Imogen, Obviously

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I loved Simon Vs when I read it in 2015 - my fave of all of Becky's works that I've read since then. So glad that Imogen, Obviously is now a close second! Also, just like Simon Vs, I had to go reread Imogen again right away to mark my fave quotes.The story follows Imogen, who is visiting her newly-out best friend, Lili, at Blackwell college (where she'll be going in a few months). Worried that she won't fit in with Lili's new queer friends, Imogen is surprised at the warm welcome she receives from them until she finds out that none of them knows that she's straight, not even Lili's new best friend, Tessa. No big deal, right? But that visit is just the beginning and everything is about to change.Right from the start, I could relate to Imogen's anxious overthinking nature, doubting herself, her every word, every text, every conversation and frequently apologizing for the littlest of things - been there, done that. A lot.It was quite heartbreaking at times to hear her innermost thoughts, questioning her beliefs, opinions, feelings, sexuality, identity, worthiness, and even the right to have certain thoughts, opinions and feelings. Despite all this, Imogen is funny, sweet, caring, brave and a really endearing character. I felt protective of her like a big sister. I also loved her relationships with Edith, Lili and Tessa.I would recommend this book to all who love cozy reads about lovely characters dealing with real issues, beautiful friendships with a side of sweet romance.A huge thank you to HarperCollins Children's Books for the gifted copy!4.75/5 Stars

Imogen is the World's Greatest Ally. She is surrounded by queer people whom she loves more than life and she does all she can to support them. When she visits her best friend Lili at her college -soon to be Imogen's college- where Lili is part of the perfect friends' pack, Imogen might need to live a little lie. Lili has told her friends that she and Imogen dated and now Imogen will have to pretend to be queer even though she is completely heterosexual. Or is she? As Imogen meets Lili's friend Tessa and feels things she did not expect to feel, Imogen might have to rethink her identity and what she really knows about herself.This was a great read. It was funny and cute and at the same time provided a very accurate and much needed social commentary. Through the first half of the book, I wasn't really feeling the book. I did like the characters but I didn't feel very connected to them but the second half of the book turned it around for me. I started to really care for Imogen, Tessa, Lili and the other characters. I loved Imogen and Tessa's chemistry and their relationship. And I would love to see more books based around these characters since I see so much potential in these characters and what could be their storyline!Imogen's struggle with her identity and sexuality was really well and we honestly cannot expect anything less from Becky 🤌🏻💖. Imogen's lack of self confidence and the need to not be a "problem" was so very well portrayed. Her dilemmas, confunsion, questions, the struggle to find the right answers, the search for her identity, and her battle with all that she has known so far made her a very well rounded character and her growth was evident throughout the book. There was a lot of Queer Discourse as well that gave a new perspective on many things and I cannot appreciate the author for providing that.I really enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it to everyone! It was such a beautiful journey of self realisation and finding your place in the world 💗🦋

This is the story about Imogen Scott who is heterosexual but she considers herself a great ally. She always attends Pride Alliance meetings and she knows more about queer media discourse than her younger sister who is also queer. Even her two best friends are also queer who are Gretchen and Lili.In the start of the book, Imogen visits Lili on her college campus. But Lili has told her new friends that she and Imogen used to date. Imogen, being a good friend, goes along with this lie. None of them know that Imogen is a hetero, not even Tessa, Lili’s best friend.But as Imogen begins to spend more time with Tessa, she is wondering if she is really straight after all.My favorite part about this book was the love story between Imogen and Tessa. It was so adorable and I really loved their chemistry.The main problem I had with this book is that it got too preachy at times. I appreciate the message the author was trying to get across but it felt it was a bit more dominating factor than Imogen’s and Tessa’s romance, which is fine I guess but I’d have loved to see more Imogen and Tessa’s moments spent together.I understand that this story was very personal for the author and “Simon VS The Homo Sapiens Agenda” is one of my all time favorite books, and I feel bad for saying this that Imogen, Obviously failed to make that impact for me. It was definitely a good book with relatable characters and cute moments between the love interests, but it was just too preachy for me. However, I appreciate the discussions the author made in this book regarding biphobia and queerbaiting. This book is also very easy to read, I flew through it!Overall a good book but just wasn’t for me. But still, I would definitely recommend it!

On top of the writing being so immersive that I literally felt like I was Imogen, the characters were all so well-rounded, and I found myself really loving Imogen, Tessa, Lili and Edith, in particular.The romance between Imogen and Tessa is adorable, the mini-sausage subplot with Kayla and Declan is hilarious, and the struggles in Imogen’s mind are extremely relatable for a queer person. I found that she and I share a lot of the same self-deprecating thoughts, the same internalized queerphobia, and we both have an external toxic force that reinforces those thoughts and strengthens our Impostor Syndromes. But we both also have amazing friends and support, so as a result, I was very easily able to relate to Imogen as a character.The book’s also really funny. Like, on top of the characters themselves being hilarious, the text exchanges and sarcasm in both Imogen’s thoughts and the dialogue is perfect. The book honestly feels like if it was ever adapted to the screen, a live action cartoon Scott Pilgrim-esque vibe would fit brilliantly lol.I genuinely think every queer person should read this book. Even the toxic ones like a CERTAIN CHARACTER, so they can see how their words can hurt people.

Wonderful characters, believable "drama", charming love story - an excellent autumn afternoon read this was :)

Would have been completely obsessed with this book at 16. Doesn’t slap as hard at 33. So glad books like this exist for teens!

I could not put this book down - it was adorable and fun and such a good read. Immy was a great main character, and I loved some of the interactions she had with her friends and sister. The whole plot was just perfect as are most of the books by Becky Albertalli!!!

Couldn’t stop reading this book. It was brilliant. Great characters, great storyline. Wish it didn’t have to end! Would highly recommend.