Review: The Upside of Unrequited

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is basically your typical "insecure fat/plain girl finally gets a boyfriend and now life is complete" stories, with a bunch of diverse characters added for flavor. While it was not terrible, I am just really tired of this trope and I hate the message it sends, that you need a boyfriend to validate you. I'd rather see a story of a big girl who is confident and has serious interests and goals other than having a boyfriend.

I did like parts of the book, and the connection to the author's first and Morris Ward-winning book, Simon vs. the Homo sapiens Agenda, which I loved, but it definitely did not measure up to Simon. Simon had such great, well-developed characters that had clear and distinct personalities and voices, but the characters in Unrequited were never really fully developed and lacked depth and voice. I really couldn't tell you anything about Molly other than she's a twin, has two moms, is fat, and would love to have a boyfriend but settles for secret crushes that she never acts on to avoid rejection.

I hope the author's third book due out later this year and also with a Simon tie-in, has a better message and better character development.


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