Author: Becky Albertalli
Publisher: Blazer + Bray
Published: April 7th 2015
Format: Hardcover | Pages: 303
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, M/M Romance, LGBT
Source: Amazon
Becky Albertalli | Twitter | tumblr | Goodreads
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.
After finishing Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda I felt like I had finally found my book. You know how we all have that book, or series, where even if we aren't much of a book pusher we wished we had like a million copies of this one book so that we could just hand them out to every person we come across and just be like, "you have to read this!" Plus I was already willing to proclaim this, in February mind you, that this will be my favorite contemporary of 2016. What can I say, when I fall in love with something I fall hard.
Simon was just a really fun character and I absolutely adored him. He had me feeling all sorts of things for him. I was either grinning at his quirkiness, getting angry in a stabby kind of way on his behalf, and he even made me cry a couple of times. I was impressed with how authentic that Simon's character felt. As a mama of a teenage boy I felt like he could've easily fit into his circle of friends and actually been real. Becky Albertalli did such a wonderful job with not just a teenage voice but a male teenage voice. I don't often feel like many authors pull this off in such a way that makes you really believe them. But I unequivocally say that in my opinion she's nailed it.
I often found myself giggling as I read this, not just because the story was pleasing me so much but also because I found myself in a constant argument in my head with Simon. Yeah, I don't normally have conversations in my head with characters, I'm not crazy haha! Anyway. His idea with who Blue actually was and who I thought he was were totally different. Oh by the way, Simon? I told you so... He was just so adorably clueless sometimes and it would crack me up. Although Becky did do a good job of having me doubt how sure I was about him. Sometimes I felt like maybe I was projecting who I desperately wanted it to be and I was going to be disappointed. Thankfully that wasn't the case!
Once again I've found a book with such an amazing cast of supporting characters. And the diversity of the characters just added to it's appeal. From his circle of friends and acquaintances to his family I found myself loving each and every one. Especially one of his best friends Abby. Like I legit want to put her in my pocket and carry her around everywhere she's that much fun. There was only one who I truly loathed which I guess you're really supposed to because through much of the book he's basically a prick. He would be the person who made me want to get stabby as I mentioned above.
I loved how gradual this relationship between Simon and Blue happens. It seems like when we first start it's just like this really strong friendship. They're kind of the only two people who can really understand each other. Plus the mystery of it all is fun. I mean, we know who Simon is but the guessing game of trying to figure out who is behind the screen name Blue. I also loved how there would be entire chapters just dedicated to their email exchanges. The friendly banter which evolves to tentative flirting. The struggles of wanting to just be open and honest and true with everyone but the fear of the "what ifs" of actually doing it. The angst was just enough. Not overwhelming but also not light enough to feel unnatural.
It's just that perfect amount of Young Adult romance. Sometimes I forget how much I miss them when I've gone through a huge binge of Adult or New Adult books. Sometimes it's nice to have everything sweet and light and have it leave you feeling just as much as if you were to read something more graphic. Ahh! So many warm and fuzzies right now.
Simon was just a really fun character and I absolutely adored him. He had me feeling all sorts of things for him. I was either grinning at his quirkiness, getting angry in a stabby kind of way on his behalf, and he even made me cry a couple of times. I was impressed with how authentic that Simon's character felt. As a mama of a teenage boy I felt like he could've easily fit into his circle of friends and actually been real. Becky Albertalli did such a wonderful job with not just a teenage voice but a male teenage voice. I don't often feel like many authors pull this off in such a way that makes you really believe them. But I unequivocally say that in my opinion she's nailed it.
I often found myself giggling as I read this, not just because the story was pleasing me so much but also because I found myself in a constant argument in my head with Simon. Yeah, I don't normally have conversations in my head with characters, I'm not crazy haha! Anyway. His idea with who Blue actually was and who I thought he was were totally different. Oh by the way, Simon? I told you so... He was just so adorably clueless sometimes and it would crack me up. Although Becky did do a good job of having me doubt how sure I was about him. Sometimes I felt like maybe I was projecting who I desperately wanted it to be and I was going to be disappointed. Thankfully that wasn't the case!
Once again I've found a book with such an amazing cast of supporting characters. And the diversity of the characters just added to it's appeal. From his circle of friends and acquaintances to his family I found myself loving each and every one. Especially one of his best friends Abby. Like I legit want to put her in my pocket and carry her around everywhere she's that much fun. There was only one who I truly loathed which I guess you're really supposed to because through much of the book he's basically a prick. He would be the person who made me want to get stabby as I mentioned above.
I loved how gradual this relationship between Simon and Blue happens. It seems like when we first start it's just like this really strong friendship. They're kind of the only two people who can really understand each other. Plus the mystery of it all is fun. I mean, we know who Simon is but the guessing game of trying to figure out who is behind the screen name Blue. I also loved how there would be entire chapters just dedicated to their email exchanges. The friendly banter which evolves to tentative flirting. The struggles of wanting to just be open and honest and true with everyone but the fear of the "what ifs" of actually doing it. The angst was just enough. Not overwhelming but also not light enough to feel unnatural.
It's just that perfect amount of Young Adult romance. Sometimes I forget how much I miss them when I've gone through a huge binge of Adult or New Adult books. Sometimes it's nice to have everything sweet and light and have it leave you feeling just as much as if you were to read something more graphic. Ahh! So many warm and fuzzies right now.
I loved this book. I loved it! I want everyone in the world to read it so we can feel all the warm and fuzzies and talk about all the things. I wanted it to last forever and couldn't accept the fact that it was over when I read the last words. This is a book that I will, without a doubt, be reading again and again because it's one of those books that will guarantee my happiness and a huge smile. I loved it! (Just in case I hadn't stressed it enough at this point!)
