Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli
With humor and insight, #1 New York Times bestseller Becky
Albertalli explores the nuances of sexuality, identity, and
friendship.
Imogen Scott may be hopelessly heterosexual, but she’s got the
World’s Greatest Ally title locked down.
She's never missed a Pride Alliance meeting. She knows more
about queer media discourse than her very queer little sister.
She even has two queer best friends. There's Gretchen, a
fellow high school senior, who helps keep Imogen's biases in
check. And then there's Lili—newly out and newly thriving with
a cool new squad of queer college friends.
Imogen's thrilled for Lili. Any ally would be. And now that
she's finally visiting Lili on campus, she's bringing her ally
A game. Any support Lili needs, Imogen's all in.
Even if that means bending the truth, just a little.
Like when Lili drops a tiny queer bombshell: she's told all
her college friends that Imogen and Lili used to date. And
none of them know that Imogen is a raging hetero—not even
Lili’s best friend, Tessa.
Of course, the more time Imogen spends with chaotic,
freckle-faced Tessa, the more she starts to wonder if her
truth was ever all that straight to begin with. . .
I can't even begin to describe how much I loved this one!❣️✨ It'd be
a disservice to label this as just a simple coming of age story. I
wanted to reach into this book and give Imogen a hug and I hope I can
give the author a hug too *virtually* 🥺 It felt deeply personal in
ways that I can't describe and perhaps I'm not ready to yet but it was
also beautiful, fluffy and fun at the same time!
We have Imogen Scott, a high school senior and the sweetest ally who
is surrounded by queer people - her sister, best friends and many
others, and she's convinced she's straight. If she were queer she
would know it, just like her sister did - atleast that's what she
thinks! And then she's invited to spend the weekend at her best friend
Lili's college(the one she's also planning on attending) where she'll
finally get to meet Lili's new squad of queer friends. She also learns
that Lili has told her friends that they'd dated for a short while(as
she felt insecure about her late coming out). So, her friends think
that Imogen is bisexual and Imogen decides to go along with it to help
Lili. It's just a tiny lie about the past, shouldn't matter much
right?🤔 But, as she starts spending more time with Lili's friends -
especially Tessa, she starts questioning a lot of things and even
wonders whether she has a crush on Tessa. Can one weekend and one girl
change one's complete outlook on things?
Imogen is adorable and lovely - she's a people pleaser,
overthinker(her thoughts sometimes made me more anxious than her😂)
and the best friend anyone could have. Like she's so understanding and
helpful(some of her friends like Gretchen did not deserve her but
anyway we won't talk about that). She has a lot of things to discover
about herself and it's a wonderful journey that explores a lot of
topics about how fluid sexuality is, and does one actually need to
declare things before one has time to process it. Is one allowed to
change their mind and how all the online discourse makes one scared
and confused at the same time. There's so much more to say and I could
keep talking about it but there's a lot of relatable stuff that I
loved seeing. In the end, it's about learning to love and accept
yourself while giving yourself and others space for exploration. Noone
can/should deny you that space or force you to make a choice or put
you in a box for their satisfaction.
And coming to the romance with Tess - it was so cute and perfect! I'm
not ashamed to admit that I squealed at times when I was reading their
interactions and text exchanges!☺️ It felt so natural and soo cute at
the same time. I loved their banter and how they made each other
happier. Also, loved the lack of drama when it came to their
relationship! I was very happy about that! 😆 Imogen's friends were
equally fun and amazing - especially Lili! And her family was lovely!
I'd love to see her sister Edith's story too!
Anyway, I should probably stop gushing about this one now but I can
honestly tell you that this is one book that will stay with me for a
long time and I'm pretty sure it'll change many lives and I hope it
reaches the ones who need it, because many do!
You can also find this review on my bookstagram here
*I was provided with an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest
review*
Becky Albertalli is the author of the acclaimed novels Simon vs. the Homo
Sapiens Agenda (film: Love, Simon), The Upside of Unrequited, and Leah on
the Offbeat. She is also the co-author of What If It's Us with Adam
Silvera. A former clinical psychologist who specialized in working with
children and teens, Becky lives with her family in Atlanta.
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