SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA
by Becky Albertalli
Source: Online
Paperback: 303 pages
Publisher: Penguin (April 2015)
Adelaine Pek’s ratings: ♥ ♥ ♥ / 5 hearts
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 have been waiting for this book for some time now and I am glad I finally got around to reading it. I don’t particularly like cutesy romances, LGBT or not, but the cover was attractive enough for me. Oh, and the title is an inside joke that only makes sense after you read the book.
This book is so simple but so very wonderful. It is so entertaining from the start to finish. Reading this book actually makes me happy. It portrays the reality of homophobia in a high school in the South, but it is such an uplifting story about friendship, family, and it is so refreshing to see a warm, fuzzy gay romance where the protagonist is supported by his friends and family.
I actually laughed out loud at some of the funny scenes between Simon Spier and his friends. Simon is that perfect mix of delightfully weird and totally normal — he makes us laugh and roll our eyes, but we secretly recognize many of the things he thinks.
What I particularly liked about this book is, I failed to guess Blue’s real identity and I have to congratulate the author for that. I like to think I am smart and hence, stories like these never quite appeal to me as I always manage to guess who they are. But this book? Oh no, I was totally caught by surprise and I liked who it turned out to be. As long Simon is happy, I am happy.
Even though I really enjoyed this lighthearted read, I gave it only 3 hearts and now, I will explain why.
What I think the author could have made better were the characters. They all felt…too similar to Simon. Simon and Nick are supposed to be best friends since they were toddlers, but we see none of that. There are no scenes where they are having deep conversations or even bantering. They are just too…quiet. Even though Simon says the both of them understand each other well, I don’t feel such vibe from the writing. His other best friend Leah is depicted as this morose and uptight, in-love with-her-best friend (Nick)-but-not-saying-a-word character. Sometimes I even get frustrated with her and wonders why Simon even bothers with her anymore. Oh and let us not forget to mention how the characters are barely physically described; I only learned that Simon is blond and has gray eyes around chapter 28 and that is like 200+ pages into the book! I don’t even know why not knowing how he looks like did not bother me at first but once the author pointed that out, I could not wrap my head around the fact she barely describes all her characters’ appearances.
Secondly, the writing style. Oh, it is not really a problem; I just felt a need to point it out to you before I encourage you to pick it up.The author jumps from one scene to the other, sometimes with no transitions and some parts of the story (events) don’t quite make sense. Going to a bar when you are 17 (okay, fine, I get it that it is part restaurant) and drinking with some random people but your friends don’t even bother stopping you? Erm, I am 23 and my friends intercept if a group of strangers kidnap (okay, that is an overly strong word) me to their table and pours alcoholic drinks down my throat. Maybe the author felt the need to make his life more interesting ’cause most parts just talk about his daily life and it is rather…mundane — but then again, how interesting can a normal teenager’s life get, right?
The cons may sound more than the pros in my review but seriously, take my word for it and give this book a try. Do not be discouraged by my review. If you are looking for a refreshingly heartwarming and witty tale of a young man discovering love through the internet, this is the perfect book for you. Not to mention the e-romance was well-done. I am definitely looking forward to reading more from this author.
Signing off,
ADELAINE PEK REVIEWS 