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A review by ihateprozac
The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli
5.0
THIS IS THE CUTEST THING I’VE READ ALL YEAR.
The Upside of Unrequited tells the story of Molly, a chubby Jewish girl who’s had 26 crushes to date and 0 boyfriends. Her twin sister is living her best sex-positive hoe life while Molly is left feeling like the kid who gets picked last in gym class. She’s not sure that any of her crushes will ever be reciprocated, and as much as she wants to have the “normal” teenage experience, she’s not sure if any of that applies to fat girls.
I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to finish The Upside of Unrequited and not have a giant smile on your face. It’s super diverse, super funny, super helpful, super cute, and it’s everything I want from a contemporary! It spoke to both teenage-me and 27-year-old-me on a molecular level, and I found something I could relate to in just about every character on the page. I just wanted to reach into the book and give everybody giant hugs!
There were so many lovely lessons in this book, the most important of which were that you’re worthy of love regardless of what you look like, and that there are no time limits on reaching milestones. These are still things I struggle with even as I get closer to age 30, and it makes me happy to think that young readers will pick up this book and learn something about themselves through Molly’s experience.
There’s such a wonderfully strong family element woven through this novel, which stands in stark contrast to a lot of YA where the absence of family is used as a device to propel the plot or protagonist’s character development forward. Molly’s twin sister and two moms are very present in her life, and even as someone who doesn’t have a great relationship with their family, this was super relatable and heartwarming to read.
The Upside of Unrequited also features possibly the most diverse cast I’ve ever seen in YA: we have a Jewish female protagonist with an under-represented body type and medically diagnosed anxiety; a lesbian twin sister; two moms; a pansexual Korean-American female love interest; Jewish male love interest with an under-represented body type; sexually and culturally diverse side characters; and mentions of asexuality. And the best part? None of this ever feels tokenistic!
And the dialogue is SO GOOD. There are so many millennial geeky witticisms that made me laugh, and I was losing my mind that Becky Albertalli dropped the word “labia” in conversation multiple times within the first fifteen pages. I question how some of the dialogue and popculture/tech references will age over time - particularly for those living outside the Western pop culture bubble - but dammit it’s all so cute and funny!
Overall: I can see why every Booktuber and their mum is raving about this book, because it’s the CUTEST DAMN THING. This is a cute, diverse, heartwarming contemporary that teaches important life lessons in an awkward and yet strangely elegant way, and it’s impossible not to find something to relate to in Molly’s experience. I immediately want to reread this and I rarely reread anything!
The Upside of Unrequited tells the story of Molly, a chubby Jewish girl who’s had 26 crushes to date and 0 boyfriends. Her twin sister is living her best sex-positive hoe life while Molly is left feeling like the kid who gets picked last in gym class. She’s not sure that any of her crushes will ever be reciprocated, and as much as she wants to have the “normal” teenage experience, she’s not sure if any of that applies to fat girls.
I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to finish The Upside of Unrequited and not have a giant smile on your face. It’s super diverse, super funny, super helpful, super cute, and it’s everything I want from a contemporary! It spoke to both teenage-me and 27-year-old-me on a molecular level, and I found something I could relate to in just about every character on the page. I just wanted to reach into the book and give everybody giant hugs!
There were so many lovely lessons in this book, the most important of which were that you’re worthy of love regardless of what you look like, and that there are no time limits on reaching milestones. These are still things I struggle with even as I get closer to age 30, and it makes me happy to think that young readers will pick up this book and learn something about themselves through Molly’s experience.
There’s such a wonderfully strong family element woven through this novel, which stands in stark contrast to a lot of YA where the absence of family is used as a device to propel the plot or protagonist’s character development forward. Molly’s twin sister and two moms are very present in her life, and even as someone who doesn’t have a great relationship with their family, this was super relatable and heartwarming to read.
The Upside of Unrequited also features possibly the most diverse cast I’ve ever seen in YA: we have a Jewish female protagonist with an under-represented body type and medically diagnosed anxiety; a lesbian twin sister; two moms; a pansexual Korean-American female love interest; Jewish male love interest with an under-represented body type; sexually and culturally diverse side characters; and mentions of asexuality. And the best part? None of this ever feels tokenistic!
And the dialogue is SO GOOD. There are so many millennial geeky witticisms that made me laugh, and I was losing my mind that Becky Albertalli dropped the word “labia” in conversation multiple times within the first fifteen pages. I question how some of the dialogue and popculture/tech references will age over time - particularly for those living outside the Western pop culture bubble - but dammit it’s all so cute and funny!
Overall: I can see why every Booktuber and their mum is raving about this book, because it’s the CUTEST DAMN THING. This is a cute, diverse, heartwarming contemporary that teaches important life lessons in an awkward and yet strangely elegant way, and it’s impossible not to find something to relate to in Molly’s experience. I immediately want to reread this and I rarely reread anything!