Book Review: Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli

Welcome back for another book review! On the agenda this week: Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli. A lot of you will already know her, because she’s the author of Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, The Upside of Unrequited and many other books that were published while I was living in a cave, apparently. Simon made me chuckle a lot back in the day, which is why I picked this book up without knowing much about it. Let’s discover what Imogen is all about.

On my copy of the book a quote on the cover by Casey McQuiston called it „A bighearted, deeply vulnerable, love-bubbly tumble through self-discovery“, and that actually describes it perfectly for me. Many other reviews have mentioned how the book reflects the author‘s personal story, but I wasn‘t aware of that beforehand. It explains why it felt so authentic to my own experiences and struggle with labels, „discourse“ and the constant pain of asking yourself if you‘re this or that enough to fit a certain label or group.

But let’s trace back: The book starts with Imogen finally visiting her best friend Lili at college. Lili’s managed to find herself a group of close and mostly queer friends. While Imogen is an Ally with a capital A, she still feels a little intimidated and constantly worries about intruding, overstepping, or saying the wrong thing. Oh, Imogen. Things get even more confusing when she finds out that Lili told her friends that Imogen used to be her girlfriend. Not even to speak of Lili’s friend Tessa, for whom Imogen has increasingly confusing feelings. But she couldn’t possibly be queer herself – right? Right?

Oh, but it was frustrating to be in Imogen’s head sometimes. She’s anxious about everything and spends half the book apologizing for nothing. She wants everyone’s best, she wants to be a good friend, she wants to fit in. At the heart of it all, she was a charming, kind character though, and I found her very likable. Her road to self-discovery felt very authentic, and I loved how the author describes her attraction and feelings for people. It’s understandable why she’s so confused, because these things are confusing.

I loved how much time we got to spend with the supporting cast and how much the author emphasized the value of good friendships. One character was very annoying, but the story makes it clear where she’s coming from and why she’s acting the way she is – and having Imogen finally stand up for herself was all the more rewarding because of it.

Some parts of the book and character reactions felt a little unrealistic, but overall I enjoyed reading this book. I can’t say more without completely spoiling the story, so I’ll just say don’t skip this one if you’re in the mood for a heartwarming, poignant coming of age adventure. Four out of five stars from me.