The Upside of Unrequited

by: Becky Albertalli
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. Sp 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? {cover copy}
The upside of having read this book so many months ago and only getting to write this review now is that I am distant enough from it to tell you whether this story stuck with me. The downside is that it didn't, so I don't have much to say about it, because I honestly don't remember much. I mean, I can remember enjoying it at the time. But I can't remember what exactly was enjoyable about it other than that the awkward Tolkien superfan was someone I thought was adorable and I really enjoyed him. Also I totally could relate with crushing on a lot of boys at that age. I was ridiculous. Anyway, I enjoyed it in the moment, but it wasn't the kind of book that stuck with me. Which, honestly, is what happens a lot to me in this genre. 

It takes a lot to really make an impact in contemporary. It's all just so... fleeting and insubstantial? That sounds harsher than I mean it. I know there are a lot of really tough themes tackled in YA contemporary, but... I guess maybe it's because it's usually high school and I really don't connect with high school mentality. I barely did at the time. I always knew college and beyond would be better/ more important and meaningful for me, {and I was right} so I didn't feel too attached to the high school years. Therefore, I guess I don't feel as attached to the fictional high school drama. Also... no fantasy. I prefer worlds that don't exist exactly the way this one actually is.

I'm on the toilet at the 9:30 Club, and I'm wondering how mermaids pee. {first line}
"There's another thing about me. If someone says I'm sad, or asks me what's wrong, or tells me not to cry, it's like my body hears: NOW CRY. Like a command, even if I'm not actually sad, But maybe there are always tiny sad pieces inside me, waiting to be recognized and named."


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