Review: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

– SPOILER FREE REVIEW –

Title: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
Author: Becky Albertalli
Genre: LGBTQIA+, Romance, Young Adult
Release date: April 7th, 2015

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Description:

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.

With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.

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This book should come with a warning: Do not pick this book up if you have things to do, you will not be able to put it down. I had heard how great it was and everyone on my Goodreads feed has given it no less than 4 stars, but I was still wary. That wariness dissipated as soon as I started because the writing is so charming! It’s a cute fluffy read that made me smile, perfect for the summer or if you are looking for a contemporary YA to get you out of a reading slump.

Simon is a fantastic narrator, which is why I loved the writing so much. He is funny, sociable and sweet, giving hugs to his friends all the time, though he isn’t the smartest cookie in the bunch. I say this because he was SO absent-minded! I knew who Blue was right away, yet he was clueless, but I understand that it was necessary or else the book would have ended rather quickly. As for Blue, I was impressed by how the author was able to depict him as a very distinct character just through his e-mails. We get to understand him and see how careful he is even though we never get any real personal details about him.

The way I feel about him is like a heartbeat-soft and persistent, underlying everything.

His relationship with Simon was really cute. I liked that we start the book right in the middle of it because it avoided being insta-love – always a plus. I really loved their heart-to-heart talks and how relatable and honest they were. Their conversations, as well as Simon’s inner monologues, were fun, angsty, and playful. I truly appreciated how well the author captured their teenage voices, avoiding making them sound like quirky adults or cartoony characters, as other YA books tend to do.

But I’m tired of coming out. All I ever do is come out. I try not to change, but I keep changing, in all these tiny ways. I get a girlfriend. I have a beer. And every freaking time, I have to reintroduce myself to the universe all over again.

The rest of the characters were pretty good, quite distinct, but I wish there was a little more about them. Especially Simon’s little sister, because she seemed pretty cool and was the least explored. That was one of the reasons why I didn’t give this book 5 stars. The other was how predictable the plot was. I still loved it, but I wish the author would have taken more unexpected turns.

Overall, this book was adorable, fun and a very easy to read. Simon carries the story really well because he is charming and the plot moves along at a fast pace. If you want a happy story featuring LGBT+ representation, grab some Oreos, pick this one up and get ready to smile foolishly at the pages the whole time.