Amelia, If Only is a young adult novel by American author Becky Albertalli, known for the NYT bestseller Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and other books (such as Leah on the Offbeat and Imogen, Obviously). Amelia was published in June 2025 by Harper Collins.
Titular character Amelia Applebaum is a high school senior thrilled to be going on a road trip with her three best friends. They’re going to see her favorite (semi) famous YouTuber, fellow high schooler Walter Holland, at a meet-and-greet event, and Amelia has been obsessed with him for years. Some might even say she has a crush on him. The prime evidence? Amelia asked him to prom online. He didn’t respond, though, so that means he didn’t see it — right?
The novel explores parasocial relationships, change, and growing up, as Amelia and her crew approach high school graduation and their subsequent move to different colleges, where they’ll be apart for the first time. Everything is about to change.
Amelia features multiple queer characters, two of whom are bisexual. These include Amelia herself as well as the YouTuber Walter; their shared bisexuality is one of the reasons that Amelia feels so drawn to him, as his coming out video spoke directly to some of her experiences. Both characters are out before the start of the novel. Though the plot spends some page time discussing bisexuality, it also focuses on interpersonal relationships, tackling the complexities of both friendships and romantic relationships.
Woven between those explorations are ephemera like forum posts, video transcripts, and text messages, which add depth to Amelia’s world. In writing Amelia, Albertalli wanted to “faithfully recreate” real-life fandom in her portrayals of the fictional fandom around Walter and his friend-turned-movie-star Hayden, another YouTuber. She wanted it to be complicated, nuanced, and, therefore, real. In an interview with the pop culture site United by Pop, Albertalli said: “[This fandom is] full of love, snark, sincerity, misinformation, obsession, and solidarity. For this story, it felt important to leave space for all those contradictions.”
Amelia’s exploration of parasocial relationships is personal for Albertalli. As noted in an interview with pop culture site The Nerd Daily, the author noted that she has experienced “both directions” of parasocial relationships. She stated, “I’ve felt so connected to particular artists and content creators over the years, and I’ve had the very surreal experience of reaching people in that way with my books.” This led her to “exploring the idea of the distance between private reality and public perception” in Amelia.
Overall, the novel’s reception has been positive. Kirkus Reviews called it “fresh and witty on the surface, tender and heartfelt at its core;” they also praised the friend group’s banter for both its realism and humor. Similarly, Booklist called Amelia “vibrant and easy to root for”.