Book Review: The Upside of Unrequited

Release Date: April 11, 2017
Author: Becky Albertalli
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Length:336 pages
Source: Purchased Audio Book

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:

Protagonist: Molly Peskin-Suso has a lot of crushes in her life, and out of those crushes she's never been in a relationship. So, when it seems like everyone in her life from her twin sister to her best friend all have relationships, she feels she's missing out on something and strives to have her first relationship, luckily her sister's new girlfriend has a cute hipster best friend. Then there's her new co-worker, a guy she would never have a crush on, but she can't seem to get him out of her head. I swear Becky Albertalli writes the most relatable characters for me. I've also had a lot of experience with unrequited romantic feelings and every word the author uses to describe those feelings and what Molly goes through in this book just hit home so freaking hard. I loved seeing Molly's POV, and I love that, after reading Leah on the Offbeat, that Molly's experience being fat is different than Leah's even though they face a lot of the same struggles. Molly is a character that flies off the page from the very beginning.

Romance: If I were to have any negative things to say about this book it would have to be in regard to the romance. It has nothing to do with Reid, one of Molly's love interests, since being a fat nerdy guy I really liked seeing someone like me as a serious love interest. It had more to do with the love triangle than anything else and possibly because of how much is given away in the synopsis. I never really felt that there was anything surprising about this romance and while I felt it played out in a very authentic way, I sort of wish there was something more to the romance in this book. Still, I do really like Molly's relationships with both her suitors.

World Building: Going into this book I knew that this took place in the same universe as both Simon and Leah, but I didn't know how much those characters factored into this book, I figured Abby would pop up, since this book is about her cousins, but I was extremely surprised to find that Simon also appears in this book. I loved seeing all the little call outs to Simon's book, but also this book could stand completely on its own, and it does, you don't need to read aby other Albertalli books, though you should they're fantastic. I loved seeing so much representation in this book, from racial representation to LGBT rep, to Fat rep, it was so great so many diverse characters in this amazing contemporary novel.

Predictability: So as I said in the romance section, the romance wasn't really all that surprising, but that doesn't mean that this book wasn't surprising. One of the biggest surprises I found with this book is how much more dramatic this book is than Simon's book, or even Leah's, there's more confrontation which was really great to see from this author as it seems she reserves drama for when it happens naturally, it never seems like, in any of her books, she goes out of her way to include drama and confrontation, everything just sort of unfolds naturally. There are also a few great twists in turns in this book which I also really enjoyed.

Ending: While I do feel that this book, much like Simon's does have a full ending, they both sort of end abruptly. I mean once the main plot is all settled there's a rather large chunk to make sure and tie everything up, but once everything s tied up the story just sort of ends, but maybe that's just because I never want to leave this world and I just love these characters too much.

Rating:

While this wasn't my favorite Albertalli book, I still freaking loved it and can't wait to read more from this author in the future, hopefully, there will be more books in the Simonverse to explore!

Book Review: Leah on the Offbeat (Creekwood #2)

Release Date: April 24, 2018
Author: Becky Albertalli
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Length: 352 pages
Source: Purchased Book

Leah Burke—girl-band drummer, master of deadpan, and Simon Spier’s best friend from the award-winning Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda—takes center stage in this novel of first love and senior-year angst.

When it comes to drumming, Leah Burke is usually on beat—but real life isn’t always so rhythmic. An anomaly in her friend group, she’s the only child of a young, single mom, and her life is decidedly less privileged. She loves to draw but is too self-conscious to show it. And even though her mom knows she’s bisexual, she hasn’t mustered the courage to tell her friends—not even her openly gay BFF, Simon.

So Leah really doesn’t know what to do when her rock-solid friend group starts to fracture in unexpected ways. With prom and college on the horizon, tensions are running high. It’s hard for Leah to strike the right note while the people she loves are fighting—especially when she realizes she might love one of them more than she ever intended.

    

Review:

Protagonist: While we didn't really get a lot of Leah in Simon vs. the Homo Sapien's Agenda, well, now she has her own books and she freaking kills it! I love Leah so much as a character, I mean she was great for the odd sarcastic and snarky retort or comment in Simon, but I love getting to see a more vulnerable side to her in this book, it's that vulnerability that I very quickly related to, I mean nearly everything she goes through in this book felt extremely relatable, the vulnerabilities about her weight, bisexuality, and art were the things I related to the most, although instead of drawings substitute stories, but they're very similar feelings. In the end, Leah's really this giant ball of insecurities and vulnerabilities with a hard badass shell. I loved learning more about her character, seeing the trials and tribulations she goes through in her Senior Year of High School, and I seriously couldn't get enough of her.

Romance: So, the biggest mystery for me going into this book was, who will be Leah's love interest, and I have to say I didn't really see it coming, at all. Obviously I'm not going to give it away, as just like with Simon the love interest is a mystery for much of the book, well actually that's not quite true, after a certain point it becomes obvious who Leah will gravitate more towards, but for a good while there, there were a lot of prospects, or at least they were prospects in my head, and I liked seeing this array of posibilities for Leah, I mean for a second there I thought that Leah and Taylor might eventually be a thing, they aren't but it was an interesting ship for a page or two. Though I'm glad it wasn't Taylor as I ship Leah and her Love Interest so freaking hard in this book, I mean I was seriously surprised at how much I adored them together and I really wish the book was longer just so that I could have more of them together.

World Building: When I first saw this book being described as a "sequel" to Simon vs. the Homo Sapien's Agenda, I was kind of like "Eh, it's more of a companion, but whatever, I'm not complaining." however, this book, in so many ways, feels like a sequel to Simon, even if there's a new narrator. We're back at Creekwood High and nearly everyone from the first book is back and their lives are about to get so, so complicated as they navigate prom, college tours, college acceptances, (or lack thereof) and of what the world will bring them after they've left high school. Things are getting real and tensions rise as reality crashes down hard. While it was painful seeing some of these characters go through some real and shitty struggles, I had to remind myself that characters struggling is a good thing, as not only is it more realistic, but it's those struggles that make everything worth it, I mean a story with no struggle is frankly just boring. Oh, and if anyone's wondering, there are references made to the characters of The Upside of Unrequited, though unlike this book being a sequel for Simon, there isn't the same, or really any, level of "sequel" for that installment, or at least I don't think so, I haven't read it yet and honestly don't feel like anything was spoiled, in fact I want to read it even more now.

Predictability: So, as I said, the main mystery of this book, at least for me, was who Leah's primary love interest would be, and like I said, I didn't see it coming. I mean, there's plenty of foreshadowing that hints at it, even early on, but I didn't take it seriously for quite a while. As for everything else in this book, well it's a little on the predictable side, but at the same time, it never felt like the author was trying to shock or surprise readers. There are some really funny twists, such as where the gang goes for dinner before prom, and how a certain prom-posal goes down. In conclusion, this isn't a twisty shocking book, it's a fun and sometimes devastatingly realistic journey and while there a few surprises here and there, there's nothing too shocking in this story.

Ending: As I said before, I really didn't want this book to end, and there were quite a few reasons for that, one is that there wasn't really a final climax to this book, or well there is but it comes so late in the book that there were certain things I wished to see explored before the book finished. The final climax was really emotional and I loved every minute and every word of it, but I do still wish that we got the see how certain characters reacted to everything before tying the book up. The final chapter acts as an epilogue taking place in the near future and tying nearly everything up and it's just freaking adorable and I loved that as well as it really highlights just how far Leah has come since the beginning of this book.

Rating:

Is it any surprise that I gave this book 5 stars!? I mean, I love Simon so much and this book has a very similar feel, obviously, and in some ways, I feel that I love it even more than Simon, and if we don't get a "Love, Leah" move or whatever, I'm seriously going to be bummed.

Book Review: Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda (Creekwood #1)

Release Date: April 7, 2015
Author: Becky Albertalli
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Length: 320 pages

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.

With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.

    

Review:

Protagonist: Simon is a smart, funny, Harry Potter-obsessed nerd, and he's being blackmailed. Simon is a fantastic character that really just puts this novel over the top. The little comments he adds, and the jokes he makes are really grounded and kind of brings me back to high school in a lot of ways. Granted, I didn't go through nearly as much drama and confusion as he does, but he does handle most things in this book like a pro. He's a bit nosy, in a good way, but he seems to miss a lot of the big things. His development in this book is something that crept up on me but by the end, while he's not a completely different person, he has changed and not just on a superficial level.

Romance: The romance in this book was adorable, and it might be because it was mostly done over emails nearly every other chapter. So, in the beginning, Simon and Blue don't know who the other is and it's agreed upon not to share that information. Anyway, so they have been emailing for a few months before the beginning of the book and at first it's more about being able to confide their feelings about being gay with someone and having an outlet that they can vent to and be honest with and know that the other person, at least on some level, knows what they're going through. Eventually, though things get more forward and flirtatious and a real romance starts to form despite the anonymity. It's a light and fun romance with nearly no drama and I always found myself wanting to get to the email chapters.

World-Building: So with this being on contemporary, and me not really knowing how to discuss the world-building of a book rooted in reality, I'm just going to use this as an outlet for a few things I noticed. First off was the vague blackmail, it kind of cheapened things a bit to make it seem so innocent. Granted, it wasn't innocent in Simon's eyes, but Martin, the douchebag blackmailer, didn't even really demand anything, just hinted at wanting to spend more time with Abby, his crush and one of Simon's best friends, and as the "bad guy" and considering how much of a horrible and terrible person he is, it wouldn't have surprised me if he just asked for Simon to hook him up with Abby point blank. Also, I'm not great at articulating my feelings about writing styles and the like, but I do have to point out that there is something off about the writing in this book, it's not so bad to make it impossible or even difficult to read, but it is noticeable.

Predictability: For the most part this book was pretty unpredictable, there were moments that hinted at certain things, and while I had my suspicions I wasn't certain of how my suspicions could be right. I will say though that Blue's identity is easy to guess, but not so easy that Simon not putting it together would make him seem stupid.

Ending: I was so happy that this ending wasn't as idealistic as I was expecting it to be. Seriously towards the end, I thought it was going to be an "everybody gets a happy ending, yay for no consequences to life" type of ending that would just cheapen the realness of this book. Instead though there were things that didn't completely work out and some things were strategically left in the air, but otherwise cleared up.

Rating:

Holy Crap this book is amazing. I loved eery minute of this book and could barely put it down. I can't wait to read more from this author and see what stories she'll tackle next.