The Upside of Unrequited

2.75/5 stars

I don't entirely understand how anyone gets a boyfriend. Or a girlfriend. It just seems like the most impossible odds. You have to have a crush on the exact right person at the exact right moment. And they have to like you back. A perfect alignment of feelings and circumstances. It's almost unfathomable that it happens as often as it does.

[b:Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda|19547856|Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda|Becky Albertalli|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1402915678s/19547856.jpg|27679579]

Simon.

The Upside of Unrequited?

The Downside of Disappointment

“I'm on the toilet at the 9:30 Club, and I'm wondering how mermaids pee.”

Molly.

Cassie.

Reid.

Will.

Olivia and Abby.

Patty and Nadine.

This was adorable and so much fun to read - I won't call it fluff, because it touches on family relationships (especially sisterhood) and growing up and apart and body image and some serious stuff, but it's not at all a Message Book. It's just a good solid contemporary non-dystopian YA book, and it's cute and diverse and not another damn love triangle, and I really recommend it. (And if you like this, may I suggest the works of [a: Amy Spalding 5768552 Amy Spalding https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1489555047p2/5768552.jpg] to you?)

This is you run-of-the-mill YA, following a teenage girl navigating her crushes, and her twin sister being in a relationship for the first time. I guess it pushes boundaries a bit from when I was in the prime of my middle-school, YA-reading days, in that there are several non-hetero relationships, but other than that, I didn't think that the writing was particularly good, or the plot particularly compelling.

“Here's what I would never, ever admit out loud: a part of me always thought it was some kind of secret compliment when someone got called a slut. It meant you were having sex. Which meant people wanted to have sex with you. Being a slut just meant you were normal. But I think maybe I'm wrong about that.”

I've been looking forward to reading this for months, however it turned out to be quite disappointing. I adored her first book which is why I had such high expectations for this one and I was surprised to find it lacked the charm (almost completely) and the humor of its predecessor.

I truly appreciated that there was a diverse set of characters, unfortunately this couldn't save the story which was not very compelling to me. Coming back to the characters. They represent people of different skin color, sexuality, religion etc. which gets a thumbs up but other than that they were pretty bland. We didn't get to hear much from them except for Molly and that was unfortunate because I still didn't know who Molly was, even at the end.

I know she was a very insecure, anxious girl due to her weight and mental health which is something I can empathize with, however she was mainly a girl who's only thoughts revolved around that fact that she'd never had a boyfriend and she really wanted one. I didn't like how this was handled at all. She was so obsessed about this that when she did end up in a relationship it didn't feel organic, instead it felt like she finally found a way to get validation from other people, in this case a guy who finally liked her back. Which is something that usually happens in a young, inexperienced girl's life, it's normal, but I don't why we get to see it portrayed in a novel as romantic and an example of “yes, this is a good”.

I didn't get why she would like any of the guys. There's so much telling but almost no showing. We're told they're either sweet or funny and that they like photography or Tolkien and whatnot but we spend so little time with them that I just don't get why she would like one over another other than the fact that one likes her back and one doesn't.

I also don't see why anyone would like her. Sure we're told that she's gorgeous despite being chubby, but she's so insecure and obsessed with boys that we only see a very unflattering side of hers where she's constantly bitter and jealous of others for being in relationships. We don't spend enough time seeing her meaningfully interact with other people or working through her issues for her to be truly fleshed out. So even though I've empathized with her for her body issues, I couldn't find any other reason for me to care about or root for her. I also needed more of her relationship with her sister. We were told that they were very close in the past but I didn't get to see that so I honestly, couldn't care very much about they're relationship getting cold.

I don't get how this is meant to be empowering. Molly does little other than pining and obsessing over guys until she finally finds one that likes her back and has the guts to say so. This was supposed to be a journey of overcoming insecurities and achieving self acceptance but there was zero development when it comes to her character, the only difference at the end is that she now has someone to call boyfriend. So if you can't love yourself for who you are (at least generally) find a guy to do that for you? What kind of message is that? I've been a teenager, an insecure shy teenager actually and I've had plenty of crushes and unrequited affection but even my teenage self would go, “Ok, Molly, you have to take it down a notch, find some purpose and interests you're truly invested in (not ones you only use as a crotch to temporarily forget that you don't have a boyfriend) because, girl, this is not healthy.”

I have to say though, on a verysuperficial level, this was a fluffy, fly-through reading experience. I'm just not in the mood to accept it for what it is and I can't get passed the meaning between the lines. I'm sure the author had the best intentions and she truly wanted her message to be positive and inspiring but that's not what I got from her writing. As a whole, from Molly's tiring inner monologues and her unhealthy interactions with the others, the message was “get boyfriend and all your problems will be magically solved and you'll fell better”.

DNF at 28%. I'm disappointed I didn't like this because I really enjoyed Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. Nothing has really happened up to this point in the story besides the main character recounting why it never would have worked out with any of the 20+ people she has had a crush on because of the way she looks or acts. It's very woe is me and I just had a hard time connecting to her so I'm calling it quits on this one.

I love Becky Albertalli's writing. I started a new book right after this one from another author and had to put it down because what comes so naturally to BA seemed clunky from this author. I had to get some distance before giving that author another chance.

I didn't like “Upside” as much as “Simon,” but that's to be expected because I like Simon even more as time goes by. Another issue is that I get a little impatient with love triangles, especially since there is no real mystery about who is the right object of affection. Every moment she was with the wrong love interest took away page space from Molly spending time with the guy she really liked.

Lots of love and embrace of the LGBTQA community. I loved that both Molly and one of the love interests have two mom – with the love interest's moms as Molly's boss – and yet this similarity took up no head space any more than of they each had one blond and one red-headed parent. Her bosses didn't even know this until Molly told them her parents became engaged to celebrate marriage equality.

I also love that among Molly's crushes was a trans boy, and this is also handled like there is nothing to handle or parse.

Becky Albertalli is one of the best YA author working today!

You are worthy of love, even if you don't think you are. It may seem like everyone around you is so much more experienced in romance, but really, nobody really knows what they're doing. The Upside of Unrequited is a spin off of Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda that explores these themes and is resonant for anyone that has felt them before, but is arguably the weakest in the trilogy.

This was such a good YA romance. I wish this was around when I had been in high school. The representation is fantastic and not shoe-horned in. Every character is flawed but not to the point of caricaturization. The main character makes hard-to-watch mistakes but never to the point of unbelievability. All in all, excellent.

My only qualm is the amount of modern-day pop culture references that are already a bit dated.

Gostei deste livro pela sua suavidade e por abranger todas as formas de amor de uma maneira tão tranquila é permeada na vida das personagens.
Mostra também o amadurecimento das relações familiares e como nos comportamos com as mudanças, até que elas se tornem um costume.
Molly representa todos ia pensamentos que eu tinha quando adolescente e como é real, para alguém acima do peso, todo esse preconceito entremeado em pequenas frases ou elogios forçados ou com restrições.
Além do todo mundo te achar fofa.
É um livro bom e simples, de leitura rápida, com um final clichê e feliz que aquece um pouco os corações.

Comecei sem muitas expectativas e até que me diverti! Depois de várias marcações ao longo da leitura, achei legal ler mais um livro com representatividade em alta, principalmente quando posso me identificar com a protagonista em alguns dos dilemas da juventude. A forma como, aos poucos, ela supera o medo da rejeição pela auto-aceitação é tranquila - na medida do possível, pois não tenho muita paciência para dramas (e temos alguns ao longo do livro).

O triângulo amoroso que se forma não me convenceu porque achei fácil descobrir qual seria o resultado no fim das contas HAHAHA. De qualquer maneira, é uma leitura muito válida pela representatividade de várias formas, por ser muito atual com relação à linguagem, pela escrita rápida de Becky, pelos personagens (exceto a irmã de Molly na maior parte do tempo), pelas surpresas. Pontos negativos: dramas que não estava a fim de ver, amores de cair o queixo e atitudes escrotas - utilizando a expressão do próprio livro (que fazem parte da construção da história, obviamente, mas não sou obrigado).

Fiquei em dúvida quanto à avaliação, mas escolhi 4 estrelas para representar as 3,5 que quis dar. :P