I was pretty darn excited about "The Upside of Unrequited" as I'd read her debut, "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" on a whim last year and loved it. 
 Albertalli's prose is nothing particularly special - it's somewhere above workman but below beauty. It's strong and sufficient enough for the tales she spins. For me, what made 'Simon' such an unrestrained joy to experience was the protagonist, Simon. I found him delightful and just the sort of person my younger self would have wanted to be friends with in high school. 
 Sadly, I didn't feel this way about Molly in "The Upside of Unrequited". I'm not sure if I can explain it well enough - but I never really felt drawn into Molly - or for that matter, her friends or her family. They were well drawn, funny but still, I didn't feel a spark there. I didn't feel as riveted by Molly's drama. It's not to say that the book isn't a worthwhile read, because it is! Albertalli is just as amusing and wry as she is in her debut and her commitment to diversity is just as wonderful - it never feels false or unearned, or as though she's doing it simply to make a point. The characters who populate this book feel like the world in which we live. It's simply that I cared for them and their situations less than I cared for those of Simon's world. It's a 3 star book for me.