Becky Albertalli's writing is full of heart and she has yet to write a book I don't thoroughly enjoy and Imogen, Obviously is just as exceptional. You can tell how personal the story is to the author and I think a lot of teens and young adults will be able to relate to this story. Imogen is such a likeable character that it is impossible not to root for her. Figuring out your sexuality can be challenging for young adults and I think reading about how Imogen navigates this and the support she receives while trying to figure it all out is will be really valuable to this age group. This is especially true with the book banning of LGBTQIA materials across the United States. I will happily display this story on our library shelves!

First, this is my first time read a queer book and I might be wrong, but this is my thoughts:

I feel sorry for Imogen. Barely adulting with those kind of self-doubting is hard. She went through a lot. And those circumstances often make me had to stop my reading journey. I was full of desperation and absorping every negative emotions Imogen had experienced. Thus, I have hard times to move on.

Nevertheless, I admit this book is a necessity. People should read at least once. Yeah, it is work of fiction and all but what Imogen went through was real. I love the writing. Becky put a perfect balance of the implicit meaning and the actual words. Unless I am hardly emotionally person, I wouldn't put it down even a bit.

Thank you NetGalley, HarperCollins Children's Books for the copy. I personally hope this book reach those people in needed.

I adored this! It’s clear how close this story was to the author’s heart. I was rooting for Imogen from the start. The characters felt true to their age, and while I’m not usually a fan of pop culture references in books, I feel like they worked with the story here. The back and forth debate Imogen had with herself even to the end of the story felt very realistic. This is a story that people need, not just teens, but anyone of any age who has ever felt pressure to label themselves one way or another.

This book is so obviously personal. It’s very clearly based on Albertalli’s own journey of self-discovery and coming out. This book is so full of heart and soul. It deals with the really horrible outing that Albertalli faced and deals with it with a lot of nuance. This book discusses queer subjects with nuance and care. The characters are well written. With the exception of one side character, all of the characters are easy to root for. The plot is well-written and paced. I read Simon vs the Homosapien Agenda and it was clear that Albertalli had a lot of talent. With Imogen, Obviously, that talent is realized in a wonderful queer coming of age story and YA romcom.

Imogen, Obviously explores issues of friendship, allyship, and identity with all the humor and compassion you’d expect from a book by Becky Albertalli. This is an upbeat book filled to the brim with positive messages. I love how it captures the excitement and nervousness of the transition from high school to college, and how the start of college can provide the opportunity to recreate oneself and find a new place to belong.

Funny, engaging, sweet, and thoughtful. Highly recommended.

It's official -- I love everything that Becky Albertalli writes. This was one of my favorite books of all time. Imogen is compulsively like-able -- so sweet, kind, thoughtful. I loved how her sister, Edith, and her two best friends -- Lilli and Gretchen -- were foils to her, helping her figure out her feelings about herself and her sexuality. I have never read a book that struggled with a difficult topic -- figuring out sexuality and the process of coming out -- but also felt feel good. It felt college nostalgic like a Taylor Swift song or Gilmore Girls. I think this would be an amazing classroom text and I'll definitely recommend it for a free reading text and even though it's a young adult book I think absolutely everyone should read it. It brought up so many great conversations about sexuality, coming out, being out / passing, and how we make space for others. Highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

First of all, my sincerest apologies that I did not read this one sooner, but I also intentionally tried to hold out on reading this one because I knew it would probably want to scream out from the rooftops about this book, and it would hurt too much waiting for the actual release and for others to enjoy it.

Wow. I don’t know how Becky just writes like this, but she just does? I always find myself laughing out loud for her books and saying “awww,” and I always go through the full range of emotions with her books. This book was just so real. These characters are so real. The dialogue feels so real, and it just never feels inauthentic in any way ever.

I ADORED this cast of characters. And I also love how a lot of these characters deal with conflicting emotions for all things. I also love that we also saw some rough patches with different friends in the book that just made this so much more real. And I really like when books acknowledge the fact that friendships are so fluid and that they aren’t always so picture perfect.

I also just love how this book addressed finding yourself and discovering your sexuality because it can often be confusing. I really think that many adults would even benefit from reading this book. This opened my eyes to so many things that I had never even thought about.

Ugh, this book just made me swoon.

Also, forever sending Becky all the love because this book in part was definitely reflective of her own life. And I think that’s so brave of her to let us into all the emotions that went along with that. It felt so real.

I loved it. Imogene’s story is so deeply relatable as someone that came out as bi later in life. Her insecurities, fears, realizations, the way she digested and loved queer media with her whole heart while thinking she was straight, just everything. And then knowing about Becky Albertalli’s personal coming out story and being able to see that in Imogen was heartbreaking; especially after reading her author’s note (which if that really isn’t included in the final print editions is a shame).

Beyond all of that, it’s just a good story that’s well written and nearly if not perfectly paced. The characters are properly built out for a YA and the chemistry between the two love interests is so cute.

I hope this books finds its way into as many hands as possible, but particularly those that need it the most.

Also, huge shoutout to the audiobook narrator and Leni Kauffman, the illustrator for the cover, because they both did a great job.

Also also, Becky Albertalli- please write a sapphic romance book where all the characters are out and just living life! My little queer heart needs more of your relationships out in the world, our Flag Means Death style (pirates or no that’s your call, just kidding, unless…). Preferably one without a third act breakup that doesn’t utilize the miscommunication trope. Please and thank you.

Ohh this was so sweet and yet also emotionally tense. Imogen is such a sweet main character and her intense self-doubt/flagellations were hard to read at times. Parts of this felt a little like, lecture-y but in a relatable way--I think most people, especially Gen Zers, know at least one person who tends to speak in all Discourse like Gretchen does. And (as Becky Albertalli's own life experience indicates) there are a lot of messy Discourses within and without the queer community regarding coming out etc. I think this will really resonate with a lot of queer and questioning readers (teens but not only).

“I think I miss it.   
Being straight.   
I mean, I miss people thinking I’m straight.
And by that, I miss people knowing I’m   
straight.   
Because I am. Straight.   
One girl can’t topple your entire sexuality, right?   
   
This book was such a joy to read. It made me laugh. It made me smile. It made me appreciate authors who wholeheartedly invest themselves into writing a book that touches the lives of so many individuals. Especially those who have gone (and may continue to go through) or are going through the journey self-discovery.    
   
Beautiful. Queer. And simply deserves to be on every library shelf across the world.    
   
Please make sure to read the content warnings for this book. 🤍🌈

SOOOOO good! very cute and funny! This book was just filled with lovable characters! I like how Imogen found her self and discovered so much! The love was so sweet!

*I received a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley.

Imogen calls herself "hopelessly heterosexual." As the only Ally in the Pride Alliance, she has many queer friends and knows more about that world than the heterosexual one that she finds herself in. She decides to spend her Spring Break with her friend Lili who is newly out and at college with her new friends. But it turns out that Lili has told all of her friends that she used to date Imogen. While this was never true, Imogen will do anything she can to keep up the image that her friend is projecting. But Lili's new friend Tessa has Imogen second guessing everything. Is Imogen really straight or has she just not met the right person yet?

This book features mostly the inner journey that Imogen goes through to discover who she is. As a senior in high school, she has only been around one group of people and grown up having friends who knew exactly who they were. I love that Imogen doesn't really have a final answer as to what her sexuality is. So many people figure out who they are as they grow. Our definition of ourselves are always evolving and growing. This book is definitely a growth of characters more so than a plot moving forward. It's an internal struggle that I know many of the teens I serve could find themselves in. I think that's what made this book so meaningful. It also has a very diverse cast of characters so every reader can find themselves in it somewhere.

My favorite Albertalli since Simon Vs. ... Imogen is real and relatable. I loved the friendships, and learning that sometimes friendships aren't always what they used to be or what you need. But mostly this was great for anyone who has ever doubted that they know themselves better than anyone else can and that it's scary, but better than feeling lost.

This was a very personal story from Becky Albertalli and I absolutely loved it! Gretchen was awful (which I think we all saw coming) but everyone else was so sweet and wonderful.

This was a hard book for me to get into. It sat at about 20% done for two weeks, which is very slow for me. I'm glad I stuck with it as it really picked up. It felt very raw and real and I found myself mentally yelling at Gretchen quite a few times.

Can I give this more than 5 stars? I loved this book so much. I am a big fan of Becky Albertalli's work in general, and I think this novel is especially authentic, as she uses it to process her own coming out experience.

In a way, it is a take on the fake relationship trope, with Imogen's friend Lili pretending they are exes, and therefore Imogen is bisexual. Imogen is thrown into an identity that she has never had before and starts to wonder if it might actual fit.

Albertalli captures the experiences of teenage crushes and insecurity so well, and I liked how she deals with the issues of being an ally while also exploring your own sexuality. The characters are well crafted, and I found despite the over-the-top premise, the interactions between the friends felt true.

I highly recommend reading this book.

I absolutely loved reading this book. Not only did I enjoy this, I also found a new author that writes in a captivating way. This book was utterly amazing,I adore Imogen her character is just so relatable and the book will live rent free in my head. It was beautiful and the way that identity plays out in it really stays with you.

I feel like I have so much to say about this book. First, let me talk about the romance and self-discovery story that the author expertly delivers. I think I’ve only read maybe half of the books Becky Albertalli has written, but every one I read is well-crafted. And every one seems to be better than the ones before. Which isn’t to say I didn’t like the earlier books… just that I’m even more engaged with each subsequent one.

Imogen’s character pretty much had me at hello. She’s a sweet, anxious girl who struggles with people-pleasing (totally relatable!), and she continually strives to listen and learn as a queer ally. I adored the connection she makes with Tessa and the way their friendship and the possibility of more develops. I couldn’t wait to see how things would turn out for them.

All in all, I think this was a sweet, engaging story of romance and self-discovery. I love that it explored some queer issues and discourse often debated online, and that it gave readers a minute to pause, digest, and challenge ideas at their own pace.

This is actually my first book by Beck Albertalli, though I've watched the the masterpiece that is Love, Simon. In this story that begins with a must-read author's note, we meet high school senior Imogen as she visits her BFF Lilli who is a freshman at the very college Imogen will be attending next year. But embarrassed by her lack of experience, Lilli has lied to her friends and said that she and Imogen used to date! Except Imogen is straight... maybe? Imogen has always been comfortable in queer spaces, but that all changes when she meets Tessa, who thinking she's queer, flirts with her... and Imogen flirts back...

This is such a beautiful story, full of angst and self discovery and incredible banter--mostly through texts. The story clearly resonates with the author, and it shows. The story demonstrates both the importance of found family and how important it can be to cut out toxic friends. I can't say enough good things about this young adult romance and coming-of-age/coming-out tale, and would whole-heartedly recommend it.

Thanks to Balzer + Bray for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 10/10

This is the book I was hoping UPSIDE was all those years ago. It had all of the heart of SIMON VS., along with tackling a sensitive subject with care. Now, I do want to mention that I'm not queer in any way, so I might very well be missing something a queer person might decide is concerning, but I thought this was done with a lot of care, especially knowing where Becky is coming from. That's all I'm going to say about that though, seeing as there are more qualified people to talk about that aspect of it. The characters were great though, and like always the side characters were just as great as the main character. I have no doubt there will be some people who won't click with Imogen just because of her personality, which could be a little irritating at times, but she's a young girl learning who she is, so I didn't mind it. Once again all of the adults were great, and while I know that's not always the case in the lives of teens (or adults) who come out/are already out as LGBTA+ it's nice to see adults in teen lit that have that frame of mind, because goodness knows there's enough media with terrible parents. The romance was also adorable. It was just a pure delight reading the interaction between Imogen and her love interest; cotton candy and butterflies for sure, the sweetest. I loved the side characters as well, and the non-romantic relationships (both friendships and sibling relationships) were great. Becky is great at writing genuine, positive relationships between characters. The only things that I didn't love about this story were the fact that it seemed to romanticize college to a degree (don't get me wrong, college is great but it's not all great, and there are some people that it just doesn't click with), and there were a few things that seemed a little inconsistent character-wise as the book went on. But really both of those are such small things, and overall I enjoyed the book very much. I will be more than happy to recommend it to anyone coming into the store looking for a teen LGBTQ+ book, and for fans looking for more works like SIMON VS. I can't wait to see what Becky comes up with next.