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.