Welcome to another ARC book review, this time of Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli. I requested this expecting to love it and I really, really did. I haven't read anything else by this author yet, but hopefully that'll change soon!!
Disclaimer: I received free and advanced access to this book in exchange of an honest review. All opinions are my own, and thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this.
Synopsis:
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. . .
Firstly, the representation in this book was just so so heartwarming. The queer friendships and allies and just the LOVE in this book truly warmed my heart. The characters I just loved so much, especially Imogen (obviously), Tessa and the queen that is Lili. I wanted to be their friend too!!
It was also very realistic and it was one of those books that I just got totally lost in, I was truly living inside this book. I fully believed in the characters and their stories, and found so many of their struggles so relateable. The way that the characters' insecurities were truly laid bare and how their struggles were really not shyed away from, especially Imogen as we are in her head.
I was totally invested in this story, despite it being quite simple plot-wise, and the romance was just SO beautiful and made me feel so excited and hopeful and it was just STUNNING. The setting was also very well constructed and just a joy to be in!
My only critique is that I wanted to see perhaps some development and change in Gretchen, and perhaps even a sort of resolution with her, because I thought her character was left in a bad place, and I wanted everyone to be friends again (the idealistic and naive person I am).
The queer house party and Rainbow House was just the biggest bundle of joy and I truly felt a part of something when reading this! The way that being bisexual was explored was very interesting, especially when exploring people's opinions and biases around this topic.
There were also some great discussions around queerbaiting and internalised biphobia/homophobia, which was equally fascinating and made me think about these issues in a very different way. Recently, the actor Kit Connor, who plays Nick in Heartstopper, was forced to publicly come out because of queerbaiting issues, so reading this made me reflect on this event. I recommend reading into it if you are not familiar with it!
Overall, this was a very special read, and definitely one I will consider getting a physical copy of for a reread. I absolutely can't wait to read more of Becky Albertalli's books!
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this post! I am so excited for this book to be out in the world and for more people to be able to read it! Happy reading!
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p.s. casual magic of the day:
(If you are new here and have no idea what I'm on about, click here to find out more)
I am currently on holiday in the Scillies. Today we visited St Agnes, and arriving on the island was truly magical. It was absolutely beautiful and the pub there is in such a beautiful location! The sand bar to Gugh, the clear waters, the wild side of the island - I loved it! I'm grateful for the mostly sunny weather we've had, and the blue waters and skies and it's just been stunning <33
(this post was written a few weeks ago!!)
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