The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertali
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Penguin
Pages: 300
Format: ARC e-book
Rating: ★★★★

Simon Versus the Homo Sapiens Agenda was one of my favourite books of 2015! We recommended it in our Romances for Valentine’s day video because it’s light-hearted and cute, so when I got the chance to read Becky Albertali’s next book, of course, I leapt at the chance!

This was also one of my most anticipated releases of this year, and I think a lot of people are going to be using it as their choice for ‘under represented body type’ in the Diversity Bingo!

THINGS I LOVED

• TWINS

As a twin myself, I’m a sucker for them, seriously. This story follows Molly and Cassie as they start to drift apart because of relationships. That whole concept really upsets me, because I would always put my sister first, but I found the complex and messy emotions tied up in this conundrum really realistic. Cassie wants to live her own life and not worry about Molly, and Molly’s trying not to be jealous, while also feeling like she’s missing out on both a relationship and her sister’s life.

• ROMANCE

We all knew that Becky could do them, but this one was just as cute. It’s slightly harder for Molly to get together with her interest though. He might not be hiding behind a screen-name but there’s a lot of miscommunication and there’s also this other guy on the scene and things get, let’s say, complicated!

• ANXIETY

This is the way mental illness should be dealt with, people! It’s what we’ve all been waiting for! A character who has anxiety and is just dealing with it; has completely accepted that being perpetually anxious is just something that she’s going to have to deal with (and take medication for) but she’s still living her life, and isn’t making a huge deal out of it. Molly is not her mental illness. tg.

• FAMILY BACKSTORY

The Upside of Unrequited is a little more serious than Simon Vs. It doesn’t have quite the same sense of lightness, but I really liked that. These teenagers are real and gritty, and the parents aren’t perfect/don’t have perfect lives. Molly gets told off and punished like a normal teenager would experience, so thank you, Becky for having present parents that actually impact the story!

Overall, I gave this book 4 stars. I don’t think I connected with the characters as much, and I would’ve liked there to be a bit more emphasis on the female friendships – because they were there but could’ve been highlighted more! I don’t think it’s quite as good as Simon, obviously, but that would’ve been a seriously difficult feat! However, what we do have is still a heart-warming story about finding true love, which is bound to make you feel hopefully and delighted!