I have never read a Becky Albertalli read that I didn’t like, and Imogen, Obviously was no exception. This whole story was a joyous exploration of Imogen figuring out who she was and who she wanted to be, and I enjoyed every single word. Imogen and Tessa have such a cute friendship-turned-relationship, and it warmed my heart to see Imogen bloom as she visited college. The characters all had distinct personalities, and I loved meeting all of them.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the employees at HarperCollins for sending me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, I cried about 5 times before I even started the first chapter. This book blew me away, it’s SO Becky in the absolute best way possible. I definitely think this is my favorite book of her’s. It’s seeped with things that just remind me of her and the things she’s had to go through the last few years. But I’ll just let the book and the author’s note speak for itself on that topic.

I have so many thought about how the character Gretchen is meant to embody the gatekeepers of the queer community and how much that speaks to me and my journey as a queer/trans person. It’s an insane metaphor that Becky pulls off flawlessly.

God, this is just a good book. Go buy it! Right now!!

PS: there is a simonverse character if you look very closely👀

Imogen Scott is the token Straight friend in her group of friends. Most of them are queers and so is her sister. But she’s straight, so straight, especially according to her best friend Gretchen. When Imogen finally accepts her other best friend’s invitation (Lili) to visit her and stay in her college dorm room with her, she’s still a bit hesitant . She’s scared that she won’t compare and fit in with Lili’s new and cool queer friends. But she couldn’t be more wrong, especially since it turns out that Lili has some insecurities of her own and she actually lied and said that she and Imogen used to date. But now, Imogen is mesmerized by Tessa, one of Lili’s new friends and what if she thinks she’s like into her into her?? Cause she can’t be, since she’s straight, right? RIGHT??

This was incredible, groundbreaking, amazing. I loved every single second of it. I loved Imogen, Lili, Tessa and the whole group of Lili’s friends. I cried, I laughed, I raged. It was truly everything and more. The characters, the setting, the romance, the short chapters, it’s like all of it was made for me. I was truly glued to the page and could not stop reading. I’m sorry this is a terrible review, why is it so hard to review great books??? I just don’t have anything to say except that it was perfection to me and that you should all read it! Becky Albertalli really just did it again.

So good, so readable. I love love loved Imogen.

I also will admit I felt very vindicated that Gretchen was so awful bc I disliked her from when I first met her on account of her name. Yeah, fantastic. and all of Imogen’s friends who weren’t Gretchen were just wonderful. And the thing about Gretchen is, she represents a very real group of queer people. All these things she was saying were things I have seen ppl saying, whether it was about Becky or Kit or someone else. It needs to stop.

Without a doubt this is my new favorite Becky Albertalli book.

I thought this was lovely! You can tell this was primarily based off of Albertalli's experiences after writing Simon vs. the Homosapiens Agenda, and I liked the added layer. The characters were all fun, too. I think this was a solid book, and will definitely put Albertalli back on the map.

This is another excellent read by Albertalli - full of her trademark pathos. Fans of her previous books will find more to love here as we follow a girl navigating the LGBTQ community while feeling like an outsider.

Story: Imogen has always worked hard to be a staunch ally. Her sister came out as a lesbian at a young age and her best friends are bi. Imogen is always trying her best to be a people pleasing person while being supportive of the trials of those close to her. When she visits best friend Lili at college, the unexpected happens - she begins to question just how cishet she truly is when she starts to develop feelings for one of Lili's lesbian friends.

Most of the book is Imogen overthinking every possible situation. There are some very interesting discussions on 'comphet' and assumptions about one's sexuality. But also on what it means to be bi or lesbian, how that affects one's outlook on life, and how things can be easily misinterpreted or hurtful. Interestingly, this is not a preachy book; most of the drama is from within Imogen's friend's group and not from without.

The story takes place over 9 or so days as Imogen visits friend Lili's college (where Imogen will be attending in 6 months) and gets to meet Lili's new circle of LGBTQ friends. Imogen once again feels like an outsider and that is paralleled to how she has been experiencing her relationships with her family and good friends before then.

In the end, I did get tired of the endless questing inner monologue. As well, not much happens in the book since most of the time Imogen is being neurotic about this or that subject in the LGBTQ community. But this is an Albertalli book so there is a lot of heart and emotion. The dialogue snaps, is very relevant, and the drama isn't overwrought or melodramatic. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

I am a big fan of Becky Albertalli books, Unfortunately, this one didn't resonate with me. The characters were well-developed and likeable. But I found the amount of self-doubt and navel gazing by Imogen was a bit much. I wanted more to happen outside of her head. I understand that this is meant to show the process of self-discovery of her sexuality, but it felt repetitive to me, and I started to lose interest.

Becky Albertalli is arguably one the most highly talked about authors in queer YA, and her stories overall have been very hit or miss for me. For every “Simon VS” there’s a “Kate in Waiting”. The character of Imogen is endearing and charming, and is the perfect titular character for Albertalli to her story through. It takes great strength for Albertalli to share her story with an overly skeptical audience, and soft her to find a way to relay that story through fictional characters must be commended. Overall, the story was just a basic coming of age, sexual awakening story for me. I enjoyed 98% of the characters and the story was very cut and dry, so there’s no justification to give this any less then 4 stars, but the story wasn’t gripping enough to go up to 5. If you like Albertalli and her overall body of work, “Imogen, Obviously” slot’s delectably into her bibliography.

4.25 stars

Thank you to NetGalley & HarperCollins for the early copy of this novel <3

This was a complete and utter DELIGHT!

It’s been a while since I’ve read a Becky Albertalli book, but I’m pleased to confirm that she has not lost her magic touch! Imogen Obviously was heartwarming, entertaining, addicting, and honest. Having read about Albertalli’s experiences with being forced to come out, I read this with the knowledge that Albertalli’s own story was deeply woven into Imogen’s and I admire her courage in sharing it with the world.

Imogen, Obviously follows Imogen Scott, who is 100% straight. However, with a queer younger sister and two queer best friends to support, she’s also 100% the World’s Greatest Ally. In fact, she’s so supportive that when she visits her childhood friend, Lili, at college and is roped into pretending to be her ex-girlfriend, she decides to give it all she’s got. And although she fears that everyone can tell how postively hetero she is, none of Lili’s friends seem to notice a thing – not even Lili’s extremely cool new friend, Tessa…

As Imogen gets to know Tessa and the rest of Lili’s friend group, she finds that “pretending” is a lot easier than she expected… in fact, she may not be “pretending” at all.

Through Imogen, Albertalli tackles issues from biphobia to gatekeeping within the queer community. It is obvious she is writing from a very personal space and one character in particular (who you will loathe as much as me) represents the toxic mindset and perspective that Albertalli herself has been subjected to time and time again. I know Imogen’s experiences will also resonate with a lot of readers too especially in an age where ideas of “queerbaiting” are going too far (a la Kit Connor) and the incessant entitlement towards people’s identities is growing more and more prominent.

Anyways, despite the often complex and difficult subject matter, this book was composed of a lot of joy and I adored every second of it. Imogen was a such an easy character to love and root for. I related a lot to her social anxiety and tendency to overthink in particular. I also adored Tessa, the love interest if it wasn’t quite clear. She was absolutely lovely and I felt giddy reading their interactions.

I find that while many authors attempt to write relatable teen interactions and often miss the mark, Albertalli is not one of those authors. Every single text conversation Imogen had with a friend or Tessa rang true. There was only one or two comments where I was like… okay, that’s pushing it, and that’s probably a record. Honestly, I was grinning like an idiot reading most of Imogen and Tessa’s exchanges in specific.

The found family aspect of this book… perfection. The friend group in this book in particular reminded me of what I love the most from Casey McQuiston books as well. It just felt so warm <3 I will never forget the tiny German sausage OMG 😭

Also returning to that certain character who shall not be named… I actually really appreciate that even though they were meant to be portrayed in a negative light, Albertalli also took the care of developing them with nuance and depth, allowing the reader to both understand their actions and even empathize with them… TO AN EXTENT, of course.

My only real issues were: I felt the beginning felt a bit disjointed in that we were dropped into the plotline without any context. The adjustment took a second. Similarly, I felt that some of the chapter transitions felt a bit abrupt and/or awkward. I’m thinking of one chapter in particular towards the end where I literally had to reread the last page of the previous chapter and the first page of the next twice in order to understand what happened. (Chapter 55 of the e-ARC, I believe)

Overall: I thoroughly recommend and I hope to see a lot of people pick this up in May!!

I'm a big Becky Albertalli fan, so I was excited about this ARC. I enjoyed the book, just not as much as Albertalli's other books. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher.

Imogen, Obviously should be required reading for high school students and their parents. This book is full of so many important messages and lessons. There is a love story intertwined with a beautiful queer awakening and affirming. Imogen is such a sweet, soft, sensitive soul. A people please-r down to her very core. She went through quite the journey uncovering her feelings and queerness. Although she had supportive people in her orbit, she also had people like Gretchen. Gretchen was a complicated character because I felt for her journey and the trauma she has been through, but the way she tries to dictate everyone's queerness was really frustrating. I am glad that Imogen was able to take some space from her to gain confidence in herself.

This book really made me think about Queerness and bi-erasure and stereo-types. It is not anyone's job or place to critique someones queerness. You don't have to have experience with that gender to be queer. I can be bi or pan even if I am married and never date a woman or someone NB. It is about your feelings inside. Gretchen was constantly trying to validate everyone else and their Queerness and it doesn't work that way at all.

Immy's sister, Edith, Lilli and Tessa were such great supports while she worked through her feelings.

And Tessa and Imogen, OMG so cute.

Overall, this book is thoughtful, insightful and delicately handled some sensitive subject matter and conversations. And bottom line, if someone tells you they are queer, they are queer. The end.

Words won’t be enough to describe the deep love I have for this book. Becky beautifully portrayed so many things within this story and I can’t wait for everyone to read it.

I hope this book opens conversations about the societal problem with forcing people out of the closet, with accusations of queer baiting, with owing anyone an explanation of your identity. I hope folks will read this and feel as validated as I did in my experience, and think harder about how we can be more understanding and leave more space for our “straight” pals to feel safe before they’re ready to explore or identify that they could be in the community.

Read this, multiple times, and get copies for everyone you know.

Ugh. This book gave me all the feels! As a bi woman married to a cishet man, I thoroughly appreciated Albertalli’s bi-Bildungsroman. The book did stall a bit for me about halfway through, but then the ending nailed it.

Very cute and readable! I recognize that I'm not the target audience for this book, but I still really enjoyed it. The main character was the true highlight for me. It's important that teens these days have books like this one.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

While this is one of my most anticipated reads (and a 5 star read at that), I will be withholding my review until HarperCollins publishers have reached a fair contract!

I absolutely loved this book. The dynamic of the 'original' friend group was different than most YA novels (in a good way) and the parallels to what happened with Becky Albertalli are clear and incredibly well done. I really liked how the diner conflict was handled and think the realism of this situation deserves to be represented much more than it currently is. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this book for an honest review.

I will not be sharing my review because I choose stand with the on-going Harper Collins Union. When negotiations end I will share my full review.

As expected and hoped for: another page-turning queer Young Adult novel a reader can inhale in a single day yet think about for a long time after. A worthy addition to the Albertalli canon.

Imogen may be heterosexual, but she’s always prided herself on being an Ally for everyone. Most of Imogen’s friends are queer, so she’s excited when Lili, her best friend from high school, invites Imogen to visit her at college to meet all her new queer friends. Imogen is anxious about fitting in or overstepping boundaries, but soon feels like she’s found a second home. And then, Imogen meets Tessa, a chaotic and fun-loving girl who has Imogen questioning everything she’s always known.

First things first: I absolutely love the cover of this work. I also loved the premise and the important topics that were covered in a meaningful but approachable way. The author wrote characters that were relatable and had their own personalities – it was easy to tell the multiple friends apart because they all felt so different and alive, which was quite enjoyable. I also liked Imogen’s sense of humor and it helped to make her more relatable as a character. And the romance. Yes, it was insta-love (most of the book took place in one week), but the two characters worked together so well that I honestly found myself not caring about how quickly it occurred. But there were a few things that majorly detracted from this work for me.

Imogene had the same conversation with herself in almost every chapter, which led to so much repetition that I had to take breaks from this book. Her main personality trait was anxiety, mostly related to possible perceived slights against the queer community. She didn’t really grow out of it until the very end of the work (reasonable as only a week of time passes in the book) but it was entirely exhausting to read. These portions were also written as kind of stream of consciousness monologues, which did not make them engaging at all. I think the author was trying really hard to hit some points home regarding finding yourself and being respectful of others, but it wasn’t written well. There was zero nuance and no room allowed for interpretation as each chapter spelled and respelled in great detail exactly what was going on with the protagonist. Honestly, this book could have been about 60% shorter without losing anything of real substance.

On a different note, the characters are supposed to be in college or just a few months away from going to college (so 17 or 18 years old), but their speech and actions made them feel like tweens. If it weren’t for being constantly reminded that they were on a college campus, I would have guessed they were 11 or 12 years old.

I really wish I liked this work. I think it could be quite impactful for younger readers, but I think maybe I’m just not the right audience (am I getting too old for YA??). My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I can see why this book is one of the most anticipated of 2023 because it is amazing. Imogen is just so likeable and her growth in this book made me feel like a proud mom. Everything in her life is so relatable, and resonates so wholly. I loved how she faced these questions of where she fit and her sexuality in such a brave and real way. This is the perfect rom com and I will be recommending it to EVERYONE!