This was a selection for my book club and it’s not something I would have picked up on my own. It’s a sapphic YA romance with a cover that’s so very pink. But once I got into it, I really enjoyed it. It captures many of the feelings of being a young person so well. The main character struggles in a very real way with her own identity and if she’s accepted by her peers. It’s a lovely little book that occasionally veers into overly sweet.
Imogen is a straight girl that does her best to be a good queer ally. She has a queer sister and two queer friends and is as up to date as she can be on all the queer discourse. When she visits her friend Lili at college and meets her new group of friends, she’s incredibly nervous about being accepted by them. Then Lili drops the bombshell she told her new friends that she and Imogen are exes, and they all think Imogen is bisexual. She agrees to go along with the ruse, and everything seems to go well, especially with Lili’s friend Tessa. Imogen finds herself constantly thinking about Tessa and texting with Tessa and soon she is questioning her own straightness.
I did not know this until after I finished the book, but this story is inspired by the author, Becky Albertelli’s own experience of being outed after the publication of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. That makes sense because this experience seems very specific. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It takes a lot to thaw out my cold misanthropic heart but Imogen, Obviously did it.