Becky Albertalli is officially not a one-hit wonder.
I feel I also must note that if this book had been around when I was a teenager, I would have been 1000% obsessed with it. Like Molly, I was that girl with the hundred unrequited crushes and no idea what to do about them, and even though her body-image issues were not mine, I felt I could also relate that she had them. (Adolescence is a terrible time. I’m sure you all agree.)
And just like with her debut (Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda), Albertalli remains eerily accurate at portraying the voices and thought patterns of teenagers.
I appreciated this book for its complexity. It wasn’t just a love story about a girl finding her first love in a clichéd manner. It’s also about friendship and sisters and family and figuring out who you are versus who you’re supposed to be. (Albertalli’s ability to paint characters and relationships in shades of grey was also something I admired about Simon vs.) In other words, a classic coming of age story, but a really well done one. (It’s also wonderfully diverse.)
With that said, I am going to play favorites. I liked Simon better. There’s just something about that boy and his adorable crush and personality. I’m also here for her next book, which is going follow Leah, Simon’s prickly friend. I will be very interested to see what that one’s going to be about.
