I received this book for free from Bought in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli Published by Balzer + Bray on April 7th 2015
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Young Adult
Format: eBook
Source: Bought
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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.
I’m totally kicking myself for waiting so long to read Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda! This was just about the cutest novel ever! When I was midway through my ebook I went out and grabbed a paperback so I could have it on my shelf. That’s how much I loved it even before I was finished!
The book starts off with Simon in the closet about his sexuality and emailing back and forth with an anonymous boy from school, ‘Blue’, who was in the same boat. Simon found himself getting more and more attached to this boy without even knowing his true identity, desperately wanting to meet in real life. These interactions were everything! I love the connection they had and the support they gave each other as they worked their way around coming out to family and friends. There was even a bit of teasing and flirting going on as they tested the waters of their friendship to see if there was the potential for it to go further. I just loved the progression of their relationship from start to finish and found it just completely adorable!
Simon is a breath of fresh air of a character. He wasn’t just adorable with Blue but in every other capacity as well. He gets along with others easily and genuinely wants to find the good in people and make friends. He sort of navigates a lot of life’s changes throughout the book in sometimes awkward and hilarious ways and sometimes in serious and real ways that made him that much more relatable.
“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.”
If Simon and Blue weren’t enough, Simon’s relationship with his family and friends also made this book everything that is was. Little family moments cracked me up like The Chipmunks, the Facebook Scavenger Hunt, and of course OREO’s! That’s the sort of family I strive for with my own kids, a close knit family that have fun together. Simon’s group of friends with all of their ups and downs (and love triangles…) were a great addition and showed the reality of what friendship can be and the art of forgiveness.
Seriously, if you haven’t read this book yet, don’t be like me and wait for anything! Grab yourself a copy and introduce yourself to Simon and the rest of the amazing cast of characters. Don’t forget to grab yourself some OREO’s for when you do!
Leah
It’s never too late to join the Albertalli fan club. LOL!
Julie @ Happily Ever Chapter
Another 5 star review for this one! I haven’t read one negative review for this one yet! lol! I haven’t gotten a chance to read it yet, but I recently bought it, so I plan to change that really soon. Great review!
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Sara @ Forever 17 Books
I hope you love it too!
Joy @ Thoughts By J
Oh man I have definitely been putting this book off for a while now, because I’m not typically a contemporary reader! I’ve yet to read a single bad review about this book though, which just goes to show how universally loved it is. So glad you enjoyed it Sara! x
Joy @ Thoughts By J recently posted…Book Review: A Court of Wings and Ruin (A Court of Thorns and Roses #3) by Sarah J. Maas
Bee @ Quite the Novel Idea
YASSS Welcome to the club. I’ve been raving this book ever since I read the ARC for the first time. <3
Bee @ Quite the Novel Idea recently posted…Bee Reviews ELIZA AND HER MONSTERS by Francesca Zappia