Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

I've been reading like a fiend lately (I have four more books to go until I reach my challenge, and I've also been so lazy with reading in the last few months), so I really had to choose which book I wanted to review today. I wish I could say that it was a very scientific process on how I picked the winner, but, really, I just closed my eyes, scrolled down my Kindle, and stabbed my finger at it.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda!

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 is yet another book that's been sitting on my Kindle for months. I finally started it last week (at work!), and I finished it that same day. I had about a billion things to do, I was dead tired, and I had to wake up early the next day, but I didn't care. I wanted to finish this book because it was that good.

Poor Simon. All he wants to do is email his secret gay boyfriend, hang out with his best friends, and have life stay exactly the same, all the time. But when Martin (Martin) finds Simon's email, he blackmails him, saying that as long as Simon hooks him up with the prettiest cheerleader in school, Simon's sexual orientation will stay a secret. Add on top heaps of friend drama and Simon trying to come out to his family, he life quickly dissolves into a mess.

I can't put a finger on what made me love this book so much. It was one of those where I would finish one chapter and tell myself that was it, but then I had to read the next chapter because I had to know what happened. That went on until my Kindle informed me that I had reached the end of the book. Guessing who Blue was had to be the most fun. Simon would throw out names and characters, and I immediately, of course, thought they were Blue. I did guess who it was pretty early on, but the author does such a great job at misdirection. I was convinced it was *this person* and then she would give you more information on someone, and suddenly, everything I knew was a lie. 

I also enjoyed the reality of it all. Simon does eventually come out, and not everyone is okay with it. It's pretty tame compared to some stories, but it's the fact that the author remembers that there are small-minded people out there. It made everything have more depth, because you were right there while Simon goes through it all. Also, his friends (even though they were okay with it) added a drama to his coming out that I felt was true of teenagers, not even today. Just teenagers. Especially those that have been friends for as long as Simon has with his friends. Remembering the dynamic of having multiple best friends was not fun, but it was sure interesting. Looking at it from an outsider's point of view made me so uncomfortable and made me realize that sometimes, we can be really, REALLY dumb when we're kids.

And I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll say this: I FREAKING LOVE WHO BLUE TURNS OUT TO BE.

Anyway, pick this book up. That isn't even a recommendation; that's an order. Pick it up. Now. Tomorrow. Yesterday. Just grab it. 

This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Mine was kind of nuts, seeing as we went full Christmas and we're not even done with the other house stuff we need to do. More on that later in the week, though, because today I have a review for This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp.

10:00 a.m.
The principal of Opportunity, Alabama's high school finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.

10:02 a.m.
The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.

10:03
The auditorium doors won't open.

10:05
Someone starts shooting.

Told over the span of 54 harrowing minutes from four different perspectives, terror reigns as one student's calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival.

I've had this book on my Kindle for about two months now. I wanted to wait until it got closer to it's actual release date (January 5, 2016) before reading and reviewing it. Honestly, I'd actually forgotten the plot of this book, and to say that I was surprised would be an understatement. I finally got to it last week and it took me a few days before I could process what I felt for this book.

Since this is America, where apparently my cat could walk into a gun store and purchase whatever she wants, we've had about 335 mass shootings this year. 52 of those were school shootings. Working with kids, I'm constantly worried about what's going to happen to them when they leave our center. Sure, they live in a relatively safe suburb, but I'm sure that's what everyone thinks of their smallish city. I wish I could say that this book was one of those where I can't imagine what those people were feeling, but, again, as this is America, I understand it all too well.

This Is Where It Ends is told from several different perspectives: Claire, the runner; Tomás, the "bad" kid; Autumn, the sensitive dancer; and Sylv, her brave but damaged girlfriend. Three of these students are stuck in the school auditorium when a shooter begins his senseless, methodical murders, and one is on the outside, wanting in because family and friends are in there. Sprinkled throughout are shots from Twitter and a teacher's daughter's blog, giving us the experience of understanding all angles of this tragedy. We soon come to find that everyone in this narrative is connected in some way, and they all have a rather dark past with the shooter. That's what makes this whole mess so much worse: everyone is blaming themselves and not the shooter, because they think they've done something so harmful to him that he would turn a gun on his fellow students.

I liked a lot about this book, and it far outweighed the stuff I didn't like. I guess let's start with the disliking. Sometimes the characters were really one-dimensional. Having never been in a school shooting, I don't know exactly how I would react, but some of these kids were incredibly stone-faced and snarky when come face-to-face with the shooter. The secondary characters - those that we didn't really get a chance to know - were far more believable. For example, one girl watches her sister die in front of her, and she screams bloody murder (sorry), crumples to the ground, and then is in absolute shock for most of the novel. But the main characters stand up to the shooter, being sarcastic and don't seem to worry in the least about being shot.

What I liked most was the fast-pace of the novel. Sometimes when a novel is set within a certain time limit (this one was 52 minutes), it seems to drag on, leaving the reader wondering, okay, this scene has taken about an hour, but it's only been two minutes? This one really felt like everyone was moving at break-neck speed. I also really liked how real it all felt, because sometimes an author asks us to suspend reality for a few pages, but this one didn't. The cops didn't offer any special insight to the main characters, which left us in the dark, too. No one called from the auditorium and explained the plot to some other character. The reader is left wondering and waiting along with the other characters, hoping that so-and-so isn't really dead, that a sibling made it out before the shooter could see him or her. The stress and suspense is so real - and so all the time - that I had to take a few breaks, just to get my heart rate back to normal.

But now I get to the fun part! Sourcebooks Fire, the awesome publisher behind this book, is having a pre-order promotion for This Is Where It Ends. I'm going to let their super cute chalkboard picture tell the details, because it does it better than I could.

There are two ways to enter the giveaway:

1. If you pre-order a copy of This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp, submit your name, mailing address, email address, and order confirmation number via this Rafflecopter link.
2. If you have not pre-ordered a copy of This Is Where It Endsby Marieke Nijkamp, you may enter the giveaway by printing your name, mailing address, email address and the phrase "This Is Where It Ends" on a standard-size postcard and send to: Publicity, c/o Sourcebooks, Inc., 1935 Brookdale Rd., #139, Naperville, IL 60563.

So that's it! Easy peasy, right? But come on back the rest of this week, because I did some major reading over the weekend, and I still have two more reviews on hand. See you then!

The End of NaNo and The Beginning of a Bigger Mess

NaNo is over! And I won!

Trust me, no one is more surprised than I am. I went on a marathon writing jag last weekend and just barely made it. I'm not entirely sure I want to go back and read over what I wrote, because I'm sure it makes no sense and probably has nothing to do with the plot. But, I guess, whatever? I won? I don't know. I'm just glad that November is done with and we're on to December.

So how did I celebrate this momentous win? I turned off my computer for five days and didn't step foot in my office for the same amount of time. I couldn't stand to look at my computer anymore, and I'm sure it felt the same way about me. But now I've decided to be an adult and get things in order.

My office is an absolute mess. I debated whether or not to share a picture because, seriously, it makes me cringe each time I walk in, but in the interest of being honest, here it is.

It's so embarrassing. My office has become the Island of Misfit Toys, with whatever we can't find a place for finding a home in my office. It's not a permanent home, mind you, but it's still a home. All those boxes piled on top of the bookshelf? Those are nerd boxes that my boyfriend subscribes to. ALL OF THEM. He went a little crazy one day - and I love him for it - but now we have to find space for those things. Until then, they live here. My cat also lives in this room, because we have the dog and my boyfriend is allergic, so her most of the time home is in here. She pretty much makes any mess she can, and those two beds? Yeah, those are both hers, but she doesn't use them. BECAUSE SHE HATES ME. She uses her crate, the place that she hates so much she usually throws up in there.

I don't know. Our household is strange.

Anyway, why am I showing these disgusting, hideous pictures? Because I'm hoping that by next week, this will all be cleaned up. Not exactly cleared out, but at least in a state of organization that I can handle. We're going Christmas decoration shopping on Saturday morning and then setting up the house for the merriest of holidays that day.

Really, I'm in it for the cookies, the music, and the movies, but I'll take some presents, too.

Sunday, however, I'll be able to dedicated most of my day to cleaning the office. Looking around, it seems like a rather daunting task, but I can do it. Because I have to, or else I'll slowly go insane in here.

But what about writing, Bree? What about that?? Well, let me tell you, I think I've already found a story that I want to concentrate on. I'd been looking at it since October, and it was almost my NaNo story, but then I changed my mind. But now, I've been reading it on my phone and miss it. It's fun and it has substance, and I think it could really be something if I just give it a little love. I haven't made my final decision yet, but I'm leaning toward this story. I'll keep you all updated on that, and the office, because I know you want to see it all pretty and sparkling.

Also, next week I'll have a review up of This Is Where It Ends. I was going to do it today, but I just finished it last night and I'm still processing some feelings. It's a difficult book.

That's it for now! I'll see you next week for reviews and gorgeous office makeovers! (Don't hold your breaths.)