What’s it all about?:
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.
What did I think?:
I was super nervous about reading this book. It was one of my sister and fellow blogger Chrissi Reads’ favorite book last year and although I’m always confident that if she tells me I’ll like a book I will really like it, she hyped this one up good and proper. I’m sure you’ve had it before – that dreaded hype monster, where you feel the pressure to like a particular book that has been praised to the skies? Yep, that was Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda for me. So, you can imagine my relief when by about halfway through this novel, I declared myself in love. With the book, with the story, with the characters…. it’s a wonderfully diverse yet inclusive story and I still find myself thinking about the characters today and wondering what they’re up to.
Our main protagonist of the novel is Simon Spier, recently come to terms with the fact that he’s homosexual but not that willing to shout it from the rooftops just yet, so is remaining firmly in the closet until he can be sure of his family and friends reactions. However, he has been recently emailing this one guy, Blue and their correspondence has turned a little on the flirty side. Blue goes to the same school as him but like Simon, is not comfortable about being out and proud and both boys have no idea whom the other is. However, their secret could soon be out and their relationship compromised when one of their emails falls into the wrong hands, hands that threaten blackmail and revealing the two boys for whom they really are. This could ruin everything for both Simon and Blue but is Simon brave enough to take a stand against the threats? Or is it just too much to risk when he is unsure of the reactions from his nearest and dearest?
As I mentioned before, I fell head over heels for this story and the characters within it. I loved both Simon and Blue and the emails that flipped between them – believe me, I’m not a fan of sickly sweet and conventional romance but their relationship was just too damn cute not to fall for and also incredibly convincing to read about. Also, it’s so refreshing to see more diverse, different ethnic groups and sexuality in young adult fiction nowadays, the more the better I say and please keep it coming! The humour, authenticity of the characters and all round good feelings I got from this novel was second to none and I applaud Becky Albertalli for writing such a touching piece of fiction that I think a lot of teenagers are going to be able to relate to. There’s no point in saying any more – just go read it!
Would I recommend it?:
But of course!
Star rating (out of 5):
