Tuesday, January 21, 2020

The Upside of Unrequited Book Review

For the past semester of the school year, one book that I read was called The Upside of Unrequited. It is a young adult novel by Becky Albertalli and consists of 336 pages which I feel like many young adults would be able to relate to. The main character of this book is a girl named Molly who has had twenty six crushes but never had a boyfriend. Molly is a very unique girl. She has a habit or a talent of making and designing clothes; she is a very artistic person that loves to do crafts. Molly suffers from anxiety and takes medication for it. She has the character of being afraid of rejection and she does not quite understand how to manage her own feelings. Despite having anxiety, that does not affect her from her daily living. She has the appearance of a fat girl and she is not really that person who someone will be attracted to at first glance. Molly has a twin sister named Cassie who is sort of opposite of her character. Cassie is a little bit more of a sociable and outgoing person than Molly. She would always tell Cassie to “woman up” and shoot her shot whenever she has someone that she likes. Molly and Cassie are really close to each other but as Cassie meet new people, Molly kind of pushed out of the frame as Cassie would spend more time with her girlfriend and would always be on her phone texting. As Molly starts a new job, she met a guy named Reid. Now, Reid is not someone that Molly sees herself getting attracted to for the first time but there might be a possibility that Molly will develop feelings for Reid eventually.The relationship between Molly and Reid gets more interesting as each of the page goes by. Molly is a really family oriented person; she is a loving sister and daughter. This novel also shows a pretty unique family dynamics. It is very open about the LGBTQ Community which made it really unique and interesting. It is not a "typical" family that only consists of mom, dad and kids. Cassie and Molly came from a family of two moms and the two of them are actually sperm donor babies and they came from a jewish family which shows diversity when it comes to religion. Cassie has a girlfriend named Mina. Just like some other families, conflicts arises within Molly and Cassie's family too when their grandmother arrives whom was actually against about the relationship of their mom at first. Overall, this novel shows how people can be attractive in their own unique ways. It shows the reality of this world when it comes to teenage love. Some people easily know what type of person they are looking for, some like many people at once which happens, and some just like a certain type of person.


I personally like this book though I don't fully relate to it. This novel clearly shows the reality of a teenager where they have those crushes, lying to their parents or having secrets, going out, being a rebel; basically just being teenagers themselves. I also like that this novel do not just simply covers the complicated life of teenage love, but it also covers real problems of teenagers. It covers anxiety which is a mental illness that Molly suffers from and it is very real and open on how most teenagers of this world are. Many teenagers suffer from anxiety and it is the reality. It also covers real family problems which I feel like many people are going to be able to relate to. I would recommend this novel to teenagers or young adults. If you are into life relatable books, especially for teenagers who have been through the sweet teenage love, then this book might be perfect for you. 

No comments:

Post a Comment