Imogen, Obviously
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4.5 • 75 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
A Stonewall Honor Book · A New York Times and Indie bestseller!
“A bighearted, deeply vulnerable, love-bubbly tumble through self-discovery.” —Casey McQuiston, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling I Kissed Shara Wheeler
With humor and insight, #1 New York Times bestseller Becky Albertalli explores the nuances of sexuality, identity, and friendship in this timely new novel.
Imogen Scott may be hopelessly heterosexual, but she’s got the World’s Greatest Ally title locked down.
She's never missed a Pride Alliance meeting. She knows more about queer media discourse than her very queer little sister. She even has two queer best friends. There's Gretchen, a fellow high school senior, who helps keep Imogen's biases in check. And then there's Lili—newly out and newly thriving with a cool new squad of queer college friends.
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.
Even if that means bending the truth, just a little.
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.
Of course, the more time Imogen spends with chaotic, freckle-faced Tessa, the more she starts to wonder if her truth was ever all that straight to begin with. . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this intimately realized novel by Albertalli (Here's to Us), "token straight, world's best ally" Imogen Scott, a high school senior, contends with growing feelings for a girl. Though she has never kissed a boy, Imogen has had plenty of male crushes, leading her to believe that she's "hopelessly, blindingly, obviously straight." She's always been passionate about LGBTQ advocacy, especially because of her lesbian younger sister, but she's careful not to "center myself in queer spaces." While Imogen is visiting childhood best friend Lili Cardoso at college, Lili admits that she told her charismatic new queer friends both that Imogen is bisexual and that the two used to date. At Lili's insistence, people-pleasing Imogen goes along with the lie, but worries that it won't be credible. When she starts developing romantic feelings for one of Lili's friends, her anxiety spirals into a belief that her newfound attraction could be considered queer appropriation, or an attempt to fit in and seem cool. Insightful prose teems with compassionate interrogations of the harms of compulsory heterosexuality and societally prescribed narratives surrounding "what's encouraged, what's allowed—or even what's not allowed" when exploring one's sexual identity. Via Imogen's wryly funny first-person narration, Albertalli crafts a striking portrait of one teenager's experience navigating sexual fluidity and the sometimes overwhelming fear of reinventing oneself. Characters are intersectionally diverse. Ages 14–up.
Customer Reviews
ADORED
OK WOW. absolutely ADORE this book and honestly every becky book.. i actually just went through something similar (gretchen and imogen)with a friend and it felt so nice to see that from the outside perspective and not feel alone about it. AND OH MY GOODNESS tessa and imogen are obviously the cutest ever, they remind me so much of me and my (so beautiful amazing) girlfriend! just so cute and couldn’t stop reading! 🩷🩷