REVIEW: SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA by Becky Albertalli

Summary:
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.

Title: SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA

Author: Becky Albertalli

Source: Purchased from Kobo

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Publication Date: April 7, 2015

Rating: 5/5 stars

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

This book was just wonderful. It was so honest and perfect. It was everything I didn't realize I needed to read until I did. The characters, the plot, and the voice were just amazing. You could really tell that Albertalli GETS IT. Because it didn't feel like an adult writing a YA novel, it felt as though there was some kid out there named Simon writing down the shit that was happening to him.
I don't really know what to say. Everything about this one was just really great. It was nice that there was half the book left to deal with the consequences of the fallout because I think sometimes that gets skimmed over in YA novels. I also really liked that all the characters had their own stories and arcs. I also really liked that Simon acknowledges that while he knows a lot about the people in his life, he doesn't know everything because sometimes you just don't ask. And that doesn't mean you don't care, it is just sometimes you forget other people have problems outside your little world.

I think I really liked the whole idea of how they met and I actually didn't mind the blackmailing to an extent. But I wasn't a fan of Martin. I mean, he was kind of a shitty person. And his apology was a non-apology. I liked that Simon was trying to figure out who it was and while he wanted to know, he was also nervous about knowing. I would like a bit of an epilogue of just how disgustingly in love they are. ALSO, I liked that there was a parallel between the two love stories in this one -- because there were two.

I thought the relationships were so well developed and that everyone felt like a real person rather than just a stereotypical character. I think this just felt so real and it was the perfect blend of curse words and what teenagers say in reality. I just could go on and on about all the good things in this novel and probably never say a bad thing about it.

There were a lot of great quotes about life and learning in this one and I just loved every second of reading it. It was perfect. This is one that will last guys and gals.

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