Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love. No matter how many times her twin sister, Cassie, tells her to woman up, Molly can’t stomach the idea of rejection. So 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. 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 a chubby Tolkien superfan with a season pass to the Ren Faire, and there’s absolutely no way Molly could fall for him.
Right? Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love. No matter how many times her twin sister, Cassie, tells her to woman up, Molly can’t stomach the idea of rejection. So 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. 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 a chubby Tolkien superfan with a season pass to the Ren Faire, and there’s absolutely no way Molly could fall for him.
Right?
I’ve just joined an online book club called The Owlcrate Book Club on Facebook. Every month, we read the Owlcrate book from the previous month, an old Owlcrate book, and a third book. The Upside of Unrequited was last month’s book and the first book in this month’s read. I’m excited about this book club and am having fun so far.
That said, this book was okay. It is a quick read and a cute story. I’m not a big contemporary fan, despite the fact that I’m reading more contemporary these days. I find contemporary great books to just veg over. I don’t get a lot of emotion from them and I find that I don’t need to use as much brain power to mentally see what is going on in the text.
I didn’t really connect with any of the characters, but I didn’t mind seeing their story. Molly is a girl who keeps herself quiet and pushes in her emotions. That doesn’t bother me because I’m an introvert as well. However, she seemed just more awkward than she needed to be.
Her twin sister isn’t much better. She had her mind on her girlfriend all the time and didn’t seem to think about anything else. Selfish would be a good term. Then again, that is normal for some teens. I can name a few. Not sure if I was, but I do know of some.
Honestly, I have a feeling that teen me is a mix of the two.
The overall story is cute and adorable. There is some resolution with the major conflict, but I feel that the real issue isn’t ever addressed.
The one thing I absolutely love about this book is the LGBTQ element. The characters have diverse backgrounds and I loved that. Was it a great representation to today’s society? I think so.
Overall, the book was adorable. Not a favorite and not really a reread, but for a standalone that you could possibly read in one setting? Not bad.
I should note that the book doesn’t really get going until the second half. Still cute and adorable, it’s just I wasn’t really enjoying it until then.
Casia's Corner 