Imogen, Obviously: New for 2023, from the bestselling author of Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda

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Lili shakes her head. “How are you not freaked out? Like, you have to be wondering if I’m secretly in love with you, right?”

Unfortunately, the self-policing from Imogen never felt particularly natural, even though she was written to be an overthinker and deeply insecure about this journey she was on. Even after a romantic dream she had that she could've just forgotten about and never told anyone about, Imogen lays awake and accuses herself of being an entitled straight woman who was appropriating the queer experience in her sleep. In case you haven’t been hearing the hordes of queer bookstagrammers screaming about this book, Imogen, Obviously follows our certified heterosexual and biggest ally™️. When Imogen visits her friend Lili at the college she’ll be attending next year, she gets roped into pretending to be Lili’s ex-girlfriend… which means acting like she’s bi and lying in front of Lili’s friends (including the extremely hot Tessa). But she’s not actually queer, right? This isn’t a crush… obviously. Lili and I used to joke about that a lot. We were the Forever Alone Club. No boyfriends. No random hookups. Just a pair of perpetually single besties who spent way more time hanging around animals than boys. so much of imogen's journey resonates in that odd gray area of needing to slot neatly into a box to be fully accepted. a box that others have put you in; the one that’s terrifying to change that because this is who you are. this is the /you/ that you’ve spent your whole life building up to. Tessa’s so close, but I press in closer, and she lets out the softest-edged sigh. Her hands trail the hem of my waterlogged shirt, and I swear it feels like taking off sunglasses. Clarity and brightness.Because this book is about Imogen trying to figure out her own sexual identity, it also touches on how confusing that can be for girls because of the way girl friendships can be. I'm sure any queer girl will be able to relate to the confusion of not being able to tell whether or not a girl is flirting with you and Albertalli really nailed it when she was having Imogen express that confusion. Okay, Declan says he’s now a—direct quote—‘gaping wound of hunger.’” Lili looks up from her phone. “Bro, you are literally in a dining hall surrounded by food. Does he think he’s not allowed to eat until we get there?”

A little personal – I am someone who came out over 20 years ago *coughs* (shhhh, I know). I came out as lesbian when I was 16, and non-binary 17 years after that. This stuff isn’t linear. I wanted to give Gretchen the benefit of the doubt, but with every passing interaction, and then the eventual blow up, there was no way she couldn’t have known she was in the wrong. Alas, people like her never want to admit they’re wrong. Imogen's thrilled for Lili. Any ally would be. And now that she's finally visiting Lili on campus, she's bringing her ally A game. Any support Lili needs, Imogen's all in. I recommend this, especially to teenagers. Even though I don’t agree with everything I do think this is a good place to start some important discussions about queerness and gatekeeping. Despite that, this was still a very good story. Discovery and understanding of self can be exciting if done in the right context, with the right people surrounding you. This book was full of support, even if one very un-supportive person seemed to take the spotlight most of the time. Imogen worked through a lot, and I feel like it reflected a lot of my own struggle with who I am, and who I want to be. It was enchanting, and entertaining, and full of love for finding a base in your own life to follow.

I just don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable. And I don’t want to blow your cover.” I peek through my fingers. “I know I’m not the most believable queer girl.” Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, Children's for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. Although not everyone wants to read those stories, there are people out there going through that every day and books about how confusing and weird that can be are relatable to them (and hey, even me, who went through that several years ago could reminisce on some of Imogen's confused feelings and that-wasn't-a-crush-we're-just-friends-right?-ness). I feel like the fact that Imogen was surrounded by so many LGBTQ people in her life and constantly just believed herself to be straight -- and was told by all those people that she was -- but was a proud ally to them and trying her best to learn about their unique issues added something to her journey of self-discovery.

But the fact that she thinks I’m wondering that? Like I’m that special kind of straight person who assumes all queer people can barely keep their pants on around her? Maybe overstepped isn’t the word. I just . . . feel like I was centering myself in queer spaces. Under false pretenses. I don’t know if that makes sense.” I cannot tell how much I loved this book and I was absolutely invested in Imogen! She is layered, well crafted character, a brave voice you want to hear! I loved her inner journey! Her searching the right space in the social circle, discovering her sexuality, coming out of her shell to embrace her real self! Gosh, my brain is mush. You'll just have to take it from me that I, too, have a fat crush on Tessa now. Their lil romance did something to my lil heart and I'll probably be thinking about this book for the next week. Just look at them. Like when Lili drops a tiny queer bombshell: She’s told all her college friends that Imogen and Lili used to date. And none of them know that Imogen is a raging hetero—not even Lili’s best friend, Tessa.it's not an entirely bad book. it has its cute moments, for sure, but those moments are unfortunately overshadowed by the sheer inconsistency of it all. there's just too much shaming and one-upping each other's queerness going on between the characters for me to take whatever message this book is trying to convey to heart. being queer is not a competition. you can't "win" at being queer. I love everything about this,” I say, settling onto Lili’s bed. “Ha—thanks.” Lili plops down beside me. Then she stares straight ahead for a moment without speaking. “Okay, we gotta talk,” she says finally. I think this book veered a bit into being preachy about acceptance, mostly because the author personally feels so strongly about it, but I aside from that, I think it was a really well done story. I don't read enough sapphic romances, so when I read a story with a couple that really makes my heart sing, I latch on. I wish we got more of Tessa and Imogen's story from after they got together, or maybe this author could write more lesfic romances, because I thought she slayed that part of the story. last but not least, let it be known that I am saying all of this as a queer person myself, and had I been a character in this book then surely me writing this review would have been seen as even more "proof" of my queerness. I mean, writing a bitter book review? that's sooooo queer!