May 26, 2018

My Thoughts on "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli


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Book: Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda

Author: Becky Albertalli

My Rating: ★★★

Synopsis: 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.

      This book was on my TBR ever since it's release, and for some reason I kept putting it off or getting too busy to read anything. Years later, "Love, Simon" came out and I knew I had to watch it. (You can read my review for the movie here.) I loved the movie with all of my heart and I decided right after the movie that once exams were done I was going to take the time to read the book. So I read the book...


      I thought the book was okay. Quite honestly, I enjoyed the movie more, which I don't know if I had a bias because I watched the movie first or if the book just genuinely wasn't as good as the movie. I felt like the movie was more authentic than the book. Even though I graduated high school a few years ago, the memories and experiences are still pretty fresh. The book did not feel like it was coming from the POV of a teenager, which is understandable considering that it was written by a grown woman. For instance, in the book the gossip going on in the school is spread via a Tumblr and there is no way in hell that would actually be feasible. Tumblr is what the fangirls and hipsters use and is by now means the mainstream source of anything.


      I do appreciate that Blue and Simon's relationship was explored more in the book and that Blue handled the situation a lot differently than in the movie.


      As far as the characters, I enjoyed the characters in the movie version than the book 10 times over. They felt more annoying and self-absorbed in the books. Watching the movie, I felt like I could be any of the characters because they felt like real people.


      Overall, I enjoyed the book, but it definitely felt like a let-down after all of this time. Will I read the sequel, probably not. 

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