Author Appreciation | Becky Albertalli

Hello, book lovers! 💕

I enjoy gushing about the authors who bring me so much happiness when I read their books, so I wanted to do another one of these posts. Because there are so many authors I love who deserve all the hype and recognition for their amazing books. And Becky Albertalli is one of them.

So I know that Becky Albertalli is an author who already has some hype from her debut novel Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, but like I said, she deserves all the hype for all of her books. They’re so wholesome and pure and amazing that I seriously feel like everyone should read them. Or be like me and read them over and over again because they’re just that good.

I read Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda for the first time back in 2016 even though the book was released in 2015 and already had a lot of hype by the time I read it. But once I read it, I fell in love. Not only with the characters but the way that it made me feel all the feels. Everything about the book felt so genuine: the characters and their friendships, the diversity in the characters, everything. The first time I read it, I read it in a day. That’s how much I loved it.

A major part of the book was the mystery: Simon was emailing back and forth with another student who called himself Blue. So the relationship that they formed wasn’t based on looks, but personality. And that’s something that I loved about the book. There were also pop culture references, which I thoroughly appreciated.

Her second novel, The Upside of Unrequited, is probably one that I related to the most when I first read it. I actually just read it again for the third time back in April. And each time I’ve read it, I loved it even more. I loved the fact that it dealt with anxiety and depression in a way that was believable. As someone who deals with mental illness, I could relate to the way that the main character, Molly, was feeling a majority of the time.

There were so many diverse characters, and that’s something else that I love about Becky Albertalli’s book. Not only does she talk about relevant topics and current events through her books, but all of the characters aren’t cookie-cutter, stock characters. They are all unique in their own way, which makes them more realistic. For instance, this book came out when gay marriage became legal, so Molly’s moms were able to finally have a wedding and get married. I really appreciated that little detail in the book because it made these characters feel like they could honestly be anyone walking down the street and not fictional characters.

Her third book, Leah on the Off Beat, was probably my least favorite of her, but I still really loved it when I read it. I actually think it’s the only book of hers that I haven’t read more than once, which I think that needs to be remedied soon. But I loved the fact that there were cameos of previous characters in this book. You get to see where Simon ended up the next year, and knowing how much I loved Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, I was really happy to see interactions with him and the main character.

Becky Albertalli always writes romance in a way that honestly melts my heart and makes me feel all the emotions. I’d honestly read anything that she publishes at this point. Which is why I picked up Love, Creekwood without hesitation. Even though it’s only a 100 page novella, I knew I need to read it. I love these characters like they’re my family, and I seriously can’t get enough.

Other than her solo novels, she also collaborated with other authors to write some pretty great books as well. She wrote a book with Adam Silvera called What if it’s Us as well as a book with Aisha Saeed called Yes No Maybe So. Both of those books I really enjoyed, though they weren’t my favorites of hers. I never read anything by either of the two authors she collaborated with, so maybe that’s why I didn’t like them quite as much. But they were still really enjoyable reads.

I also follow her on Instagram, and even on there, she presents herself with such realness and compassion. I feel like she doesn’t come across as just a public face, but a real person. Which sounds weird because I know that she’s a real person, but sometimes when I follow authors on social media, they don’t come across as real. They’re just putting up an act for their readers. But Becky Albertalli doesn’t. She posts about realtime issues that are going on in the world as well as pictures of her family. I mean, yes, she is promoting her books and the TV and movie adaptations of those books, but she doesn’t bombard your feed with ads about her books. It’s a nice balance of both.

So there you have it. A complete gush about probably my all-time favorite author. Have you read anything by Becky Albertalli? I’d love to discuss it in the comments below!

Advertisement