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