Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda | Becky Albertalli | Review
“People really are like house with vast rooms and tiny windows. And maybe it's a good thing, the way we never stop surprising each other.”
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. - Goodreads
A few weeks ago I picked up the award-winning novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, by Becky Albertalli, just in time for the highly anticipated film adaptation, Love, Simon. While it had been on my radar for some time, I don't know why I never picked it up: it was so good.
The characters in this story are brilliant; Simon is so realistic it's like you know him in real life, he's funny and clever, and I really enjoyed his love of drama and performance. Simon's references to Harry Potter were absolutely fantastic and so relatable, as were the other pop-culture remarks (the dog is called Bieber!), the amount of Oreos*, and the fact that the whole drama begins with a secret Tumblr page.
“He talked about the ocean between people.
And how the whole point of everything is to find a shore worth swimming to.”
The identity of Blue remained a mystery until right near the end, as one would expect, but I called who Blue was probably around half way. Simon's thought processes, reasoning and logic around who Blue was brilliantly written, and a lot of fun to read.
That's what this book was: fun. It was a fun, sweet, story, but at the same time tells a very important tale, which feels incredibly real. It's definitely a story I plan to re-read, and while the movie trailer looks like the film will be a bit different, I'm looking forward to seeing it.
Have you read Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda? What did you think?
Post script: Yes I was reading Simon in my lunch break at work, hence the cup of tea in the 'coolest boss' mug (which isn't mine) and the apple.
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