Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Audiobook review: The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

Book Summary
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?

Flo's Review
This has been one of those "I want to read you, but you will remain on my shelf and somewhere on my TBR" books. Until a few weeks ago, when I found the audiobook at the library and decided to take the plunge. (Full confession: I wasn't loving the audiobook I was currently listening to, so it was an easy distraction!) I am happy to report that I simply adore this book! Adore. I'm super happy because I didn't love Leah on the Offbeat, but this gave me all the happy feels of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda.

What I loved most about it was this: it was 100% real. Molly is 100% real. In this day and age, so many YA books include these kickass protagonists who know exactly what they want in life and what they should do, and then they have no problem doing it. It's empowering and I absolutely love it. ...but was I like that at 17 years old? No. I was more like Molly. Molly who lives so much in her head. Molly who questions so many things. Not that Molly didn't know who she was, because she did. She had a great sense of self and was strong and loyal in her beliefs. But she also had the realistic hopes and fears of a teenager. And what I loved about her was this: Molly Peskin-Suso is quietly brave. She doesn't dismantle a dystopian society, no, but she steps outside of her comfort zone and she takes chances. I adore this girl.

Random funny note: the audiobook narrator was fantastic, but it was just funny hearing how she read Abby, because her Abby was nothing like Alexandra Shipp (who was Abby in the Love, Simon movie and is so now how I picture her.) But I also loved how the characters from Simon appeared a few times in this book. So fun!

This is the type of book you want to pick up and hug, because it's so adorable and so lovely. If you haven't had the chance to try Unrequited yet, I definitely recommend you do so!

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