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

Publisher: Penguin

Release Date: April 7th 2015

Genre: Contemporary, YA, Lgbt

Rating: 5 stars

Goodreads Blurb:

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.

My Review

Lately it seems there are a lot more YA books that deal with lgbt and coming out but of the ones I’ve read so far, this one would definitely be in my top 10. It’s so incredibly cute and adorable that after reading it, I felt like I was just wrapped in this blanket of happiness. I, also, couldn’t stop thinking about Blue and Simon and just what an amazing ship they are! And let’s not forget oreos which I couldn’t stop craving.

To be honest, there isn’t actually much of a plot in this book but the fact that it’s very realistic and relatable is what made me love it so much. Even though Simon vs is really fluffy, it delves  into important themes like identity, and coming out/being lgbt). The best part is that Simon is portrayed as normal. The whole controversy surrounding the concept of being lgbt makes it easy to forget that we are all humans and feeling a certain a way about someone of your own gender doesn’t change that. In the book, Simon doesn’t stand out as this “other.” He feels like he’s different because he’s gay but at the same time he’s dealing with the same things an “average” (straight) teenager does.

Becky also addresses all the turmoil and controversy surrounding coming out about being gay to your friends and family. Even though Simon’s friends and family turn out to be very accepting, there is still this awkwardness Simon feels about sharing this part of himself with them. In fact, I feel like this book is very relevant to our generation because it explores all the issues related to coming out from the perspective of a truly adorable and likeable character.

I loved basically everything about this book….The writing style, dialogue, and emails exchanged between Simon and Blue were some of my favorite parts of the book. Nothing felt forced or unrealistic and the characters were very unique. The dynamics of Simon’s friend group are also really interesting and the way they all just fit together made me wish I could meet them all in real life.

So basically, go read this book! And then tweet me @inkylove16 and tell me what you think. 🙂