The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli
The Upside of Unrequited
Pros
- Strong family relationships
- Not about coming out
- Body positivity
Cons
- Straight, cis narrator
- Queer plots are secondary
- Sometimes slow
Title: The Upside of Unrequited
Author: Becky Albertalli
Original Publication Date: 2017
Original Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Queer Representation: 1 lesbian sister, 1 lesbian and 1 bisexual mother, 1 pansexual girlfriend
Page Length: 336
A story of love and family and what it means to grow up.
Memorable Quote: “‘But you know, there’s an upside here. Because when you spend so much time just intensely wanting something, and then you actually get the thing? It’s magic.’ All of a sudden, I feel like crying. In a good way. In the best way. Because I know exactly what she means. It’s butterflies and haziness and heart eyes, but underneath all that, there’s this bass line of I can’t believe this. I can’t believe this is me. I can’t quite articulate the sweetness of that feeling. It’s finding out the door you were banging on is finally unlocked. Maybe it was unlocked the whole time.”
Review:
Molly Peskin-Suso and her twin Cassie are incredibly close to one another, but they are also incredibly different — especially when it comes to love. Cassie jumps from girl to girl, never settling into a relationship; Molly, on the other hand, has had crushes on twenty-six different guys, but her fear of rejection stops her from acting on any of them. This all changes when Molly meets Mina in the restroom at a club. Molly introduces Mina to her sister and Cassie enters her first real relationship. Suddenly, Cassie is keeping secrets from Molly and Molly is beginning to feel left out.
As Molly feels her sister slipping away, she takes an interest in Mina’s friend Will. If she dates Will and Cassie dates Mina, maybe the sisters can be close again. There is only one problem that Molly hadn’t taken into consideration though; Molly doesn’t actually have any feelings for Will, but she does have them for her coworker Reid. Now, not only does Molly have to put herself out there and face rejection for the first time in her life, but she has to decide which of the boys is worth the risk. Hopefully Molly can figure it all out in time to bring a date to her mothers’ wedding in a few weeks.
In Upside of Unrequited, Albertalli expands the world that she created in Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. While we are granted occasional glances at characters like Simon, Abby, and Nick, this story is completely new. Until he came across Blue, Simon thought he was the only gay person in town, but Cassie grew up with two moms, not having to worry about coming out in the same way that Simon does. Albertalli moves away from the coming out narrative of Simon to provide readers with a look into a highly functioning queer family. Readers will be drawn to Molly and root for her to find love, but the true strength of Upside is its exploration of family relationships.
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