The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

Cover Art Courtesy of Goodreads

After absolutely loving the audiobook version of Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, I knew I wanted to listen to Becky Albertalli's next book, The Upside of Unrequited, rather than just read it. Not sure what she has done to get such a great cast of narrators for her books, but I loved this one as well! Sometimes audiobook narrators can be terrible and completely ruin what would have otherwise been a great story, but once again this audiobook knocked it out of the park.

The Upside of Unrequited follows Molly and her twin sister Cassie, two girls raised by lesbian moms, who also happen to be a mixed-race couple. Cassie is also a lesbian. Molly considers herself to be the more unattractive twin, being uncomfortable with her weight and never having kissed a boy, while Cassie is gorgeous and can have almost any girl she wants. Throughout the story, Molly struggles with Cassie getting her first serious girlfriend and losing that closeness with her sister, while trying to find herself and work on romantic relationships of her own. Oh, and plan a wedding for her moms. 

I loved everything about this story. I really identified with Molly and her struggles with self image, and having family members beat her up over a "weight problem" since that has also happened to me. I loved the amount of diversity in this book, and that it was a big focus but not so much that it distracted from other elements of the story.  There was a point however where I almost stopped reading because I felt SO BAD for Molly. I just couldn't bear to keep reading about the terrible way that others treated her and what I thought was going to happen next in the story, but I pushed myself through and I'm glad I did! I am so happy with the way this story ended!

I also kind of hate myself for taking so long to realize that Molly and Cassie's cousin Abby is the same Abby from Simon! I know they're making a movie from Simon, but I really hope they make a movie about this one too! I also can't wait to get my hands on Becky Albertalli's newest book, Leah on the Offbeat!

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Cover Art Courtesy of Goodreads

So, I finally got around to making this book a priority, and I'm SO glad I did. I chose to listen to the audiobook rather than read the text itself because I had heard amazing things about the narration, and I definitely made the right choice. Michael Crouch narrates this coming of age tale about a boy being blackmailed regarding his sexuality, falling in love with an anonymous classmate via email, and struggling with the typical family and friend dynamics that a teenager encounters. The entire time, I felt engaged and connected to the story, and I was so eager to learn what would happen next.

Simon was such a relatable character, even though I'm a straight female, simply because he was so down to earth and real. This story really showed not only the struggles that a typical teenager faces, but the ones that homosexual teenagers deal with on a daily basis that many of us will never understand. It really puts things into perspective about being kind to everyone, because you never know what they may be struggling with internally.

Simon's friends Abby, Leah, and Nick were great examples of how real friends should be, supportive yet hard when they need to be. And Blue, let's not even get started when it comes to Blue! Simon and Blue's emails were precious, and they made me feel all the warm fuzzies throughout the story. This was an easy read/listen with a really great message and a feel-good plot. I don't know why it took me so long to commit to this story, but now that I have I can see this being something that I will listen to, and even read, time and time again.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars