An important story and I appreciate the introspection of the narrator; however, it could have been much, much shorter of a novel. I think the characters/plot is better suited for a novella rather than a fulll length novel. Not enough new was introduced into the plot to make reading the length of this novel enjoyable.

<i>"I've always had such a pliable center. I *like* being who people expect me to be. It's not that I'm trying to change who I am. I just want who I am to make sense. In every context. Without any uncertainty or contradiction. Which means pinning down who I'm supposed to be in any given situation and adjusting my feelings accordingly.
Here's a fun riddle: a people pleaser walks into a diner with five other people, and every single one of them wants her to be someone different.
Is that what's happening? People saw me as queer for a week, and it stuck?"</i>

This book absolutely blew me away. The first chapter was a little rough, and I was a little skeptical -- I felt like I was hit with a lot of character names + info and not a lot of context right off the bat -- but once I got into the story (and it didn't take long) I completely forgot.

This, to me, coming in with no knowledge of Becky Albertalli, read as a deeply personal working through of queer identity. So much so, that I paused about 1/3 of the way through and looked up her story. Which...oooh boy, people had a lot to say -- and I was honestly shocked by some of it.

The idea -- both for Albertalli's life and Imogen's story -- that anyone could dictate someone else's queer identity or coming out story is just...awful. Like, we're still here? I get that authors -- perhaps not as much as "higher profile" celebrities -- get people who feel like they're entitled to know all the details of their private lives, but c'mon.

Anyway -- long and short of it: I fell in love with both Imogen and Becky Albertalli, and while I get where Gretchen (the people on the Interwebz) is coming from, they can all sit down and hold their tongues. I will be adding all of Albertalli's catalog to my TBR and I feel this fierce devotion to her now. Like don't come for someone so sweet with your negativity.

Becky is amazing and this book doesn't live down the hype. Becky is great and I'm a fan of her work.

Becky Albertalli is ever fabulous. This is another win. It will make you smile. It will make you cry and it will make you feel. Absolutely adored it!

4.5/5 Stars

Thank you to Balzer + Bray and Netgalley for providing me with an arc of this book.

I love Becky Albertalli’s books and this was my first one in a while. Leading up to this book’s publication I saw becky talk about how much she put into imogen of her own story but I didn’t expect to relate to Imogen as much as I did. I wish I had this book when I was younger as I think it would have nudged me into understanding my sexuality sooner.

Imogen Scott is the token heterosexual best friend and there is no way she could possibly be anything but straight. She is a great ally, never misses a pride alliance meeting, and she always tries to listen to her queer friends. She finally goes and visits her best friend Lili who is newly out and is living her best college life with queer friends but when Imogen arrives she learns Lili told her friends that they had dated and Imogen was bi. Imogen goes along with the lie but slowly she realizes maybe her feelings for Tessa, one of Lili’s friends, goes a bit deeper than friendship.

I was that straight friend in my friend group while the rest of my friends were queer and I thought there was no possible way I was anything but straight. Until I realized my feelings for one of my friends not in my main friend group were a little more than just friendly. After I accidentally came out to my mom, she told me that both her and my dad had been wondering if I was straight considering a lot of things. While I grew up with progressive and queer people around me that didn’t outweigh the amount of heterosexual relationships I saw in the media and in real life. This book would have been life changing to a younger me and even now it made me cry. It is books like these we need more of and need to save from book bans as this book and so many other queer and bipoc stories are life changing.

I loved Imogen and I adored Tessa for how supportive Tessa was when Imogen came out. Imogen was just trying to survive and to figure out who she was but she had to battle both internal biases and external pressures to figure it out. I have never wanted to meet a book character more in real life than gretchen just to provide the find out portion of fuck around. Gretchen was a well done character but a horrible person and this was very intentional of Albertalli and it was perfect. This doesn’t mean I don’t want to fight Gretchen because I do but I do think her characterization was very well done.

This book handles a lot of issues around biphobia and also tackles the question that has been especially prevalent of do Actors need to tell the world their sexuality to be considered for a character. I am of the believe while it is amazing to have queer actors for queer characters, we will never know who is queer and we should not be forcing people out of the closet just because we want the character to be represented by a queer person. It is such a complex issue but the most important thing to remember is these actors are people and they deserve privacy just like anyone else and should never be forced into coming out. I really liked the commentary on these things and it was handled very well.

I highly recommend this for people wanting a book focused on sexuality exploration and coming to terms with being queer.

Rating: 4.5⭐️

Thank you to HarperCollins Children’s Books/Balzer + Bray for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Imogen Scott is a senior in high school and is the token straight girl amongst her friends and sister. She’s a bit nervous to visit her best friend, Lili, for the first time at the college Imogen will also be attending in five months, as she’s not wanting to invade Lili’s queer space. Imogen’s in for a surprise though when Lili tells her that she told her friends that Imogen and Lili used to date and that Imogen is bisexual.
As a people-pleaser and World’s Greatest Ally, she can’t help but go along with Lili’s story, even if she feels a bit weird about lying. As she spends the weekend and the following week getting closer with one of Lili’s friends, Tessa, she starts to question whether she’s 100% lying or if she’s 100% straight like she (and her friend Gretchen) has always said.

This book was just a ray of sunshine. Imogen’s brain works similarly to mine, so I totally understood and related to the ramblings and questions about literally everything. I loved seeing how thoughtful she was about approaching queer situations and what went on in her mind when she started questioning her sexuality. I was so glad that Imogen, for the most part, had a super supporting and understanding community around her and the resources for her to figure things out. I loved all of the characters, except for the toxic, discourse-obsessed, queer-gatekeeping, Gretchen, and I hope Imogen never talks to her again.
Becky turned a difficult, public discourse about her own sexuality and turned it into an amazing story that will undoubtedly help anyone who may be in the process of questioning their sexuality or relate to anyone who has gone through this at any age. I definitely felt validated (not that I needed to be), while going on Imogen’s journey of self-discovery. It’s also a great reminder that not everyone’s story and/or experience with queerness is the same, so it’s important to treat everyone with grace and openness, regardless of how they choose label themselves at any given time… don’t be a Gretchen.

This was cute but I don’t really think I was the right audience for it! It was a little young for me.

This may be my favorite book Becky Albertalli has written so far. The characters are fully fleshed out, relatable, and interesting. Sweet and touching all at once.

I was alternately bored or annoyed by this book. No offense to the author. I understand teens aren't too dissimilar from the sort of character types in the book, but at over halfway through, with the MC being obsessed and clearly into the romantic interest but still like "but I'm not bi or a lesbian so it's wrong!", when like hello... you're literally thinking about her all the time and how pretty she is and how much you want to be with her. But because Imogen's friend Gretchen (unlikable and not a good friend tbh) tells her she's straight, then THAT must be her truth and not, you know, her actual thoughts and emotions?!

I was just shaking my head and rolling me eyes the whole time and had to really, really push myself to finish this. I was hoping for cutesy romance vibes and there's some of that, but it's really bogged down in everything else. We could really have done with being in Imogen's head a LOT less, with more showing and less telling of her inner turmoil because it was just way too much.

Or maybe I'm grouchy old woman now lol

Ahhh, the “I’m such a good ally” to “…Wait a second” to “Oh, I think I’m bi” pipeline. Who among us hasn’t had this exact experience. Certainly not me. Reading it was like a visceral kick to heart on every page. And I loved it.

Becky Albertalli writes a deeply personal story, telling the story of Imogen, a teenager who tries to understand what she feels about a girl who captures her attention so suddenly. But it’s probably just because she has a lot of queer friends and hangs out in a lot of queer spaces because she’s a great ally, right? Couldn’t possibly be anything other than that.

This book spoke to me as Albertalli’s books so often do. Imogen’s internal conflict so closely mirrored my own a few years ago. Leah on the Offbeat was a book that helped me put the pieces together and this book helped me figure out how they’ve always fit together and been there, even if I didn’t see them.

I love the idea that this book will help so many people understand that little voice that’s always sort of been in the back of their head. That warm and welcoming voice just waiting to be heard. Imogen, Obviously is a funny, heartwarming, and lovely read that will probably end up doing a lot of good for those who need it.

5 stars

Ahh another cute Albertolli book you're sure to love! It has:

• a captivating storyline
• sweet romance
• ya lgbtq
• highschool setting
• coming of age

I thought this was so cute. If you're a sucker for heartfelt, young adult books then definitely check this obe out.

I’m so sorry but after reading 50% of this book I realized that I just didn’t care about anything.

Basically its about Imogen’s queerness crisis. She knows in her bones that she’s straight, she has a queer sister, queer friends, etc and she definitely isnt one of them. But one lie leads to a situation where she started to question whether she’s actually bi or not

Also the whole book is so gen Z since most of the characters are late teenagers, and they’re texting all the time. which might be good for some groups of readers but not for me.

Becky Albertalli's latest is a stunner. Imogen is a hugely supportive ally to the many queer people in her life, and she's pretty sure she's straight, but a weekend visiting Lili at college has her reframing her whole life. The book moves at a fast pace thanks to short chapters and text-threads. All of Imogen's friends are fully-imagined. This is a story about friendship and first love, but it's so much more. There's a lot of information in this book, but it's presented in a way that's natural and part of the dialogue. Highly recommend this title.

What a great book for awareness and coming of age identity questions. College is such a pivotal time for so many and to have a book with such inclusivity will bring hope to many that they aren’t alone. This book was fun and brave and UNIQUE. The world needs more of all of that.

I received an advance review copy for free via Netgalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Heartfelt coming-of age story that will appeal to anyone trying to figure out their identity and their friendships as they move from high school to college.

I finished this one a while ago and i just simply forgot to give feedback on Netgalley, as I've been a little hiatus recently.

I found this title very interesting and fun! I can't remember how I felt about it in a deep way but I do remember loving it! Thank you for the ARC!

While at times the writing could feel a little bit cheesy/corny, overall this was a delightful read! As a fan of Albertalli's previous books, I was excited to read this one as well. It was a lighter and quick read for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for the e-arc of this story. This is my honest review.

THANK YOU NETGALLEY AND HARPER COLLINS CHILDREN’S FOR THIS ARC!!!

Everything about this story was wonderful.

I REALLY enjoy this soo much. The story feels like a warm hug. ALSO, the story is so heartwarming

Thanks for the arc, Netgalley

Oh my gosh, I don't have words to explain how much I loved this darling book. It felt like a best friend's hug after a long day. It was funny and wonderful and so sweet. I loved it.

Imogen is finally taking the plunge and visiting her best friend, Lili, at college, just a half hour away. Imogen will be attending college there next fall, but is nervous about being on campus. Right away, she is embraced by her best friend's other friends, and they have a wonderful time. Imogen meets a girl there that she can't stop thinking about, but that doesn't make sense. Imogen is straight, right?

I think this book is so real and so relatable to teens, but also to adults who have ever questioned their own identity. Imogen has been told by her friends, especially her high school best friend, (Gretchen, who is bisexual) that she is straight. She's a great ally, but doesn't quite fit into queer spaces. Imogen really has to work through some of her own bias and her understanding of herself to come to terms with who she is and who she can be. I wanted to be friends with all of these people. Everyone was well-rounded, and I think Imogen is a great stand-in for teens who are wondering these same things about themselves.

This was truly one of my favorite books of the year. I loved it so much.