a thousand thanks to harpercollins uk and harper fire for providing this e-arc <3

i somehow managed to completely miss the fact that this book was coming out until last week and i am so glad that i still caught on because amelia, if only was an absolute delight. becky albertalli is truly incredible at writing queer gen z characters that feel real and authentic and she‘s proven it once again with her newest book.
amelia in particular is not only an accurate depiction of a queer teen in the 2020s but also an incredibly fun character, whose bold personality might be irritating to some people but for me it really made her stand out as an interesting protagonist.
while i‘m generally not the biggest fan of the friends-to-lovers trope i did enjoy this iteration, because it’s pretty clear from the beginning but seeing amelia slowly put the pieces together felt immensely satisfying.
diving into the world of online fandoms, specifically of real life people, was really interesting to see and was done in a way that shows a real understanding of the subject to the point where i‘m sure i‘ve seen about half of those comments before. i have no doubt that albertalli‘s own mistreatment online played a part in the writing of this book and i‘m glad that she managed to turn her experiences something that’s definitely gonna bring people some comfort.

3.75⭐️

The perfect rom-com road trip YA romance, this may be one for the summer. Amelia is obsessed with youtuber Walter and drives across the country with her friends to meet him...only to realise he might not be who she's in love with.
This was well written, classically YA, and a fun and cozy read.

Amelia, If Only is a young adult romantic comedy about a girl obsessed with a YouTuber who convinces her friends to go to his in-person event, only for her to realise maybe he's not her true interest. Amelia's love for Walter Holland, YouTuber who has gone solo after being part of a double act and who recently announced he's bisexual, is well-known by all her friends. Even though they're not so interested, they agree to a road trip to a nearby college campus to attend a meet-and-greet, a chance for them to all be together before they go off to college themselves. Amelia can tell that her best friend Natalie isn't as thrilled to be there, but maybe there's more to it than a lack of interest in Walter, and Amelia needs to stop for a moment and think about who she's really always thinking about.

As might be expected by now from Albertalli, this book features a chaotic friend group and a character figuring themselves out, though in this case Amelia knows she's bi, and instead needs to think about her feelings rather than doing things without considering why. The book is also centred, particularly for the first two-thirds, around ideas of fandom and parasocial relationships, using ideas that have clear parallels with real life celebrities who have been treated similarly. Between chapters there are snippets of online discourse, which add background mostly to Walter rather than Amelia as she's not actually part of that kind of online debate. I think the first part of the book therefore makes it seem far more about parasocial relationships than Amelia's romance, and this plotline is brought together nicely by Amelia having to actually interact with Walter and discover more of the reality of his life.

However, this focus on the YouTuber side of the plot does mean that Amelia's friends don't always seem fleshed out enough, and certain elements of their stories got maybe a line or two. As the book had a lot of banter between the friends, it maybe needed a little more space for them as characters as well, and to build up the history between Amelia and Natalie. You were told at the end all this history was there, but maybe a little more of it throughout would've helped show the connection between them.

This is a fun young adult novel that explores the messiness of feelings for your friends, especially when you're queer, and navigating being obsessed with somebody famous as you realise they're a person too. Given the genre, it doesn't go too deeply into the concept of parasocial relationships, presenting Amelia as the respectful if sometimes cringeworthy fan in opposition to the ones who ask inappropriate questions to make the book's moral stance clear. People with less interest in online culture (I like to watch YouTube videos about it) might find the interjection of online discourse between chapters distracting from the romance plot line, but for me, it was interesting to get that side of things as well as the characters describing it.

Okay what a perfect read!!! I flew through this book, I couldn’t stop reading. Amelia and her friends are insanely relatable, I felt that everyone is just so well written. The romance was very cute but for me the friendship aspect was what sold it for me. Would definitely recommend!!

I loved everything about this book, it explores some real world issues seamlessly and doesn't overtake the plot that drew you in first, which I feel makes it much more memorable and easier to learn.

Thank you so much for the eARC of this highly anticipated release,

Amelia, If Only is unquestionably Becky Albertalli's funniest book to date. From page 1 I was laughing and I honestly didn't stop until I finished. This book simply exudes joy.

As expected, Becky manages to use her writing to analyse relevant cultural issues (this time: internet celebrity culture and parasocial online relationships) in a way that feels natural to the story whilst also raising important real-world issues. The exploration of 'fandom' culture feels particularly relevant to the current internet environment and allows YA readers to reflect upon their own experience and involvement,
Whilst the cultural aspect of the book was handled well, the true gem of this story is the friendship group. By the end of chapter 1 my heart was invested in Amelia, Natalie, Mark and Zora and I could have read endless stories about these four and the love and humour they share. If there was ever the future possibility of a Mark or Zora book, just know I'd be lined up to read that.

Whilst the relationship dynamic between Natalie and Amelia is a continuing theme of the story, the choice to make it a smaller part of the plot (compared to the internet drama and friend road-trip) was incredibly reflective of Amelia's obliviousness to her own feelings. I personally felt this worked well for this book. Whilst the relationship dynamic was more important and a larger focus in books like Imogen, Obviously, in this story we can already feel the history and love between Natalie and Amelia. It was simply a case of waiting for them to realise their connection. It helped provide Amelia, If Only a unique voice and an entirely new contribution to Becky Albertalli's catalogue - whilst still allowing for some welcomed cameos from past faves.

In conclusion, this book was additive, joyful and, as usual, Becky managed to find the perfect balance between teenage feelings/insecurities and hilarious charm/shenanigans, creating yet another wonderfully relatable queer YA story. In summary, Becky Albertalli simply doesn't miss.

Becky Albertalli's books are the hug little teenage bisexual me needed.
At first, I didn't really feel the chemistry, but by the end, I was fully invested.
I flew through this book (about 5 hours, give or take).
Imo, the in-between chapters of online discourse etc. didn't add anything to the story and only really shifted the focus away from Amelia, since she wasn't even involved. I think, Walter would have needed a bigger role, for it to have worked.
Honestly, the book just didn't feel fully cooked to me.
I love Becky's writing style - especially the dialogues, which feel pretty natural.
With this being an ARC (thanks to netgalley as well as the publisher), I hope the final version gets another polish, before publication.

So far it's 3.5 stars rounded up from me.

3.75 stars

I loved reading Imogen, Obviously by the same author and Amelia, If Only didn't disappoint. Set during a road trip just before their high school graduation, to see Amelia's favourite YouTuber Walter Holland, Amelia's anxieties about her life changing and moving away are explored as well as the importance of her supportive friend group. Although at times it was a bit predictable and a bit too fast paced. I still read it in less than 24 hours and it was such a fun read, and I definitely recommend it if you want a lighthearted quick read with queer representation, I also loved that characters from Imogen, Obviously briefly appeared.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC

This one was a quick and easy read. I like Becky Albertalli's writing; it's always funny, light and lighthearted. In this YA novel about Amelia, who falls for youtuber Walter Holland and goes on a chaotic road trip, there is a lot of banter, which was quite funny. The group of friends around Amelia is in the foreground and the romance with her best friend Natalie develops more on the fringes. I enjoyed the stories about Walter and her friends, but at the same time I have to say that the love was a little too short for me. The first part of the book in particular was very slow, and the story only picked up pace in the last third. I love slow burn, I really do! But it was too slow for me here. I also missed the growing attraction, the longing for each other that I know in a “friends-to-lover” love story.

I liked the representation of social media and the whole fandom around Walter. It was well portrayed, especially the pitfalls social media can have and how differently things are perceived. There were lots of retrospectives and excerpts from social media about Walter. Interesting in itself, but this also pushed the romance with Natalie into the background. I would have liked to have read more details of the past about Natalie and Amelia, as they had been friends for many years. Maybe then I would have seen more of the attraction or chemistry?

I enjoyed parts of the book, though I would have liked more focus on the romance. If you like YA, this is the book for you. But if you are looking for a nice romance, you should pick up another book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC.

THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD IT CURED MY READING SLUMP AT 2AM ON A RANDOM MONDAY. I'm so serious: for context, I first heard about this book at 2am last night, got an ARC on netgalley within half an hour by some miracle, and stayed up till 6:30am to finish it giggling and blushing and so, so in love. god bless becky albertalli. her last few books missed the mark for me a little but this one had all the magic that made me fall in love with her and my queerness in my early teenage years.

this scratched a craving for a good best friends to lovers slowburn ive had for god knows how long in the most satisfying way possible. I'm pretty picky with my romances, but this one did not disappoint: the build-up, the banter, the dynamic, the realization, it was all perfect. natarccio is such a snarky, adorable little goofball. the friend group at the core of the story gave me all the warm and fuzzy feelings and was just so *chef's kiss*. amelia is such a classically albertalli protagonist with her big heart and intense earnestness and chaotic narration - one complaint i guess i could see people having with the book is that the narration jumps around a lot and skips over important scenes to go on random tangents a lot, but I personally adored that about it because it had me hooked. it's also just so quotable, with that trademark gen z terminally online becky albertalli humour. fandom and internet culture is a huge part of the book, of course, and that's a little too on point. I also love and deeply relate to the way amelia describes how she processes her emotions - she puts the big, messy feelings of identity and crushes and falling in love with your friends in so many different ways into words so beautifully. askdjfhgkdjfh all in all, the experience of reading this book felt like cookies and a hug:)

oh ALSO. there were so many easter eggs and references to her previous works it was awesome:) imogen and co even show up for a couple chapters as background characters which was very fun to see