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A review by booksoversecondbreakfast
Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
As a bi woman who also overlooked her queerness until adulthood, this book was so relatable, and it quite frankly got me pretty emotional at times. I really enjoyed the book, and it was a cute story.
I really enjoyed the romance that blossomed throughout the book and the positive self-discovery. I definitely feel like I aged out of the intended audience for this book though.
The book offered a lot of food for thought, but I sometimes had a kind of hard time getting around the fact that the author wrote this book with the intent of capturing her own experience in Imogen's. The book was clearly intended to be fiction, but it had a lot of extra commentary added in that felt more like essay-writing unnaturally written into the characters' dialog. I still agreed with the author's stance though so it didn't bother me too much.
Something else that bothered me was how okay Imogen ended up being with being proactively outed by her friend. I can't imagine being okay with it, and it felt like an underdeveloped plot point. Also, the book sometimes bordered on feeling too tense for my tastes, especially with how painful Gretchen could come off, but also I know that was kind of the point.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, even though I had some problems with it. I can definitely imagine myself reading this again because it's so relatable.
I really enjoyed the romance that blossomed throughout the book and the positive self-discovery. I definitely feel like I aged out of the intended audience for this book though.
The book offered a lot of food for thought, but I sometimes had a kind of hard time getting around the fact that the author wrote this book with the intent of capturing her own experience in Imogen's. The book was clearly intended to be fiction, but it had a lot of extra commentary added in that felt more like essay-writing unnaturally written into the characters' dialog. I still agreed with the author's stance though so it didn't bother me too much.
Something else that bothered me was how okay Imogen ended up being with being proactively outed by her friend. I can't imagine being okay with it, and it felt like an underdeveloped plot point. Also, the book sometimes bordered on feeling too tense for my tastes, especially with how painful Gretchen could come off, but also I know that was kind of the point.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, even though I had some problems with it. I can definitely imagine myself reading this again because it's so relatable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Outing, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Homophobia