Monday, September 25, 2017

Review: The Upside Of Unrequited – Becky Albertalli


The Upside Of Unrequited – Becky Albertalli


Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love—she’s lived through it twenty-six times. She crushes hard and crushes often, but always in secret. Because 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. Will is funny and flirtatious and just might be perfect crush material. Maybe more than crush material. And 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 an awkward Tolkien superfan with a season pass to the Ren Faire, and there’s absolutely no way Molly could fall for him. Right?



Review: Guys, I’m trying with romance. I promise I’m really trying.

But, if I see one more sentence about Reid’s “flickering dimple,” I swear I’m going to reach through the book and rip that freakin’ dimple off that boy’s face.

I read Becky Albertalli’s other book, Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda, back when it first came out. I was pleasantly shocked by it because it didn’t sound like my type of book at all. It sounded fluffy and romancey. It was fluffy and romancey, but it was also funny and mysterious. When The Upside of Unrequited came out, I decided to give it a shot, even though it doesn’t seem like my kind of book.

The narrator, Molly, is an overweight teenager who has had 26 crushes and no boyfriends. She’s too afraid of rejection to let her crushes know how she feels. To remedy this, Molly’s twin sister and their friends try to set Molly up with Will, a cute hipster boy. Will seems like Molly’s perfect guy. He’s cute, and nice, and fun. In the midst of Molly’s Will infatuation, she starts a new job and meets Reid. Reid isn’t Molly’s type. He’s geeky and obsessed with Queen Elizabeth. As Molly gets to know Reid, she discovers that there’s more to him than Tolkien T-shirts and ugly sneakers.

First, I was so happy when I learned that the narrator is a fat girl. I’ve struggled with my weight since middle school. I’ve been fat. I’ve been average. I’ve been very close to a perfect size 0. I’ve been everything in between. I think my massive weight changes are a side effect of loving pizza. And having depression. And taking depression medicine. But mostly pizza. Molly is a relatable character for me because I was the fat girl in high school. Many of the thoughts that Molly has are the same ones I had as a teenager.

I know that it’s politically incorrect to say that you hate being fat, but . . . I hate being fat. I guess that body positivity stuff doesn’t work on me. When I’m overweight, I don’t like the way I feel or look. As a teenager, I was hugely self-conscious, so I completely understand Molly’s insecurities about her body.

“Even if he likes me, I’m not sure he’d like me naked. I hate that I’m even thinking that. I hate hating my body. Actually, I don’t even hate my body. I just worry everyone else might. Because chubby girls don’t get boyfriends, and they definitely don’t have sex. Not in movies—not really—unless it’s supposed to be a joke. And I don’t want to be a joke.” – The Upside of Unrequited



The messages in this novel are great. They’re things that teenage-me desperately needed to hear. You don’t have to change your body to be worthy of love. Everybody deserves love, no matter what they look like.

The author does a nice job of capturing the concerns of a teenage girl. I actually laughed at this part because I had this exact conversation about body hair with my friend in high school:

“It's not that bikini waxing is a foreign concept to me, but . . . I mean, I guess it kind of is. Like, it's one of those girl habits that's so far beyond me, it makes me feel like a different species. Do boys require hairless vaginas? Is this a known thing?” – The Upside of Unrequited



I love Molly, but I had a hard time staying interested in this book. This is definitely a case of “It’s not you, it’s me.” I’ve just never been interested in romance, and this story is all romance. Molly is boy-obsessed. Her moms are getting married. Her sister and cousin are in new relationships. Her friend just ended a relationship. This book is basically 300+ pages of relationship overload. I had a difficult time making myself care. I guess I prefer books where the relationships are a subplot instead of the whole story.

If you’ve ever been fat, you might be able to relate to Molly, but if you don’t like romance, you’ll probably want to stay away from this book. Try Simon Vs. instead. There’s romance in that book, but there’s also an intriguing internet mystery.







10 comments:

  1. I really enjoyed this book, but I'm a fan of romance, so... I agree that Molly was really relatable. And I have to confess that I'm not okay with the way I look when I gain weight either. I am by no means fat, but right now I'm the heaviest I've ever been. Some days I can look at myself and be happy with it, but most of the time I want to take that weight back off. And I actually feel sort of bad about it because I know I'm supposed to be happy with my body. But, well, I'm getting older and that seems like a distant thought nowadays. LOL!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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    1. I liked the book, even though I’m not a fan of romance. If Molly was less relatable, I would’ve struggled a lot more. Molly’s awesomeness got me through the romance.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  2. I wasn't fat until recently, but still related SO MUCH to Molly--I had my own insecurities in high school and would have died if some guy knew I liked him. I really liked the book, but I don't disagree with a single thing you said either. I can certainly understand why you preferred Simon Vs.

    I actually just went to Goodreads to see if you've read Not a Drop to Drink, which I devoured this weekend. It had the merest tint of romance and plenty of plot. Looks like you loved it! Have you read the sequel?

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    1. YES! I loved Not A Drop To Drink. I haven’t read the sequel because I want to own it. I haven’t found a cheap copy yet.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  3. I think I have the same issue with pizza, and just a bad gene pool too, but yeah, pizza. This book did not bowl me over the way Simon did, but I found my love for Molly transcended any cringe-worthy things that happened. I appreciate that Albertalli likes to reach out to such a wide range of readers too.

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    1. YES! I loved the diversity in this book and Simon Vs. They’re relatable for so many people.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  4. I didn't struggle with my weight but was wildly insecure about how I looked growing up so I still found Molly very relatable. Yes this one is very heavy on relationships and romance which is my deal so I loved it. Totally get how it wasn't your cup of tea though.

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    1. Yeah, I struggle with romance. Whenever I read romance-focused books, I feel like I’m waiting for the plot to start, but the romance IS the plot.

      Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  5. Aw I am sorry that the romances overshadowed a lot of the book for you. I LOOOOVED the romance part, so I guess that is why I was such a fan. But seriously, Molly was SO damn relatable. Also, THANK YOU for saying that you are NOT happy when you gain weight because I FEEL YOU. Like- I like that body positive books exist because society is probably the reason we feel that way to begin with, but I loved that Molly was like, insecure. Because sorry, most high school girls (hell, most women in general, sadly) are. Great review, sorry it fell a bit short for you though!

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  6. I've heard a lot about this book and her writing but I actually haven't read any of her work myself. I'm sorry that you couldn't enjoy it though. Sometimes, romance can get a bit too cheesy, a bit too repetitive as well. But it's great representation and I am glad it was done accurately in a way that some people will be able to relate to.

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