The Upside of Unrequited: Becky Albertalli || Arc Review

"That's the part I can't explain. No matter how unlikely, I always have a secret shred of hope. And as far as feelings go, that's a pretty addictive one."

The Upside of Unrequited By Becky Albertalli 

Release Date: April 11, 2017

Preorder/Purchase: Amazon// Barnes and Noble// Books-A-Million

Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love. No matter how many times her twin sister, Cassie, tells her to woman up, Molly can’t stomach the idea of rejection. So she’s careful. Fat girls always have to be careful. Then a cute new girl enters Cassie’s orbit, and for the first time ever, Molly’s cynical twin is a lovesick mess. Meanwhile, Molly's totally not dying of loneliness—except for the part where she is. Luckily, Cassie's new girlfriend comes with a cute hipster-boy sidekick. If Molly can win him over, she'll get her first kiss and she'll get her twin back. There's only one problem: Molly's coworker, Reid. He's a chubby Tolkien superfan with a season pass to the Ren Faire, and there's absolutely no way Molly could fall for him. Right?

(A huge thank you to HarperCollins for the e-arc!!)

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It might be heresy to say this; but y'all, I liked The Upside of Unrequited more than I did Simon VS The Homo Sapiens Agenda.

Don't get me wrong, Simon VS is one of my absolute favorite contemporaries. I mean, it's kind of the cutest thing in the world. But The Upside of Unrequited took everything I adored in Simon VS, and cranked it up to ten. Every little quibble I had with Albertalli's other book, was nonexistent in The Upside of Unrequited, and I could just shriek with happiness right now at this perfection of a book.

I haven't related so strongly to a main character in a long time, and I have all the love for Molly. She's kind of a hopeless romantic, and yet at the same time, the notion of love + how to cope with liking someone, completely boggles her. She's had an insane number of crushes, and she does a terrible job at hiding the fact that she's a huge inner romantic (which is so utterly me that I just can't).  Her inner dialogue was not only humorous, but so painfully relatable, too. I can't even begin to count all the times I hit a sentence that felt like it could've been extracted from my own thoughts.

And like Simon VS, the secondary characters were all so real, and such a joy. The one thing I love about Becky Albertalli's writing is that her characters are all so three-dimensional and fleshed out. You get such a good sense of everyone who appears in the story, no matter how long they're on page for. I absolutely adored Molly's friends; they were all so adorable, and I loved how each had their own little journey they went through, that tied into the bigger scheme of the book and its message.

There was also a Simon cameo (!!) which was the best thing ever. I just couldn't stop grinning when that adorable little dork showed up, and I think it's definitely time for a re-read of Simon VS now.

I'm trying not to say a whole lot about the plot itself, because its one that I think you should go into knowing little about, just so you can have all the fun of getting wrapped up in Molly's story. BUUUUT, because I love this little book so much, I went ahead and made a list of some of the highlights of things that made me flail while reading The Upside of Unrequited.

So without further ado:

A BRIEF LIST OF SOME OF THE FABULOUS THINGS CONTAINED WITHIN THE UPSIDE OF UNREQUITED:

» a diverse cast

» HAMILTON REFERENCES

-THERE IS NOTHING MORE SCREAM-INDUCING THAN THERE BEING A CONVERSATION ABOUT LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA IN A BOOK. NOTHING. 

» gay characters, bi characters, pan characters (!!)

-all the sexuality representation you could want and more; the book is so inclusive when it comes to representing different sexualities, and incredibly open about discussing them. 

» so much cookie dough love 

-because really, is there anything better in this world??

» wOMEN SUPPORTING WOMEN

-not to mention the few feminist bits that popped up throughout the book, like how shaving is most certainly not something your boyfriend should be dropping hints about (i honestly would not even hesitate to fight evan schulmeister), and how incredibly important mutual respect and equality is.

» a protagonist who's as obsessed with pinterest as all of us

» love interest who frequently wears a shirt that has a map of middle-earth on it 
-needless to say, i would marry him in a heartbeat

» Jewish main family

-that also consists of a interracial couple, and is basically the purest thing on earth. molly's moms are the sweetest things ever, and they were such a positive and supportive duo. the family dynamics in the story are so realistic, and i just adored scenes where they were all together. the way they bounced off of each other was such a nice representation of how regular families interact.

» legalization of gay marriage
-the timeline of the book is around 2015, and the legalization of gay marriage plays a big role in the book's plot. there's a scene where one of molly's moms takes her out at night to see the white house lit up with the colors of the rainbow, and it's one of the most beautiful and emotional scenes i've ever read.

» realistic and various body types

-fat protagonist, stocky love interest, curvy best friend, willowy sister; becky albertalli basically scooped up the stereotypical, stock body type for ya characters and tossed it out the window. there's no if's, and's, or but's about molly being fat, and she's okay with that. i can't express enough how happy this made me while reading; if you encounter a fat character, they're usually incredibly self-conscious/trying desperately to change who they are-- and molly does none of that. while she has the occasional bubble of self-doubt, she loves herself and her body, and she's not trying to change. she's happy. 

» openness and discussion on so many topics, ranging from sexual orientation to family issues to relationships

-i feel like i keep saying this, but i honestly can't stress it enough-- this book is so positive. so many struggles and hardships that teens encounter on a daily basis are tackled in the upside of unrequited, and yet it never felt convoluted, or too much. growing up, drifting away from siblings, dating, finding who you are-- the books takes all of these things, and more, and siphons it down to one simple thing: that everything is going to be okay. 

» and um, did i mention the hamilton reference?? 

Overall, The Upside of Unrequited was fantastic, and I'll probably be shrieking about it for a long time to come. The only real quibble I had with it was that I felt like it ended way too soon. I turned the page ready for more, and ended up staring at the acknowledgements page instead. I feel like there were a few more things I wanted to know and see (*cough*more Reid*cough*) and I was slightly bummed that it ended where it did. But I really did enjoy the book so damn much. It was adorable and hilarious, in the true Becky Albertalli fashion, and I can't wait until this glorious book is out in the world for you all to read. ^-^

★★★★★

*4.5 out of 5 stars*

LET'S CHAT! Have you read Simon VS the Homo Sapiens Agenda? Are you excited for The Upside of Unrequited? What do you think is better-- oreos or cookie dough? Tell me everything below!!