A review by elerireads
Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli

emotional lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This was YA in a way that really felt like YA, meaning at certain points I thought "I am too old to be reading this book", but mostly I really enjoyed it. There were a lot of loveable and well-written characters and I felt a strong connection to the main character (Imogen, obviously). Kind of the main plot is Imogen working out that she's bisexual so there's quite a lot of fairly repetitive inner monologue as she goes back and forth about it in her head. But honestly it was pretty funny the insane knots she tied herself up in to argue that it wasn't real, so mostly those bits didn't get too boring 😂. Interesting in that she wasn't at all homophobic and was super immersed in the queer community, so it was quite an effective illustration of just how difficult it can sometimes be to know yourself, rather than it just being about denial. There was also a lot of internalised biphobia in there - she talks about herself in a way she would never ever talk about someone else and keeps comparing herself to a massive list of bi stereotypes.

The cute little romance was lovely. Well-paced (in terms of the book) and satisfying to read. It did seem a bit bonkers fast in terms of the amount of time that was actually supposed to have passed, but not completely implausible and it's fiction after all 🤷

The plotline with Gretchen was MADDENING. Also pretty well done - started off with the impression of her as a wonderful friend who was really well tuned into how Imogen was feeling. But it slowly becomes apparent that she's actually a gatekeeping, discoursey arsehole. She's not one-dimensional though; we can totally see where it's coming from, but even so, by the end of it I absolutely loathed her and had to keep stopping reading because I needed a break from how awful she was.