week, because I knew that Albertalli's writing would be sorely missed if I sped through the book too quickly (after having read 'Simon Vs.' last year and adoring it just as much.) 

I wanted the characters in this book to be real and for them to be my shoulders to cry on when I was going through a rough time and I think that says a lot about what kind of book this is. You expect an awkward teen romance; what you get is friendship and family and just such a strong semblance of belonging and you want that for yourself as you're reading it through Molly's perspective. 

I cannot speak of the finer details in this story, as I believe that they are things that you have to find out by reading the book for yourself, but I can say that Albertalli has once again proved that she very much understands the target that she writes for. I commend her completely, and am highly anticipating her next novel, if it is anything like this one.

I really enjoyed reading this book, but I do struggle to give it five, or even four, stars for a few reasons. However, let's start on some positives.

I really liked all the characters, they were diverse and I loved all of the relationships between them. The book may have a focus on romance, but there is also a heavy focus on the value of family which I really appreciated. I also liked the writing a lot, it kept me interested and I just wanted to keep reading, even when I had to put it down.

On the other hand, the characters were actually why I cannot rate this book five stars. They felt kind of flat. Molly is our main character and we get to know her really well, but it felt very repetitive because it seemed that we were constantly being reminded of all these crushes and how she longs for a boyfriend and I found it pretty boring. 

With the rest of the characters, we don't see much about them really aside from their relationship status. E.g. Cassie, Molly's twin sister, we hear about her and Mina and her relationship with her sister, but we don't really see much of her interests and it's similar for other characters like Abby and for a long time it was the same for Olivia. It felt a bit like the only thing significant about these characters was that they were in relationships. Even with Reid, what we know about him seemed like a way just to differentiate him from Molly's other crushes, rather than a way to show us who he is.

I did enjoy reading this book, but I also cannot ignore that it didn't consistently keep me interested for the above reasons and as a result I rate this 3/5.

I loved everything about this book. Molly is so much like me it made me think the book was written about me. The characters are widely diverse and they each had their own personality and were so well written it made the story feel even more alive. The love story was so adorable and it just made me feel so happy inside.

I loved her first book, and this was just as funny and as diverse, and I loved it. We are dropped right into Molly's world of weirdness, with her much braver twin sister, her supportive mums, her best friends and her new job that puts her in the path of Reid. 

I saw so much of myself in Molly - maybe not so much in the ridiculous amount of crushes, but definitely the fear of putting yourself out there and being the complete opposite of confident with your body. Molly has had a total of 26 crushes, spanning the years and the types, but it's only now that she thinks maybe she could put herself out there and actually tell them she likes them. 

So the love interests. Technically we met Will first but as he was the friend of the girl Molly was pushing towards her twin Cassie, all Molly noticed was he was hipster hot. Then we met Reid, the geeky and sweet boy who works in the shop with her. I was rooting for Reid from the get-go. Molly never really seemed all that interested in Will, it was more like an acknowledgement that he was attractive. Not to mention there was plenty of mixed messages with Will, between being too drunk or too worried.

When Cassie gets together with Mina, not only is it super adorable, but it also marks the end of an era with Molly and Cassie. They have always been each other's first call but this is the sucky part of growing up, that it's not like it was when you're young; first loves and getting older changes the relationships you have, especially with siblings and parents. And it did take some adjusting but Molly's anxiety makes her see things as worse than they are, so there is some harsh and bitter fights for a time. Ah, family.

Now, I can't not mention all of the diversity! Multiple homosexual characters, pansexual love interest (for Cassie), anxious protagonist (who happened to be fat and love food - but no body shaming!), black characters, bisexual characters, Jewish characters - and then a same-sex wedding! All of this squished just effortlessly into a heartwarming coming of age story that also discusses love, sex, feminism, inequality with racism and sexism, and mental health. A great story that has just about everything, and one that has sky-rocketed to the top of my favourites.

This is a book that I would have no problems reading again and again. Beautiful and heartwarming, with a few shades of hurt thrown in. I loved it.

Molly and her twin have always been best friends as well as sisters, but when Cassie meets the girl of her dreams and falls head over heels, Molly's suddenly left behind. It's not that she's never been in love - she has, 26 times - but it's always been unrequited. Luckily, Cassie has a cute friend, Will, who's showing an interest in Molly... so why can't she stop thinking about her nerdy co-worker Reid?

Albertalli's first novel, Simon Versus The Homo-Sapiens Agenda, is one of my favourite books ever and the one I'm most likely to press upon friends while shouting, "READ THIS!" so it's fair to say that anticipation was running high for The Upside Of Unrequited. But I absolutely loved this sweet, charming, funny romance. It's fantastically diverse and, best of all, Molly is the fat YA heroine of my dreams. What leaps off the page is that Albertalli knows teenagers - knows what makes them tick, knows the cadences of their speech - and, perhaps more importantly, likes them. Her characters are fully-rounded, interesting, flawed beings, with whom the reader cannot help falling in love. This book would have been so, so important to me when I was a teenager and I'm not too proud to admit that even now, I cried happy tears at seeing a fat girl (with lesbian moms! It me!) represented on the page. And for Simon... fans there's the added Easter Egg of a guest appearance by the man himself.

Immensely relatable YA, often even painfully so. Molly articulated so many thoughts I had as a teen, feeling lost and left out and wondering what I was missing, about sex and relationships and all the mysterious things that other girls got and I never did. That I felt never could be mine, because I was fat and thus undesirable. Molly at least has a supportive, if not always tremendously aware, circle of friends, and her relationship with her twin sister was one of the strongest elements of the novel. I liked that Molly was allowed to be flawed, her occasional bitterness and self-absorbed behaviour felt believable and real. With very little actual plot the pacing was a bit slow at times, but as a character study it's certainly an engaging and enjoyable read. 3.5 stars.

Review here - https://youtu.be/4pDdp2m-3Bc

I've honestly been dreading writing this review because I loved this book so much and I don't honestly know how to even talk about it.

Molly has a lot of crushes and all of them are unrequited, or she thinks they are because she never gets the confidence to tell them. When Molly's sister Cassie gets a girlfriend Molly starts to feel even more sad about her unrequited love. But Cassie has a cute friend who Molly thinks maybe she could love, at the same time she starts to feel things for her coworker Reid.

This book is in contention for my favourite book of the year. I absolutely adored Simon Vs and I think I liked this even more. It has a chubby Jewish MC, a chubby romantic interest, lesbian mums, a pansexual, Korean character. It was just so wonderfully real. As someone who is pansexual it was especially important for me that there was a pansexual character.

This has a sort of love triangle but it's not really a love triangle because one of the love interests is more of a forced flirtation caused by Cassie. But I liked how Albertalli dealt with the situation, it felt so real and not like how uncomfortable and silly some love triangles are.

I just want to take a second to talk about how much I loved the representation in this book. As someone who is both chubby and pansexual it meant a lot to me to read a YA book with characters who were the same. I think this is the first book I've ever read where there was a pansexual character and I'm just so happy about it. I hope that more books include pan characters. I also loved reading a chubby MC and about a chubby love interest. It's not often that a love interest doesn't have the "perfect" body. And on top of all that Molly has anxiety and she takes medication for it and that's just part of her every day life and it was so good to read someone who has anxiety just living with it and seeing the ups and downs even with meds.

This book just made me feel so warm and fuzzy inside. There's something about the way Albertalli writes that I just really adore. She doesn't add unnecessary drama and she just has characters living their lives. I also love how Simon Vs. had Oreos and this has Mini Eggs, I adore Mini Eggs but you can only get them at Easter time which makes me sad.

The wedding may date this book as it surrounds gay marriage being made legal in the states but I loved reading something that was relevant to where we are now.

I already want to reread this book because I just loved it so much and has solidified Becky Albertalli as an auto-buy author for me.

This book was freaking adorable. I mean, there was lots of teen drama and stuff happening but it was also the cutest. It's strange, it sort of began with Molly being cute and meeting a quirky girl in the toilet (Mina) and the inevitable making friends in toilets (this always happens in clubs and I love it). It then had the greatest meet cute for Mina and Cassie with the awkward merge of friends which always occurs. It then turned into an awkward teenage angst things as Cassie became invested in her relationship with Mina leaving Milly to feel alone. It had Molly doing the will they won't they thing with Will and Reid and then the books turned back to a teenage cute fest that is Molly and Reid. As I said, it felt a bit strange. I mean, the book stayed cute all the way through but there was a slight change in tone as Milly fell into that pit of obsessing which happens when you start overthinking things and know you are and simply cannot stop yourself no matter how much you try.

I think that's what I really loved about this book. Albertalli really knew how to describe the thought process of a slightly obsessive anxious person. I cannot claim to suffer from anxiety but I am an anxious person when I let myself be and so I could totally understand Molly's entire thought process in this book. Even when she was being totally crazy and you wanted to stop her all I can think is I've been there.

And the characters are the best. I loved Molly and her creativity and her insecurity at times but then how funny she can be too. The girl be sassy when she wants to be! And Cassie and her occasionally selfish ways (because who isn't at 17) but girl is there when you need her and she will cut a bitch when needs must. And Olivia who was the girl of the long term boyfriend but then totally ok with single life. She was just okay with whatever. And Reid whose cheeks and I want to smush and I just want to take him everywhere in my pocket the boy be cute. And Molly and Cassie's moms! Honestly, they were parent life goals. And it's so fun to see parents I recognise with my own. I may not have two moms but their general attitude to parenting is so like my mom and stepdad. I love it.

Basically, in my slightly spoilerish flailing I have to say I loved it. I loved the writing. I loved the book and I am sat here questioning why the hell I've not read Albertalli's first book.

*I received this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. However, all opinions are completely my own and are in no way influenced by the exchange.*

As soon as I saw this book on NetGalley, I had to request it right away. I read Becky Albertalli's book, Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda pretty recently after seeing several reviews on it, and I knew straight away I wanted to read anything else that Becky Albertalli graced us with. 

The Upside of Unrequited follows 17 year old Molly Peskin-Suso, a girl who has had many crushes but never followed through on them. She has a twin sister called Cassie who finds herself in a new relationship. As Cassie gets more and more involved in this new relationship, she becomes determined to set Molly up as well. Molly isn't too sure this is what she wants, after all, 'fat girls have to be careful'. 

I absolutely loved this book. The characters have so much depth, are so lovable and I REALLY enjoyed that there was ties to the characters we met in Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda. It was really nice to check in with them and see how their lives are going. The diversity in this book is absolutely top notch, there are characters who are lesbians, pansexual, bisexual, Jewish, different race/colour, different body types (the main character is 'fat') and mention of mental health issues as well. I really don't think you could get any more diverse than this book.

The storyline was fantastic and was incredibly character driven. I'm not usually a huge fan of this, but the way Becky Albertalli has done this is extremely good. I was so sad that the book finished, I could have kept reading about Molly, Cassie and their family and friends forever! I really hope there is going to be another book that features some of these characters in the future, I just need to know! 

Becky Albertalli has become an auto-buy author for me now. For a relatively new author, the work she is publishing is the standard of that I would expect from a well known author. I can only imagine how she's going to grow and what she will come out with in the future. Not only is her writing incredible, but she fills some massive gaps in the YA market with the diversity and characters in her book. She's not afraid to deviate from the 'norm' and I really applaud her for that.

In short, this is a book you all need to pick up and read! Especially now that we're coming in to the warmer weather, it's a perfect sunny day read.

Just like 'Simon' this was another utterly charming and diverse read. Molly has had loads of crushes before but it has never gone any further than that whereas her twin sister Cassie is much more experienced. Molly feels like the only girl in the world who has never been kissed or had a relationship. 
Enter 2 very different boys: Will and Reid. Will either of them be her first kiss?
This is primarily a romance novel and it is very cute indeed but I actually loved the fact it focused a bit on the fear Molly has of her and her twin growing apart. You don't need to be a twin for this to resonate, its a common feeling when friends leave school and all head off in different directions and it is handled beautifully in here. It has a great supporting cast of characters and its 2/2 for me now with Becky's books. I can't wait for the next one.

The Upside of Unrequited was a wonderful book full of awkwardness, diversity and adorable things! I found it difficult at first to connect with the narrator, Molly, as she was someone who crushed on a lot of people and I don't really do that. Other than that though, I'd say I was quite similar to her character. She was an anxious fluffball who was overweight and thought no one could ever love her. Also, she had her first kiss at 17 (me too, yay!) because of how uncertain she was about going after her crushes. I mean, my reason isn't the same but still. 

Also, Cassie and Mina! So! Cute! Shipped them! My only complaint about them is that they were not in it anywhere near enough which makes me sad. This was a story not just about growing up, finding yourself and being what you think is unlovable! It was also about family and friendship and how easy it is to drift apart from siblings if one of you gets a gf/bf. I loved it! Highly recommend!

4.5 Stars
OK confession time, I didn't love Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. I wanted to, had really high hopes for it but while I did enjoy it there was that little something missing for me.

This book however, this book I did love. I don't know if it was just that I went into it with slightly lower expectations (my expectations were through the roof for Simon vs) or if I could just relate more to Molly but I enjoyed it so much more.

Albertalli's writing is absolutely wonderful. She manages to capture the voice and feeling of being a teenager so well that it took me right back to my teenage years. There isn't a huge story, it's pretty much your usual coming of age/YA romance but main character Molly is so likeable it's difficult not to get hooked in.

Molly was definitely a character I could relate to. She's smart, creative and close to her family and friends but is self conscious, anxious and quiet when it comes to meeting new people and boys in particular. She develops crushes at the drop of a hat but is too scared to act and therefore ends up worshiping the boy of the moment from afar. 

I loved how her character developed over the course of the story and in particular the very real way in which the author portrayed the changing relationship with her twin sister. In many ways the romance within the book was almost secondary, although it was very sweet and one of the highlights for me. 

One of the other highlights was the amount of diversity. This is possibly one of the most diverse books I've ever come across and it felt like almost every group was represented in some way. Molly has two moms, she's Jewish, her sister is a lesbian who is involved with a pansexual character, she has weight issues and suffers from anxiety. In the beginning I did wonder if this was too much and the author was forcing too much in but thankfully this turned out not to be the case. It all feels very natural and the issues raised are dealt with in quite a subtle and realistic way.

Overall a great read and one I'd definitely recommend if you like YA contemporary with diverse characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC. As always all views are my own.

Holy relatability, Batman. I’m pretty sure Becky Albertalli has telepathically taken my seventeen-year-old self, chucked in a flair for vintage and craft, and created Molly. She’s chunky, she’s sweet, she’s a serial crusher (totalling twenty-six crushes but no kisses), she’s totally baffled by how relationships work and how one can acquire a boyfriend, and I related so hard it hurts. She also gives (and says) a big ‘fuck you’ to guys who say shit like, ‘you’re gorgeous for a big girl’ – she may be insecure and unsure at times but body acceptance, especially in a world that shoves the notion that thinner is more attractive down your throat, takes time, and I think Molly’s doing alright with that. 

Now, the nitty gritty (summarized from the blurb because I’m lazy): Molly and Cassie are seventeen-year-old twins. Normally cynical Cassie is suddenly on cloud nine with Mina, and Molly feels confused and adrift, feeling pushed aside for Mina. Molly can’t cope with the idea of being rejected and feels that, as a fat girl, she has to be careful, which means she’s never had a boyfriend or been kissed. Enter cute hipster Will, and adorable geek Reid, who make her rethink everything she thinks she knows about love and relationships. It may sound superficial but I can assure that this book has a lot going on beneath the surface, whilst still being gloriously feel good. 

The story is so driven by the characters and what’s going on in their lives, and I became entirely wrapped up in it – it’s all about first love, teenage relationships, the silliness of said relationships, so if you don’t like any of that stuff, stay away because it is inescapable. Boyfriends, being desired, wondering if you’re a freak for not having that mythical first kiss – all that gloriously silly teenage stuff that seems so important at the time – I’ve been there, I’ve lived it, and I mostly loved living it again through Molly. There’s something both nauseating and wonderful about all that first love stuff that makes me go gooey. 

If it’s not already obvious, I loved Molly, and most of the other characters by the end of it – they all felt very real, flaws and all. I think Molly could easily come across as boy obsessed, but when you’re seventeen stuff like that can seem so important – relationships, being liked, fitting in, it’s all so insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but you don’t always know that when you’re younger. It’s why Cassie seemed irritating at times, you just get caught up in that first boyfriend/girlfriend and forget about everything else, but she was also unapologetically herself and a fierce defender (as well as irritator) of Molly.

Aside from bundles of relatability, I loved the diversity within this novel. I liked that white, straight, and cis, was not the ‘default’ for the characters. Different races and sexualities abound in the novel and it is treated as completely normal, rather than there being a ‘token gay friend’ or ‘token black friend’ – they are just characters, just people, who are never portrayed as ‘other’. I found a real feeling of acceptance throughout the novel, like anyone could pick it up and find something to relate to amongst the characters and situations that happened. It’s just mushy, gooey sweetness, and crazy teenage hormones, and love, so much love, all wrapped up into an imperfect but wonderful parcel. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m growing to go throw glitter amongst the madness that is life.

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.

I’m trying to think of the last book I read that featured a Jewish main character that wasn’t in relation to the Second World War. I can’t. And I’m also trying to think of the last time I heard the word ‘mamaleh’ used and wasn’t from someone in my family and I most definitely can’t. It was so surprising to see a Jewish person who wasn’t really religious — more culturally Jewish than anything — because that is 100% me. I never thought I’d see that part of me represented in a book (even casually like in Upside)!

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!

And I leave you with the truest of Jewish truths:

“I don’t think of myself as super Jewish or anything, and I basically never 
go to synagogue. But there’s this thing I feel when I meet another 
Jewish person in the wild. It’s like a secret invisible high five.”


Thanks so much to Penguin Random House UK Children’s for an advance copy!

This book was such a quick and easy read. The Upside of Unrequited is an engaging slice of life type story following seventeen year old Molly, who has had twenty-six crushes in her life, but has never acted on them. It was so easy to slip into Molly's head and the result was that this book was very difficult to put down. The book opens with Molly in the toilets at a club wondering how mermaids pee, a response to the decor that feels so genuine and endearing, and instantly put a smile on my face. She has a brief encounter with a girl her age, and takes off from there.

The book is told entirely from Molly's point of view, she is very relatable and has a distinct and developed voice. I soon felt like I knew her and really related to her as a main character. She is a pintrest queen with an eye for decoration and a talent for crafts. She has a long history of crushes, but she has always been too scared to open herself up to hurt, to act on them. Part of the story is dealing with her trying to open herself up to the possibility of a relationship.

One of the things that I really loved about The Upside of Unrequited is the importance of the relationship between Molly and her twin sister Cassie, and the strong relationships she has with the rest of her family. Too often in YA, main characters have poor to non-existent relationships with their families, especially parents, here the story looks at how these relationships evolve.

There are so many important elements woven in to this story, and I felt like it was really well done. There is a lot of diversity, and it feels totally natural, and none of the characters are reduced to their diverse characteristic, they all read like real people, and I really liked all the different relationship dynamics. There is so much to talk about regarding this book, but I'm going to try to mention things without spoiling anything. Molly, the main character has an anxiety disorder which she takes medication for, this is not a main plot point, but it does come up in terms of how it affects her life. She also happens to be fat, which again is not a defining trait for her character, she is so much more. She is a twin and has a strong relationship with her sister Cassie, who dates girls, at the beginning of the book she meets her love interest, Mina, who is Korean-American and identifies as pansexual. They have two moms, one of whom identifies as bisexual. There are multiple black characters in the book. Also the main character and a number of side characters, including one of the love interests, are Jewish. I'm not in a position to judge the representation of many of these diverse elements, but everything felt well handled as far as I'm aware.

So, I have never connected to a YA contemporary book before, like I did with this one. I literally was so absorbed that I did nothing but read this for a day. It was joyful and cute and authentic and it gave me all the feels. I have since read, and really enjoyed Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda (which also gave me all the feels), and now I want to reread this all over again. I feel like Becky Albertalli is now an auto-buy author for me, she definitely lived up to the hype, and I am extremely excited to see what she does next. This book was an easy 5 stars, for me and I highly recommend it.