Amelia, If Only by Becky Albertalli is exactly the kind of heart-melting, slowburn, best-friends-to-lovers story I didn’t know I was starving for until I devoured it in one sitting. It’s tender and chaotic, messy in all the best ways, and brimming with that very specific, very real Gen Z humor that Albertalli does so well it hurts.

At its core, this is a book about friendship—the kind that makes you laugh so hard your stomach aches, the kind that holds space for your spirals and meltdowns, the kind that grows alongside you even as you all head in different directions. Amelia and her friend group felt like a real, lived-in crew. Their group dynamics were comforting and warm, full of chaotic support and soft accountability, and honestly? The book would’ve been worth it just for that.

But then there’s the romance. Oh, the romance. It’s the slowest of burns and the sweetest of payoffs. I’m picky when it comes to romantic arcs—especially best friends-to-lovers—but this one nailed the pacing. The longing, the uncertainty, the slow realization… it all felt so earned. And Natarccio? What a delightful, goofy, snarky little chaos gremlin. The banter had me grinning like an idiot more than once.

Amelia herself is pure Albertalli: big-hearted, chaotic, deeply earnest, and emotionally rich. Her narration is jumpy, prone to spirals, full of tangents, and occasionally skips over big scenes but it works. It mimics real thought patterns, especially for a teenager on the cusp of huge life changes, and it made me feel like I was Amelia, living inside her very busy head. If you’re someone who enjoys linear storytelling with every beat laid out neatly, this might trip you up—but personally, it hooked me completely.

Albertalli also brings her signature thoughtfulness to mental health, identity, queerness, and the terrifying beauty of growing up. The way Amelia processes love, crushes, and queerness felt so authentic. She says the things so many of us have felt but didn’t have the words for.

For readers who like:
-Best friends to lovers
-Road trip stories
-Found family vibes
-Queer coming-of-age arcs
-Terminally online Gen Z humor

Final Verdict
Amelia, If Only felt is the kind of book that understands your brain, holds your feelings with care, and makes you want to text your friends “I love you” at 3AM. Becky Albertalli proves once again that no one writes messy, heartfelt teenagers quite like her.

Grateful to NetGalley, Children’s HarperCollins UK and Becky Albertalli For the opportunity to read an advance copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really cute queer YA romcom, although I must admit it didn’t have the same impact as Imogen, Obviously (who makes an appearance!) for me.

I say romcom, but the focus here is far more on friendship, and my favourite part is the fun dynamic between our main group of friends and Amelia’s great sense of humour. She’s such a fun character, and I was definitely invested in her but I think I just found the Walter storyline a bit distracting from the love story?! Having said that, I’m not the main target audience here, and think so many readers will love it!

I really enjoyed how Amelia had the kind of energy you'd expect to find in a supporting character, i.e. the quirky best friend. It was wonderful to see this type of character transported into the protagonist role, front and centre, with a cast of more sedate characters surrounding her.

I’m a big fan of Becky Albertalli and have read everything she’s published, so I jumped at the chance to read her latest novel, Amelia, If Only. This is a slice-of-life story that follows Amelia as she navigates friendships, love, and identity. Unlike some of Albertalli’s earlier works, Amelia is already confident in her sexuality and sense of self, and this is what separates this novel from her previous ones.

The reading experience was thoroughly enjoyable. I liked reading about the lives of the supporting characters and their individual stories. One aspect that bothered me, though, was the fixation on the sexuality of Walter, a quasi-celebrity teen. The way people, especially other teenagers, were obsessed with labeling him and demanding answers felt invasive. I think Albertalli wanted to make a stronger commentary on how harmful and normalized this behavior is on social media. Still, the portrayal was accurate and realistic, reflecting how things often play out in real life.

The ending was especially sweet, the romantic resolution was satisfying, and every character felt fully fleshed-out. Overall, this is another strong novel from Becky Albertalli and I am eagerly waiting for the next one.

So the reason I wanted to read this is genuinely because I loved "Simon Vs. The Homosapien's Agenda" by Becky Albertalli so the moment I saw this on Netgalley I knew I wanted to read it. Friends, I'm ecstatic that I got to read this. This book had EVERYTHING I wanted from a queer YA romance. Firstly, the female friendship within this book (heck the friendship group in general) was beautiful. I loved how they were all supportive of each other, and mostly good at communication. I loved the witty banter between them all and this book genuinely had me cackling in the middle of the night because of how funny some of it's moments were. The romance in this book was so obvious but such a nice slow burn which had me giggling and kicking my feet throughout most of it. The pages when it came to the reddit/twitter threads as well as interviews were so fun and I loved how they added to the story so it felt like we could become part of the "fanbase", and as someone who's been in multiple fandoms in her lifetime, was very realistic. This definitely gave me 2010 queer discourse vibes at times but in the best way. All in all, I loved this book so much, It was such a nice fresh breath of air to read a cute little gay YA and I would definitely recommend this to anyone and everyone. Also, I did not know this was a second in a series, but by the looks of it they're interconnected standalones so I will definitely be picking up the first in this series as soon as possible.

That was so insanely cute, I was completely not prepared!

Amelia is slightly obsessed with a YouTuber, Walter, so when she finds out he has a meet and great in a nearby town she convinces her friends to join her on a road trip. Besides, Amelia is convinced getting away will be good for Natalie who just broke up with her girlfriend. Amelia wouldn't want the ex to have a chance of getting back with Natalie. For completely platonic reasons... Right? She's just protecting her bestie! It's not a crush... Right?

The main character is a delight, the writing is fast paced and funny and I couldn't stop laughing 99% of the time. I loved the group of friends Amelia had around her, I love how unique they were even though we only get Amelia's perspective on who they are.

I wanted to never stop reading this book, it just filled me with such warm and fuzzy feelings. It felt like being wrapped in a soft blanket. You knew you were safe in the writer's hands on this adventure. I want more!

Although not my favourite Becky Albertalli, Amelia If Only was a sweet, funny YA road trip tale which will appeal to fans of contemporary romance novels. Definitely a YA that is aimed more squarely at an actual YA audience (in particular, the plot lines in relation to social media will be most relatable to those under 30) - but that's ok! YA should, after all, be for young adults.

I did not finish this audiobook. I think unfortunately that I'm just too old to be the targeted audience in my mid twenties so the story did not catch me even if I wanted it to.
I think a younger version of me would have enjoyed it though.

This was a very quick and sort of okay read. I am definitely not the target audience of this YA drama of failing in love with your best friend. Honestly so many parts of this I was not actually sure what was going on it just felt a bit all over the place. Plus lots of subtext to social media references to the YouTuber star Amelia is sort of obsessed with / crushing but not crushing on. Enjoyable comedic parts and the ending was cute. If you enjoy a YA read this is for you but would say if you are new to the author there are better reads of theirs out there that I would advise you check in with first! Thanks for NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for the opportunity to read this.

Long time admirer of Becky Albertalli’s books over here and she’s pretty much become an auto-read though her later work has had some hit and miss for me.

Pleased to say that Amelia If Only is in the hit column and it was lovely to have some links with faces in previous books - Particularly from Kate and Anderson which may well be my favourite outside of Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda.

Amelia is sassy, over the top, and annoying but in that way that you just roll your eyes and be like “you get used to it after a while” and you do get used to it, but I still wanted her to tone it down, just a notch. Especially with the Claire hate, that’s not ride or die best friend behaviour, it’s really bloody demeaning to both Claire (whether warranted or not) and to Natalie who obviously has some sort of feelings for her if she kept going back.

Now, for the rest of the crew and the storyline. Zora kind of felt like she was only there because they needed a driver to get to the event. Sorry, but compared with the other characters, she just wasn’t that drawn out. Even Walter, the person - not the YouTuber - had more substance than her.

The storyline was fun - it was road trip + forced proximity + kind of nostalgic all rolled into one and the writing - so easy breezy to get through. That’s one thing that I love about Becky’s books, I can tune into her story, tune out the world and relax into a simple read that requires only the slightest amount of effort.

Except for the interviews and transcripts of media content between the chapters. Had to skim most of those and while I understand the point of highlighting toxic fandoms, they were too long, and pulled the reader away from the story.

I really liked this book, however, I think Mark’s story would be even better! I want to read about his journey to self-discovery and meeting Walter. Having to pretend he doesn’t like him and then stars in his eyes. To pretend he not bi and getting mis-labelled as straight all the freaking time. I want to see how he internalises all that.
Maybe it’s just me and I like M/M romances more than F/F ones. Maybe that’s why Simon remains my fave, doesn’t explain Kate in Waiting though - but that’s just a really frigging cute book.

With thanks to Becky Albertalli, Harper Collins Uk, Children’s and NetGalley for an arc of this book.

Je suis toujours heureuse de retrouver Becky Albertalli, c'est une de ces autrices où je vais me jeter sur chacune de ses nouveautés avec plaisir. Chaque lecture est un plaisir et explore des sujets sur l'adolescence et sincèrement je trouve les sujets à chaque fois intéressant et les personnages innovants.
Ici on va parler de relation para sociale, et d'avoir un crush sur une personnalité qui pourrait en même temps être notre ami, tout en explorant toujours les thématiques d'être queer. Amelia est un tout petit peu moins identifiable pour moi que l'était Imogen, mais c'est un avis très personnel. J'ai adoré le road trip, c'est quelque chose que j'aime beaucoup surtout avec les beaux jours, c'est une lecture très estivale à mes yeux.

Un grand regret malgré tout, c'est que ces livres ne soient plus traduis en français. C'est le genre de roman qu'on pourrait avoir facilement sur nos tables et conseillés aux plus grand mondes avec des romances douces et des thématiques sur la fin du lycée, mais malheureusement on ne retrouve plus ces traductions...

This book is CLASSIC Becky Albertalli. Comfort and cute all wrapped up in a happy little bundle. Becky’s books bring me so much comfort, and a certain amount of joy. This book continues to prove why she’s an autobuy author for me.

im always interesting in the theme of this type. i think im too old and cynical for it. but sometimes the story manages to pull even me in. i do worry. and i wont go on, but i do worry about these relationships. ive seen the darker side of the para relationships and i do think there is something more to be talked about there. but i dont want to ruin a wonderful authors time in the light. and she deserves that because this book is a light.
Becky is like the friend you admire so much and that drags you into fun, into being a bit more free, into smiling and not giving a hoot why.
this book was sweet. it was cute. and it was digging even at my cold old heart. it held all the nostalgia of that time within the pages until you cant help but feel it all over again.
Becky has a way of entering anyone into her world of books. you just WANT to read them.
this book brings us Amelia who is a fan of a YouTuber Walter. shes in love with him is what she thinks. so when a meet and greet comes up she runs with it and takes her friends along for the ride.
Amelia gives so much of those younger years when there are fans of boy bands for example. that feeling.that giddiness. and Becky writes both her characters and the places they go with such vibrancy and vivid colours.
this book managed for me to not cross the line like ive seen before or that is worrisome of today's times. it was fun, light and just a gorgeous read that you can smile along with.
it was a well needed relief kind of book from all the current stuff around that seems so traumatic.
a younger audience would defintely love this.

This was a really sweet and cute read. I feel like I would've enjoyed it a lot more if I was younger and not 28 years old but the nostalgia of being a fangirl was definitely there!

I’m a huge Becky Albertalli fan and when I saw that it plays in the same universe as Imogen, obviously (one of my all time favourite books) I just knew I had to read this one as well.

For me it’s always easy to get into Becky’s books. There’s just something about her writing that always catches me.

The book is about Amelia, who’s a huge fan of the YouTuber Walter Holland. You could also say that she’s kinda in love with him. She’s more than just excited when he’s doing a meet and greet. along with her friends she’s going on a road trip to meet her celebrity crush.

Overall I liked the book. It was fun and nice to follow. This book didn’t really focus on the road trip itself but more on Amelia possible meeting Walter. There were moments where I didn’t really like Amelia. She was sometimes a bit annoying and over the top. I wasn’t really sure if she for real is a normal fan or if she’s a bit too parasocial when it comes to Walter.

This book is perfect for Becky Albertalli fans. It’s fun and cute and obviously very nerdy.

Thank you to NetGalley for this Earc!

I was super excited to read this, Becky Albertalli is one of my favourite authors and Imogen Obviously is incredible! I'm always up for a book from Becky and this was no different.

I had such a great time reading this, the road trip was so fun and the callbacks to Imogen Obviously had me screaming! I absolutely loved the settings throughout this book, the amusement park, the camp, the college, they were all so vivid and gorgeous. I spent a bit of time in PA and these felt so familiar to me 💌

I did find Amelia as a character aggressively perky... As a very introverted person I find it difficult to relate to someone so extroverted and loud which was a shame! I loved the side characters though, the twins especially were fantastic and Mark!!!!! Mark!!!! He was the best 🥹

I find books dealing with celebrity on the whole to be super uncomfortable and weird but I think this struck the fine balance of being a little bit cringe (as they should!) but also dealing with it in quite a mature way.

I will forever read Becky's work, long may the queer joy continue 🌈

4 stars

Thank you so much to Harper Collins and Netgalley for this e-ARC xxx

Becky Albertalli delivers another irresistibly warm and relatable story in Amelia, If Only—a joyful blend of road trip chaos, parasocial crushes, and self-discovery wrapped in Albertalli’s signature voice.

Amelia, If Only is a pitch-perfect coming-of-age story. It’s about the people we idolize, the ones we overlook, and the messy, beautiful journey of finding ourselves somewhere in between.

It’s been a while since I’ve read any of Becky Albertalli’s books, and I greatly enjoyed returning to her work! In Amelia, If Only she clearly has things to say, and she says them loud and clear!

The main focus of this book is on Amelia’s obsession with YouTuber Walter Holland. She has been obsessed with his videos for years, and has finally got the chance to meet him. While her friends tease her for her obsession, we also get to know the wider fandom and their obsession with Walter’s love life. Through Amelia’s eyes, we get to see the real-world effect of the theories, accusations of queer-baiting, and invasive speculation.

Given Albertalli’s own experience with being hounded about her sexuality, it’s hard not to see the parallels in Walter’s story. I also spotted similarities, whether intentional or otherwise, with people such as Dan and Phil, who have since been very open about the effect this kind of thing had on them. The biggest thing I took away from this book was a cautionary tale about para-social relationships, and how damaging they can be when they go too far.

The friendships and romance that carry this plot through were also really enjoyable, and while I wasn’t particularly overwhelmed with excitement for the main couple of get together, it was still a lovely storyline that brought everything together really nicely.

Reading this book has inspired me to go back and read some of Albertalli’s books that I’ve missed since I last read her. It was really fun to return to her world. I think she said everything she needed to say with this book, and oh boy, does the message hit home!

I received a free copy for an honest review.

Amelia, If Only" is like that friend who drags you off on a delightfully chaotic road trip—full of laughs, a bit of nostalgia, and that bittersweet feeling of growing up. This book dives into the world of fan culture and looks at how parasocial relationships play a role in young lives.

I found myself reminiscing at the relatable teenage moments and feelings that this book conjures.
It illuminates the beauty of found family and bi representation (which I'm a sucker for), making it feel both fresh and familiar.

The road trip element is such a great backdrop, to these characters as they navigate their feelings, friendships, and a (forced) coming out moment that tugged at my heartstrings. It's sweet and poignant, capturing those fleeting, perfectly imperfect moments of youth.

Overall, "Amelia, If Only" is an easy summer read. If you're in the mood for a charming, nostalgic read full of teenage shenanigans, this might just be the book for you. Grab a few snacks, settle in, and enjoy the trip!

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Uk for this ARC!

A cute, easy read! I have to admit I wasn’t completely convinced at the beginning, but the book got better towards the middle. I am not a fan of all the interviews and articles about Walter in-between chapters and I was tempted to just skip them (although I did a bit of skimming), nevertheless it was an enjoyable story.

I don’t read many YA books, so I was a bit scared before diving in, but I think Albertalli portrayed perfectly the dramatics of being a teenager.

I would definitely read more by this author!